Trooper_D

Looks like an animal right behind the diamond badge, like a gazelle or horse

I'm seeing a horse and rider superimposed on a stirrup, rather in the manner of this modern good luck charm. I wonder if he was a fan of horse racing

Can anyone tell me if this tag was issued to an American?? If so under what circumstances and what else does the tag tell us. Many thanks

A similar question was asked in the "Great War Forum", Irish. The answer (see link below) is that MORC stands for 'Medical Officer Reserve Corps' and it appears that a significant number of American doctors were attached to British units, on a contract as one-year volunteers, in the latter part of the Great War (before the entry of the USA into the war).

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=188610

Google the search string (between the arrow heads) > "M. O. R. C." "great war" < and you will find out a lot more about this organisation.

[Thanks for the prompt, Mervyn. This was something I knew nothing about and I was interested to discover yet another Great War anomaly. Kudos to Peter Monahan for spotting where the nub of the question lay!]

Edited to correct spelling!

I think I'm taking this far too seriously, Chris, but ...

... if we believe the you-know-which-pedia, which tells us that a G98 is 1.25m long, a rough-and-ready estimate of his height is possible - assuming it isn't the carbine version, of course

Based on the amended version of your photograph (attached), I estimate his height as being 1.55m, which, in language I can understand, makes him 5ft 1in tall. A giant of a man in all other respect, though, I am sure!

he was still stalwartly wearing his iron Cross miniatures in 1939 as shown in the photo above. He probably did not mind the wehrmacht as much as trhe Gestapo! :-)

Perhaps not but good luck in finding some Imperial buttons soon in order to restore the karma!

... and 4 good conditioned buttons to replace the Wehrmacht ones on the cuffs

What a ghastly irony, considering Dr Kantorowicz's history

... perhaps given to a Georgian 'volunteer' and then passed down as part of a female relative's coin-based jewelry.

I like this reason best

I wonder why, being a breast star, it has a hole through the topmost ray?

Markgraf and Glenn

Thank you both for your timely responses and the interesting comments.

The k.k. Landwehr has nearly the same uniform as the Feldjägers (but the Landwehr has silver buttons with regimental number). Otherwise he is a Feldwebel, not officer.

Markgraf, I should have known that he was a Feldwebel - it's the shoulder-straps that give it away, isn't it? - particularly as you went to the trouble to explain the differences in this post,
http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60808-kuk-soldiers-wearing-medals-show-your-photos/page-4#entry577748

This from the 1911 K.K. Landwehr dress regulations showing the pattern of cap badge as worn on the hat. The infantry regiments' badge encompassed the regimental number whereas the Tyrolean Landesschützen regiments had the Tyrolean eagle. The Dalmatian Mounted Rifles, the Landwehr cadet school and the Landwehr Arms and Clothing Depots wore the double eagle.

Glenn, what a fascinating and wonderfully precise diagram. I suspect that an original copy of the 1911 K.K. Landwehr dress regulations would be prohibitively expensive - are they available online?

I really couldn't quite get my head round the Landwehr. However, for anyone visiting this thread with similar confusions and with the usual caveats, I found this article on Wikipedia answered most of my questions,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial-Royal_Landwehr

I was going to post this photo on the thread for KuK soldiers wearing medals but decided to start a new thread as a) he isn't wearing anything particularly interesting and b) what I am really interested in is the badge on his hat. My understanding is that the KuK Feldjäger battalions were only numbered to 32, as per this website, for example,

http://www.mlorenz.at/Bewaffnete_Macht/02_Jaeger/02_Jaeger.htm

However, this officer has a '36' on his badge. Is he part of the Landwehr, therefore? Does anyone have any thoughts, please?

... and guns need officers to command them - well, that's what the officers think, anyway (This one was never sent)

It would be great to see any photos others might have ...

Happy to oblige, IrishGunner. Postmark dated 23-10-1916.

I would appreciate some serious feedback on this decoration. I have my doubts, the material feels more like steel than silver and the eagle looks odd IMO. The images I've compared it with have a different ring attachment i.e. it's wider at the base.

Is this full size or a miniature, Peter?

and here, some pieces not as lavishly made as those at the Schatzkammer:

What a breathtaking array of Leopolds, Elmar! Did any class of the order of Leopold convey nobility on the person awarded it, either personal or hereditary?

Here are interior photos:

I often find the insides of caps and, particularly, tunics as interesting as the outsides (exteriors can be generic; interiors often tell a story) so thanks for posting these, 15thPACAV.

I never tire of seeing these, 15thPACAV. For my money, they are the most elegant of the military headwear of their period (perhaps any period). Thanks for posting.

Thank you for sharing these with us, 15thPACAV. Do they have makers labels/marks, as a matter of interest, please?

Stuka

On the page I've linked to below, there are some other works in a similar vein by this artist. However, you will have to register to find out what they made at auction. Best of luck!

http://www.arcadja.com/auctions/en/pulaski_kazimierz/artist/158078/

I suspect the answer to your question will depend on whether you are buying this watercolour for enjoyment or profit, Stuka. I am having difficulty reading the name of the artist and the date. Can you help me out, please?

I presume it was custom made for the Grand Master of the order. It is now in the Imperial Treasury Museum in Vienna.

Thanks, Carol.

Insignia in brilliants

Do you have the 'back story' for this extraordinary piece, Carol?

Another picture of our hero on the left. But what is this uniform?Uniform_haug.jpg

Bumping Joe's post: did anyone have any thoughts on the ID for either uniform?

Josef Kremžar Edl. von Felskampf (probably one of the last few nobilited persons in Austria-Hungary - diplom from 22.10.1918).

Wow, that’s cutting it fine! Good find, Iver.

For those who can read Czech - I can't - there is more about this gentleman on pp 79-81 of Heraldická ročenka Praha : Heraldická společnost v Praze, 1993 20 (Google Translate tells me that this is 1993 Heraldic Yearbook of the Prague Heraldry Society). It can be found here,

http://www.historie.hranet.cz/heraldika/hr/hr1993.pdf

For those who are interested in such things (i.e. me) here is his coat of arms from his Diploma of Nobility (from the same source).

These are wonderful examples, Paja, and will make this thread an extremely useful resource for someone researching the subject in the future - which is what this site is all about, really, isn't it?!

Awards for the service of the Red Cross with war decoration

Thanks for the translation. 'Service' - well that comes back to your point about a suitably sized donation, doesn't it

For general interest, and because it is relevant to this thread, I am posting a complete scan (but in three parts) of the front (and part of the rear) of a postcard I own, which shows the major Austro-Hungarian ODMs. It's interesting to see photos of them when they were shiny and new, isn't it?