Glenn J

Speaking of period adverts, this one tickles me from the mid 1890's. So now we know - German officers slept with their caps on Regards Glenn

Brian, were you aware that Hans Arvid von Klingspor was a Sekondlieutenant in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 137? He died on the 10th of September 1898. Regards Glenn

Hi Rick, I tend to agree. The general appearance of the people in the photgraph suggests 1866-1870/71. Nigel is most likely wearing the Swedish cuff variant of the early marksmanship insignia. Regards Glenn

Hi Tony, regrettably not. Regards Glenn

Hi Tony, you won't find him in the Ehrenrangliste. He was an Austro-Hungarian Naval aviator and a Military Order of Maria Theresia Knight to boot. Awarded the MMThO on the17th of August 1917. See here: Austro-Hungarian Land Forces Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield, born on the 6 Feb 1890 lived until 23 Sep 1986 and was the last surviving member of the MMThO. Regards Glenn

Tony, is the bearded fellow in the middle wearing the double cuff rings of an "etatsma?iger" Feldwebel? These were not introduced until 28 July 1889 Regards Glenn

Hi Christophe, whilst the extract above shows his Oberleutnent patent as 18.6.03 Z4z, the 1902 edition also gives his full Leutnant Patent - 27.1.94 F7f. At that time he was living at B?lowstra?e 32 a III, Berlin. A more famous reserve officer also commissioned on the 27.1.94 was Walter Bloem, the novelist and author of amongst other works "Vormarsch", translated into English as "The advance from Mons". Regards Glenn

Hi Christophe, very interesting to see so much detail on a Reserve Officer. Here is his entry in the 1905/1906 "Rangliste der Offiziere des Beurlaubtenstabdes". Regards Glenn

See this Russian website for an illustration of Wolfan's Aviatik-Berg D.I/Dr.I as a pilot in Flieger-Kompagnie 56J in Italy in 1918: wings palette Regards Glenn

Just for the record, Alfred Bonsack was promoted to Premier-Lieutenant on the 15.7.93. He was originally commissioned in the 1. Magdeburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 26. Regards Glenn

Hi Rick, he has now Oberst Alfred Bonsack. Commander of 9. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 160 in December 1918/Jan 1919 and allegedly of the 9. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade (no mention in the Stellenbesetzung). Died 13 October 1933. Regards Glenn

Hi, k.k Oberleutnant Otmar Wolfan whose parent regiment was k.k. Reitendes Sch?tzenregiment Nr. 2 The 1918 k.k. Landwehr Rangliste shows him as the holder of both a Silver and Bronze Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis). Oberleutnant: 1 May 1917 Even the then Austro-Hungarian authorities could not get the nomenclature right. Wolfan was not a k.u.k. Oberleutnant but a k.k. Oberleutnant - a member of the Austrian Landwehr and not the common army Regards Glenn

Hi wem, A lowly Sekonde-Lieutenant Otto von Below in Hessisches F?silier-Regiment 80 back in 1879! Regards Glenn

Hi Wem, the von Belows are an old Prussian noble family with antecedents back as far as the Thirteenth Century. Gen.d.Inf. Otto von Below was born a noble. Regards Glenn

Hi chaps, we should not make the mistake of viewing the events of 1914-1918 using the rather different values of the early twenty first century. Undoubtedly miscarriages of justice were perpetrated against some of those executed but as Andrew rightly points out, some of these men were executed for civil capital crimes such as murder and rape. Is it suggested that the murderers and rapists should receive a blanket pardon? Regards Glenn

It is difficult to be certain from the photograph but I get the impression he is some of form of non commissioned military official, perhaps a Zahlmeister-Aspirant or Waffenmeister of a mounted unit. He is not wearing a cavalry uniform. Regards Glenn

Chris, 1963 I believe. Regards Glenn

Chris, 1963 I believe. Regards Glenn

Chris, It is the Austrian Bundesheer Wehrdienstmedaille in Bronze or Bronze Military Service Medal. Awarded on successful completion of basic training. Regards Glenn

David, should you be lucky enough to find copies, the full titles are: Offizier-Stammliste des k?niglich Preu?ischen 4. Garde-Regiments zu Fu? 1860-1905 by Paul Curtius, Berlin 1905 Nachtrag zur Offizier-Stammliste des k?niglich Preu?ischen 4. Garde-Regiments zu Fu? 1905 - 1910 by Paul Curtius, Berlin 1910 Regards Glenn

Paul, he is not in the 1904/05 Orders Almanach either. Also no commissioned service in the former Hannoverian Army. Regards Glenn

Paul, here is the title page. Christophe, I will have a look! Regards Glenn

Paul, the Rangliste der Offiziere der k?niglich Bayerischen Armee 1918 is not rare and fairly easy to pick up. It does however only list Bavarian awards. It is more akin to a Dienstaltersliste or seniority list as opposed to the pre war editions of the Bavarian Military Handbook. A 1917 edition was also published. Regards Glenn

Excellent work Rick His Major's RDA is 1.3.31 (4) In 1920-1923 he was in Artillerie-Regiment 3 In 1932 he was on the staff of the Heeres-Waffenamt (WaA) in the ballistics and munitions department - Ballistische- und Munitionsabteilung (Wa Prw 1). He commanded Beobachtungs-Abteilung 4 at Landsberg (Lech) from 1 May 1933 - 30 Sep 1934 and Artillerie-Regiment 5 at Ulm from 6 Oct 1936 - 1 Feb 1937. Born on 12 Sep 1889, died 14 May 1967. Regards Glenn

No wonder I did not recognize him from this earlier mugshot Regards Glenn [attachmentid=4690] :food-smiley-004: