Gerd Becker

Thanks a lot to you both. That was a tough one. I didn?t came further than the Senior Lieutenant Petr Does his rank correspond with his rank on the photo? I am not familiar with 1940?s Uniforms so well. Thanks again Gerd

My skills are a little better now, but still not good enough to be sure about the name in this document. Could someone please translate the name of this gent?

Don?t you wish, you had the serialnumbers to the awards on these Ribbonbars? Here is one, i would love to have the serialnumbers. OPW 1st class, 2 X OPW 2nd class, MMM, VoG, 20,30 and 40 years Victory in GPW, Capture of Berlin, Liberation of Warsaw, Veteran of Labor, 50 and 60 years Armed Forces of the USSR.

And here is another nice Ribbonbar with an interesting combination. ORS, Bravery Medal, MMM, Lenin Centenary Medal, Defense of Stalingrad (Or Partisan Medal 1st class?)VoG, 20 and 30 years Victory in GPW, Capture of Budapest, Capture of Vienna, Liberation of Prague, Valorous Labor in GPW, 50 and 60 years Armed Forces.

Herzlich willkommen, Micha

Very nice, OOV. GAP means Howitzer Artillery Regiment, but i wasn?t able to find the 429th yet. Still looking...

Oops, my bad I know, what you are talking about, it was the same in my family. I suppose, there were only a few families in the BRD, who did not have any relatives there. But that could fill an own thread, i guess. But though, i still envy them for their opportunities right after the fall of the wall. Can?t wait to read your story all the best, Gerd

Yes, indeed! Thank you, James

I like it, construction and wear on the ribbons look good to me. Maybe there was a device of the 1st class, who knows... with 50 and more years service, he could have been a higher functionary in the Luftschutz organisation and one of the few recipients of a 1st class?

Hi Frank, please do write about your experiences and contact to soviets, i would love to hear about it. Also from other members. Unforunately i have started with collecting soviet awards much too late and never got the chance to meet russian veterans. I envy you "Ossies" for that, really. I wish, i would have started right after the fall of the wall, but at that time i didn?t think about collecting soviet awards, collecting girls was more important Please do share your stories and hopefully other members will share theirs also. regards, Gerd

In my opinion the Oldenburg FA-Cross 1st class is the nicest designed of the EK-"equivalents", especially the pinback-awards. Its much more an "iron cross" than the IC itself also.

Hi Dave, this link answers your question: http://www.bundesarchiv.de/zdn/viewsingle....6446664fbd5d92e He was Generalkommissar f?r die Banken in Belgien 1914-1919 regards, Gerd PS: I guess, only a handful of people are knowledgable enough to comment. Interested? For sure!

Dave, thats an awesome collection. Thanks for sharing. The piped Panzer LTC is a killer!!! Gerd

Darrel, he wrote me, that he just wanted to try something else and the authentification service was an idea, which he had for a while. The rest you know already... It has good and bad sides. The bad side is of course, that we can?t buy militaria from him anymore, but the good sides are his new business, which will be very useful for many of us, especially with the price-range, he mentioned to me (please ask Alexei himself, as i don?t know, if he wants it to be public yet) and the other good side is, that he promised to stay with us and will also frequent the forums a little more, also this one. I guess, when the dust has settled a bit, he will comment himself at this place and tell us the reasons and the terms for his new business. However, i agree of course with the sentiments above. He was the best most trustworthy dealer out there and i will miss his offers too. But fortunately the friendly and knowledgable person stays with us and i look forward to his participation here on the forum.

Sascha, whats the Long-Service clasp, he wears? AWESOME photo!!!!

Nope. Check his website. I assume, he stops because of his new authentification-service. I mean, thats, what we all wanted, but not, that he doesn?t sell anymore. He probably only wants to avoid, that people say, he authentificates everything, he sells. He is more independent this way.

Gentlemen, i don?t know, if you already noticed, but Alexei Merezhko closed his business. He informed me in an email and its also noted on his website. I really hope, he won?t be completely gone from the hobby, as i appreciate his advice and his character very much. Damn, what a shock in the morning hours... I guess, that is the kiss of death for collecting for some of us. I probably have to stop soon too with these prices, we have to pay now. Gerd

Christian, very nice Naval-group, congrats

Amazing story, Tony. Something, i dream of. Christian, nice low number on the OPW 1st class. You have got to get it researched. I would love to see the duplicate, if you still own that one. Gerd

Great examples, Bill. I agree, you should try to get these researched. I don?t have any this low numbered stars the ones i have begin in the 100k area.

Couldn?t agree more with Dave.

Amazing Military/Labor group with an incredible amount of background history. And the ice on the cake is of course, that you got it directly from the veteran. Doesn?t get better! Wow! Thanks for sharing. Gerd

Hello SPM, click on "Militaria Database" ( in the row with the search-button), then "Germany" and there you will find Rick?s article. Hope, i could help. regards, Gerd

I wonder, if its possible to add "previous" and "next" buttons in the closeup-pages? So you don?t have to go back and forth to see the next picture. Not a big problem, but i think, these buttons could be useful. Gerd

I agree, thats a nice collection, Christian What are the OGPW?s numbers and variations? Gerd