Glenn J

Claudio, Rick, Oberstleutnant Ernst Kaether is wearing the uniform of Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 29. The photograph dates from late 1919 to late 1920. Regards Glenn

Gordon, nice to have a document signed by a PLM winner! Major Julius von Langsdorff (23 Oct 1866-25 Jul 1945) was the commander of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 184 from 6 Oct 1916 until assuming command of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 43 on 23 Sep 1918. He retired on the 23rd of May 1919 and received a charakterisierter promotion to Oberstleutnant on 27 Oct 1919 with a further bump-up on 27 Aug 1939 to Oberst (Tannenberg promotion for PLM winners) PLM on 22 Apr 1918 as commander of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 184. Regards Glenn

Rick, Les, some additional information on Herr Pflugradt: Benno Wilhlem Waldemar Pflugradt, born 24 July 1877 at Greifswald in Pomerania, died 10 Nov 1940. Son of Generalmajor z.D. Emil Pflugradt and Hildegard Pflugradt (von Lilienthal) Educated in his parents' house and at the Gymnasium Greifswald and Marburg. Attended the Cadet Schools at Oranienstein and Gro?-Lichterfelde. As an Abiturient he graduated from Gro?-Lichterfelde as a Portep?e F?hnrich on 14 February 1895 and was commissioned into I.R. 25 as a Sekonde-Lieutenant on the 27 January 1896 with seniority backdated to his original graduation date (14.2.95) 4 Jun - 1 Jul 99: Attached to Pionier-Bataillon 14 1 Oct 99 - 31 May 03: Adjutant III./I.R. 25 1 Jun 03 - 31 Oct 07: Regimental Adjutant I.R. 25 22 Apr - 26 May 08: Attached to Infantry School of Musketry 16 Jun 10: Adjutant of the 30. Infanterie-Brigade 27 Jan 13: Assigned to I.R. 29 as a company commander Commanded I.R. 116 from 3 Nov 18 - 22 Jan 19 Commanded J?ger-Bataillon Nr. 10 from 1 Mar 1919 to dissolution Commanded 17. Infanterie-Regiment from 1 Feb 27 -28 Feb 28 Regards Glenn

Please let me add to the congratulations to Paul for producing this extremely useful and well put together research reference. Having received my copy of volume 1 the other day I am impressed by the ease with which one can navigate through these weighty tomes Cheers Paul Regards Glenn

Hi Tony, Generalmajor Eugen Ritter von Clauß, 25 Oct 1862-23 Feb 1942. He is on page 775 of the Ehrenrangliste as commander of the 6th Bavarian Infantry Brigade in 1914. I was in your part of the World today. Visited Bielefeld to check out the Landesgeschichtliche Bibliothek. Regards Glenn

Great photos indeed! The General awarding the BMJ3 must be Generalleutnant z.D. Gustav Scanzoni von Lichtenfels, Commanding General of the 6. Baverische Reserve-Division. Regards Glenn

Presumably not Ferdinand Graf von und zu Hoensbroech of Husaren Regiment 8 as this officer was the squadron commander of 1./Reserve-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 by 1916. Paulus had a Patent of 1.8.14. There was also at least one other reserve Leutnant Graf von und zu Hoensbroech in H.R. 8 Regards Glenn

Rick, how about Graf von und zu Hoensbroech? Regards Glenn

Ulsterman the first is from Bosnisch-hercegovinisches Infanterieregiment Nr. 4, the 2nd from the 27. Infanterie-Truppen-Division and the 4th from k.k. Sch?tzen-Regiment Nr. 30 (Czech/German). I don't recognize the 3rd. Regards Glenn

Hi, the k.k. Standschutzen were militia from the provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg based on the old town and village shooting associations. Ranging in age from the early teens to late seventies these "Last levy" units were mobilised in May 1915 when Italy declared war. While the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Army was taking huge casualties in the east these old boys had to fill the gap on the border with Italy. Initially formed into local battalions they were in many cases amalgamated into mixed battalions by the wars end. They saw much action in the South Tyrol in three years of hard campaigning in extremely difficult terrain. Regards Glenn

Andy Baus sent me an email with additional information on Knappe and has also identified the W?rttemberg officer Andy for some reason cannot manage to log in from his home computer. From Andy: Knappe received the Komtur Kreuz 1. Kl on 21.01.1895, 2. Kl in 1888 (Autengruber does not give the day or month) His Patent as an Oberstlt. is 12-06-86 E The W?rttemberger is Hermann Frhr. von Bilfinger (01.03.1843-14.03.1919) As I looked at the picture and read the other comments, it made sense to me that he must have been kommandiert to the Prussian Army, hence his Prussian awards ahead of his native awards. I thumbed through the 1892 W?rttemberg Rangliste and there I saw von Bilfinger (he was granted the Freiherr title on 25.02.1902) listed as Chief of the General Staff of V. AK (22.05.1889-29.03.1892) and carried ? la suite of the W?rttemberg General Staff. The awards listed were PRAO3 PKrO3 EK2 BMV3a SA2b WMV3 WK3a WF3a WMN1 ?EK2 RA3 and the last, not in the Prussian Rangliste, was the w?rtt. Jubil?ums Medaillle! This photo is quite a find, as v. Bilfinger later commanded IR 28, 32. and 52. Inf. Brig., served as a diensttuender w?rtt. Fl?geladj. and then General Adjutant, as well as carried ?.l.s. Inf. R. 121, reaching the rank of Gen.d.Inf. I can provide additional details for anyone who is interested. Thanks again Andy! Regards Glenn

Christophe, A former commander of the Garde-J?ger-Bataillon and Leib-Garde-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 115, born 9 March 1854, the General died on 16 May 1919. Here is a portrait by the Austrian artist Oskar Bruch rendered in 1915. Regards Glenn

The arrival of an 1894 Rang- und Quartierliste now gives me the General's Patent as a Generalmajor: 20.10.91 C. Regards Glenn

Thanks Rick, I think the photgraph probably dates from around 1893 to the mid/late nineties. Nobody matches in my copy of the 1895 which makes me think it might be someone who made general with some additional awards by 1895. The ?EK2 is pretty thin on the ground in that year. Regards Glenn

Rick, I don't think the W?rttemberger is a medical man - wrong type of Litzen. Not Grenadier 119 or 123 either. It looks more like the pattern worn by staff officers or Fl?geladjutants (but no aiguillette makes me think he is not a Fl?geladjutant) or even engineer types. What is the top neck decoration? Regards Glenn

Rick, I don't have the Autengruber volume on pre-WW1 Saxon awards but can confirm that Generallieutenant z.D. Knappe's permission to wear the Komthurkreuz erster Klasse des K?niglich S?chsischen Albrechts-Ordens was gazetted in the 13 April 1895 edition of the Milit?r-Wochenblatt. Presumably the General was also ennobled after his retirement from active service? Regards Glenn

I have a couple of gaps in my nineteenth cantury stuff so can not at this time ascertain General Knappe's date of promotion to Oberstlieutenant (presumably in 1886) or Generalmajor (1892?). He was a long serving member of the railway branch of the Prussian Army engineer branch originally commissioned in the late fifties. Commander of Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 3 from 14 Nov 1878 to 16 Nov 1880, he was the first commander of the Eisenbahn-Brigade when formed in March 1890 having previously commanded the regiment. He was given acting command of the Eisenbahn-Regiment on the 18 Sep 1886 which was made permanent on 13 Dec 1887. Born on 12 Sep 1839 he died on 12 May 1902. Sec. Lieut.: 2.5.57 Prem. Lieut.: 1.12.63 Hauptmann: 7.7.70 Major: 14.1.79 X Oberst: 13.12.88 A He retired on the 22nd of January 1895 and was promoted to charakterisierter Generallieutenant z.D. the same day (see below). Regards Glenn

David and Brian, strangely enough in a second announcement in the same edition of the MWB on behalf of the officers of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 15, his cause of death is given as Lungentyphus. Regards Glenn

Brian, Walter junior does not immediately spring into view. At the time of the senior Walter's death in 1893 four other von Etzel's were serving and all were captains in 1895. None of these was named Walter. Ernst: Hptm (22.8.91) Battery Commander in 1. Garde-Feldartillerie-Regt. Franz Hermann Karl Otto: Hptm (25.3.93) on the General staff of XIV. Armeekorps August: Hptm: (25.3.93) Battery Commander in Feldartillerie-Regt. Nr. 24 G?nther: Hptm (22.3.95) in the Great General Staff All of them went on to become regimental commanders and to eventual General's rank. The next von Etzel that appears to come along is Leutnant (17.2.02) in the 2. Garde-Dragoner-Regiment who finished as a Major a.D. Walter? Regards Glenn

Bob, Rittmeister Waldemar Bodenstedt: Graduated from Gro?-Lichterfelde on 20 March 1899 Char. F?hnrich: 20.3.99 F?hnrich: 16.11.99 Leutnant: 18.8.00 M10m Oberleutnant 27.1.10 P12p Rittmeister: 4.7.14 1901: 1./H.R. 13 1902: 5./H.R. 13 1903: 5./H.R. 13 1904: 5./H.R. 13 1905: 5./H.R. 13 1.10.1906: Two year course at the Milt?rreitinstitut in Hannover 1907: " 1908: 2./H.R. 13 1909: 2./H.R. 13 1910: 5./H.R. 13 1911: Adjt. H.R. 13 1912: Adjt. H.R. 13 1913: Adjt. H.R. 13 1914: 4./H.R. 13 Rittmeister Waldemar Bodenstedt as a non Selekta or Oberprima class student graduated from the normal senior class of Gro?-Lichterfelde in March 1899 and therefore had no claim to predated seniority. He therefore was commissioned some 17 months later in his regiment after attending a war school and passing the officers' examination. Regards Glenn

Brian, I thought you might be interested in this. Another one of the clan! It is taken from the "Allgemeiner Anzeiger zum Milit?r-Wochenblatt" No. 70 dated the 2nd of September 1893. Regards Glenn

Bob, Bodenstedt was the Regimental Adjutant. As such he is wearing the Adjutant's sash which was worn over the right shoulder whereas the remaining personnel wear pouch belts which were worn over the left. Hussar Adjutants did not additionally wear the pouch belt. Regards Glenn

Bob, sometimes I wonder if they ever used Christian names after childhood! When you see marriage and engagement announcements and birth announcements in the Milit?r-Wochenblatt like: We are pleased to announce the birth of a healthy daughter - Schmidt Leutnant in K?rassier-Regiment Nr. 3 etc, etc or Company commander`s horse for sale, enquires to M?ller Hauptmann in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 132 Regards Glenn

Hi Bob, I will root through my stuff and see if I can come up with any additional information. As Andy remarked at WAF, the dead Prussians' book is very unserviceable indeed when it comes to first names! Regards Glenn

Hi Brian, thats Major Prinz Heinrich von Bayern, born 24 June 1884 and died of wounds received in action at Monte Sate in Rumania on 8 Nov 1916. Leutnant Prinz Ernst von Sachsen-Meiningen and Rittmeister Prinz Friedrich Karl von Preu?en are the other two albeit still alive in their portraits Regards Glenn