Berlinerbummel

Some time ago, before by retirement in 2010, a co-worker gave me two swasitika devices, one brass, the other silver-colored. Both of them turn "the wrong way" so I thought that perhaps these were each one-half of a set, sort of like one Kragenspiegel. Both have flat mounting prongs, the larger brass one (2.2 cm cross) in the center and the smaller (1.7 cm across) about 1 cm apart.

Does anyone know what they are for?

Thank you!

Was the Max Joseph award a neck medal or a ribbon bar medal? What was the grade of the medal?

Friedrich Ritter von Röth is another Bavarian who became a German flying ace in WWI. His is a rather sad story - suicide after the was was lost.

Röth was credited with over 20 victories. A google seach indicates the EKI and EKII and Hohenzollern House Order, but I wonder if he did not also receive Bavarian orders, the MVO 4 for example.

Any asistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for that information, Dave. The photo of him seated is still a bit of a question mark. I don't see any Prussian ribbons so it looks like the two MVO's and the Bremen ribbon.

I don't think that the soldiers at the front were too worried about their Feldspangen! My father never had a bar with all of his awards either and after the war he just threw the lot in box in his dresser (after he was released from a French POW camp three years later).

Thank you very much, Gunnar!

The photo was clearly taken before the later awards were given. In which order would these have been worn - Bavarian or Prussian?

Is there someone ( of the hundreds of members) out there who has a copy of the April 1918 Rangliste for Bavaria? If not, I guess I'll have to spring for the $13 plus shipping. No candy this month. I may have to drink domestic "beer!" You leave me no choice.

Thank you, Naxos. I was unaware of that device.

The Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914 is black in the center with white stripes on the sides. The center ribbon in the photo has black stripes on the sides and appears to have a device on it. That's why I took it to be the MVO. I don't think that the first ribbon is the MVO - it has no device.

By the way, isn't the chap on the photo an Oberleutnant? My fellow was a Leutnant.

A friend of mine saw the thread and responded to me by email. He is a German collector. He pointed out that Mensurs were very common during this time period and that a scar alone is probably not iron-clad proof that the photo on page 83 of the Albatros book is Boening, In fact, to my 68-year eyes, the two photos purported to be of him don't appear to be the same fellow.

The information posted by Naxos clearly indicates that Boehning had the MVOI V and the EKII and I do not see the EKII on the bar or in the buttonhole on the photo on page 83.

By the way, please accept my thanks and my gratitude for your help, Naxos. I am in your debt.

What are the awards on his ribbon bar in the photo? If the MVO IV is in the center, there are only three higher ribbon bar medals: (1) Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden / (2) Mlilitär-Sanitätsorden 2. Klasse / (3) Tapferkeits-Medaille in gold und silver.

These three all have the same ribbon with a wide black center stripe. The first ribbon in the photo is light, as is the last one. I do not see the EKII, just the MVO in the middle.

We need a later Rangliste to see what else he earned as a pilot.

I'm not sure I know how to download them or even if I am allowed to do so.

I can send a link for the better of the two. The photo is on page 83 of the book.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5qt5DYUzs88C&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=hans+b%C3%B6hning&source=bl&ots=x-JnfyKS4C&sig=SjL06tVROCKUlUHnz6cIk1AYDFE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zCBvUMEpiITRAZnYgagJ&ved=0CFEQ6AEwCThG#v=onepage&q=hans%20b%C3%B6hning&f=true

Now I am wondering whether the two photos purported to be of Boehning are really pictures of him. The silver wound badge in the later photo is correct, but a three-place ribbon bar with no EKII presents a problem.

If our fellow lived in Austria the entire time between his birth and his service in Bavaria in 1914, he would have been subject to compulsory service after he became 19 (1912).

If he lived in Germany at the time he was 19 he would have been required to serve in the German army or one of the states. That means he would have been in a reserve unit in 1914. Could a German reservist simply volunteer to join the Bavarian army or could only an Austrian reservist do that? I don't think so. My paternal grandfather was in a Landwehr unit in 1915 and the unit was simply called to active duty.

Of course there were always ways to avoid service if one had the means to do so.

The EKI would have been awarded in the summer of 1918 but there is no indication of other awards as a pilot. I wonder where the other two ribbons came from.

He was wounded in an aerial engagement on 20 September 1918 according to the Aerodrome site.

The only information I have found about him begins with his service as a pilot, so I know nothing of his service with the artillery regiment where he earmed the Iron Cross 2nd Class as a Lt. - 24 December - I suppose that is the award date, not the date he actually earned the medal.

There is a site called the Aerodrome which lists his flying victories and information about injuries and wounds. It also has a photo which seems to indicate three awards on his ribbon bar. The same photo is found in a book about his aircraft type for most of his victories, the Albatross. He had 16 victories so he also had the EKI which is seen in the photos. The center ribbon appears to be the MVO 4th class.

Thank you Naxos. So my man was an Austrian volunteer, like Hitler, At 21, I wonder if he had Austrian service as well.

Could someone with access to the Bavarian Rangliste for 1918 look up this officer: Lt. Hans Böhning and list his Bavarian awards.

Many thanks.

Oops! I'm a few years too late!

I was just loaned a copy of the Bavarian Army Officers' Ranklist (Rangliste der Offiziere der K?niglich Bayerischen Armee) as of 15 April 1918. If there's anyone specific on whom anyone would like me to check, please let me know.

The April 1918 rank list includes promotions and Bavarian decorations for Bavarian regular officers. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover non-Bavarian decorations. And obviously it doesn't cover anything after 15 April 1918.

Can you find Lt Hans Böhning?

Is this topic appropriate for any other forums? I haven't had much response!

I am particularly interested in his service prior to joining the avation arm. He has the EKI and what appears to be a silver wound badge, but the photos are not very detailed,

I found those sites and a book about his aircraft, The information is sketchy.