turtle

Nice collection of fire brigade items you have!!

I should have read here first, before "guestimating" over here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60457-why-did-this-man/ Very interesting story by the way! Were those ex-german service men from Alsace/Lorraine eligible for the Hindenburg Cross, when Germany conquered France in 1940, just as the Austrians and Czechs in 1938??

I think it´s weird, but I´m convinced, he was a german soldier (Metzger = butcher) and for some really really strange reason he got the above medals, but (of course) no war and victory medal, because he never served with a french (or allied) unit. But if I´m true I´m eager to learn WHY he got his french medals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice and rare citation, thanks for showing!

Hmmmm .... did he move to France after the war or became a french citizen, because he maybe was from Alsac-Lorraine and then claimed / got his Croix du Combattant around 1930?????? Veeery strange and I´m keen on learning more about this!!!!!!!!!!

Got this citation from a flea market for 10EUR: Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13.03.1938 (Austrian Annexion) awarded to Sanitäts-Schüler (medic) Hans Geistaller serving with the Gebirgs-Saniäts-Abteilung 41.

Pretty well decorated and a rather uncommon example of a career NCO becoming a full officer and not ending the war as a hybrid Feldwebel-Leutnant.

I´m sure he´s wearing a Reichswehr uniform the chevrons below the armshield denote the rank of Stabsgefreiter.

Nice bar, I always like it, when all three commemorative medals are together on a bar!!

I love these Chroniken, I really think I should fetch 1-2 of them!!

THIS is an outstanding medal bar!!!

The regulations for the MC were changed in 1993 and the MM disbanded. For the QGM have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Gallantry_Medal

Nice one!!

21 months fits exactly to some of my Militärpässe!!

But he got it quite fast only 11 months of service got him an EK2 and soon later a promotion to Gefreiter . Others had to wait for years ......

THIS is really interesting! I bet there´s much more exciting stuff to come about this topic!! Bornhausens date of the award was the 18.07.1907: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/28031/supplements/4171

I think the Zeitfreiwilligen were directly incorporated into and trained by the Reichswehr, while many of the Freikorps acted parallel to the Reichswehr. In the early 1920s many Zeitfreiwillige were university students who were trained by the army during their holidays for 6-8 weeks, without overstretching the 100 000 soldiers limit toooooo far and too long ... Please correct me if I´m mistaken, but this is as I remember to have read about this topic a while ago.

His story was in a german orders& medals magazine, I have to look it up next week for more details, but from my memory: He was from Silesia right a the polish / german border, served during WWII with a supply / transport unit got the Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse mit Schwertern and other awards. He became a POW in 1945 and was, because of his nearly polish background, recruited by the exile polish forces of the british army and served a few months with them, so he qualified for the British War Medal. If he had a 57er medal bar it would´ve looked really weird!!

Very interesting bar! I love those "strange" combinations! Do WWII awards also count? I know of a german soldier who was awarded the British War Medal.

Rather odd, why did he become a civil servant as prison guard and then went back to his former profession? I don´t think that it was because of misbehavior.

Very nice, thanks for showing! I like these Kriegschroniken. It´s interesting, this man lived only a few kilometers from me!

Nice collection of Militärpässe! I would like to see moooooore!!!! If one for a Pionier would show up, I would like to see it!

Nice Militärpaß, thanks for showing!

Wow, very nice documents!! Unfortunately I have none to contribute.

The question, how Armierungssoldaten were chosen, also came to my mind. So thanks for the very interesting article!!