Glenn J

Hi Andreas, it is Hauptmann Friedrich v. Borries, Ã la suite to the 3. Ingenieur-Inspektion and instructor at the Kriegsschule in Engers around 1895. Regards Glenn

I think we can assume he was a Kriegsfreiwilliger with the "one year volunteer" exam under his belt when he joined up. He would have in due course progressed to Unteroffizier d.R., Vizefeldwebel d.R. (Offizier-Aspirant) and then Leutnant d.R. Regards Glenn

Hi Ingo, 41 years of age is certainly not old for a Prussian infantry captain. Typically, an officer would not be promoted to that rank before his early to mid thirties and then spend ten or eleven years in that rank before promotion to Major or often retirement in that rank at that point if further promotion was not recommended. Regards Glenn

Trooper, The lower button on the Brandenburg cuffs of officers was always left unbuttoned until the practice ceased in 1896. Regards Glenn

Larry, in this case "Ergänzungsoffizier" (supplementary officer). Former retired Imperial or Reichsheer officers re-employed for the most part in staff functions. See: "Die Wehrmacht im Dritten Reich, Band III 3. August 1934 bis 4. Februar 1928", pages 219-212 by Rudolf Absolon Regards Glenn

Chris, he did not survive the war. He was killed in action on 17 April 1918 Northeast of Fort de la Pompelle (Reims) as a Leutnant in Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 80. Regards Glenn

Charles, The China Commemorative medal is a not a Chinese award but a German Reich award instituted in 1901 to commemorate service in the Boxer Rebellion. The version in steel was for those in the homeland who facilitated the deployment. Just google China-Denkmünze. Regards Glenn

Charles, The tunic could of course be v. Hartz's but the medal bar is not. Regards Glenn

Charles, JpS5a: Japanese order of the Sacred Treasure Knight's Cross. ChD2: China Commemorative Medal in Steel. Regards Glenn

Vince, A pretty common name! However, just four artillery Lieutenants with the name Müller had just an EK2 as their sole listed decoration in the 1871 Rangliste. Two of those were Fortress Artillery types which leaves one in the 7. and one in the 8. Artillerie-Brigade. FAR 7 served at both Düppel and Alsen so I would tend towards the then Sekonde-Lieutenant Louis Müller of FAR 7. Do you have any further Information as to the unit he was serving in? Regards Glenn

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