Glenn J

Paul, No, the veterans of 64, 66, 70/71 plus all on active service in the Prussian Army at the time of bestowal. Other odds and sods including the Berliner Schutzmannschaft, non Prussian units serving in Alsace-Lorraine, those involved in the construction of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial etc, etc also got it. Regards Glenn

As we speak, this is on ebay.de. Not named of course, but it is the then Major Karl Bansi in the uniform of the Foot Artillery School of Gunnery (Fußartillerie-Schießschule) around 1905. Regards Glenn

Bethmann was a Generalleutnant à la suite der Armee with uniform of 1. Garde-Dragoner-Regiment. He appears to be wearing the M15 pattern boards for this regiment for a General and the Kleiner Rock. I think Generaloberst v. Moltke's trousers are probably dark grey. He is wearing the M10 pattern Generals' Feldbluse cuffs with the collar litzen of a Generaladjutant. Regards Glenn

Paul, as an officer. The appointment as understood in WW1 was created in 1877 to be utilized on mobilization. The incumbents filled lieutenant's positions, initially in replacement, Landwehr and Landsturm units but this was increasingly expanded to include all arms and services at the front. Those appointed were classed as subaltern officers of the Landwehr in the rank of Leutnant but were junior to Leutnants. They exercised the full privileges of commissioned rank without however being subject to the courts of honour system or the necessity to have their promotions confirmed by the unanimous vote of their units officer corps. They additionally had a couple of minor restrictions on clothing; they were not permitted to wear the officers' sash or Feldbinde and although allowed the officers' pattern Paletot (greatcoat), it had the collar of the issued pattern and not the coloured pattern of the officer. Following the end of the war and the introduction of the Republican Government, these guys retired as Leutnant der Landwehr außer Dienst. Those appointed as a Feldwebelleutnant were usually retired former career NCOs although the circle was slightly expanded during the war. Direct promotions of NCOs to commissioned rank was extremely rare. Regards Glenn

Charles, If it is for the Feldwebelleutnant, they did not wear the NCOs' and soldiers' variant. They generally wore a private purchase one or two pronged variety. Regards Glenn

Charles, Lovely setup but the Feldwebelleutnant was not authorized to wear the commissioned officers' Feldbinde or Feldkoppel. The regulations stipulated a "simple" leather belt for the purpose of carrying a pistol etc. Regards Glenn

Charles, In 1914 he was a Major in FAR 61 with an RAO4 and a Long Service Decoration. He became Artillerie-Kommandeur 64 picking up an Hohenzollern House Order 3 with Swords and a Sachsen Ernestine House Order Commander's Cross 2nd Class with Swords on the way. Can't make out the number on his boards but I would assume he would have continued to wear the number 111 as ARKO 64. Regards Glenn

Charles, this chap commanded from March 15 to November 17 and retired as a Colonel. Perhaps your man? August Richard Moeller. Regards Glenn

Karsten, Christian, because this officer is Hauptmann (later Generalmajor) Hartwig v. Bülow, company commander of 9./F.R. 34 (note the Johanniter) Regards Glenn

Matt, He is not wearing the collar litzen of a Garde-Füsilier-Regiment officer or for that matter the Garde-Fußartillerie-Regiment. The uniform is so generic, that apart from the shoulder board insignia, he could be from anywhere. Regards Glenn

Chris, the information I have regarding the award of the HOH3X to officers with the name of Schwerdtfeger in 1918 are as follows: the two dates are the date of publication in the Militär-Wochenblatt and Staatsanzeiger respectively: Hauptmann d.R. Schwerdtfeger: 30 Jul 18, 3 Jul 18 Leutnant d.R. Schwerdtfeger: 26 Oct 18, 25 Sep 18 Leutnant d.R. Ernst Schwerdtfeger: 9 Nov 18, 15 Oct 18 Regards Glenn

Matt, It might be useful to see the photograph. However, a couple of possibilities: Hauptmann d.R. Walter Mackenthun who had the EK1 and a BZ3bX but was born in 1882 and Leutnant d.R. Fritz-Boglislaw v. Somnitz who was born in 1885 and entered the Fliegertruppe in 1916, had the EK1 but no Zähringer Lion. Regards Glenn

However, in Willi Geile's book listing of HOH3X winners, the two late war winners are both listed as Leutnant d.R. (and one of those was Ernst). An Hauptmann d.R. Schwerdtfeger also won the HOH3X in July 1918. There was an Hauptmann d.R. Schwerdtfeger in FAR 30 but he was Wilhelm Schwerdtfeger. Do you have an exact date for the award? Regards Glenn

Reactivated officers for the war's duration below the rank of Generalmajor were not listed in the Ranglisten. Regards Glenn

Chip, units were certainly moving, especially at battalion level within the Corps area during this period. Let me check the Bavarian Verordnungs-Blätter and I will get back to you. Regards Glenn

In fact it must be a wee bit later; thats the Chinadenkmünze in 4th place. Regards Glenn

Christer, indeed; the later Obergeneralarzt Dr. Walther Stechow, Korpsarzt of X. Armeekorps and the Gardekorps. Pictured around 1899 as the Divisions-Arzt of 39. Division. Regards Glenn

Matt, yes. Hans Schefold born 27 September 1886 in Ulm. Entered the Württemberg Army as a Fahnenjunker on 29 January 1907. Commissioned on 18 May 1908 with a Patent of 15.9.06 F. Oberleutnant: 28.11.14 Hauptmann: 18.4.16 in Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung Nr. 11 WF3aX on 6 July 1916 as Hauptmann in Armee-Flugpark 4 Regards Glenn

Its a bit of a minefield! Bearing in mind the image I uploaded shows a Fuß-Artillerie Kanonier with white equipment, I should elaborate on my earlier post: The Cabinet Order of 22 December 1887 and War Ministry Instruction of 28 December 1887 introduced black equipment for the Foot Artillery (with the exception of the Guard). This particular print is from the seventies. With regards to the Field Artillery, "pure" Prussian regiments had white but the Baden contingent with the Prussian Army wore Black. FAR 14, 30, 50, 66 & 67 (Baden) As indeed did the Mecklenburg and Grand-Ducal Hessian: 3./FAR 24 FAR 25 FAR 60 FAR 61 Regards Glenn

Rick, some further thoughts on this: I would discount that; the Prussian Field Artillery wore white waist belts, the Foot Artillery - black. Regards Glenn

Rick, postscript: Indeed; introduced on the partition of the Field and Fortress Artillery per order 18 July 1872. Regards Glenn

Rick, you are correct, I misread the entry in the Rangliste in the dark! The entire Regiment was in Straßburg at this time. In fact I have the entire Regiment in Straßburg from 1873 to 1914. Perhaps it is as simple as some dozy Kanonier transposing the 2 and the 6 on the board? Regards Glenn

Rick, Foot Artillery companies became batteries on 19 November 1908. However, 2. Batterie Fuß-Artillerie Regiment Nr. 10 was stationed in Hanover, the II. Abteilung with batteries 5 - 8 being in Straßburg. The photograph is clearly is post 1897 and probably around 1910-14. I think the most likely explanation is that the caption on the board is just plain wrong. Regards Glenn

This period print illustrates the above point nicely. It shows a Kanonier of Fuß-Artillerie Regiment Nr. 3 in the uniform as introduced per Cabinet Order dated 18 July 1874 (white shoulder straps) alongside an Hornist and Kanonier of a Fahrende-Abteilung of Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 4 Regards Glenn

Rick, Spot on and that is the point of the post. Until 20 March 1890 only the Reitende-Abteilungen of the Field Artillery wore Swedish cuffs, the "foot" Abteilungen of the Field Artillery wore Brandenburg cuffs like their Foot Artillery counterparts. Regards Glenn