Ulsterman

Unusual- and my first impulse is to say "fake". There are lots of these style Austrian wunder-bars out there and they have been flowing into medal fairs since the mid 1990s (that I am aware of-probably even earlier). The Wurtemberg medal is what does it for me. Also -what about the placement of the HKx? The bar says " Austrian: brave, war volunteer, enlisted man"- with MAYBE some sort of technical capability (trains, motor transport, engineering, telephones, etc.). But there is no merit cross either. Did Wurtemberg give lower medals to foreigners? The rest of the medals could easily have been earned by say, an Oberlehrer (who taught French?) who was also a local functionary-or even, say a Sonderfuhrer recalled in 1938. If it's that old, my guess is 5:3 odds it's ok, but the stitching also sounds faint alarm bells. Stitching is more Stogiemans' area than mine.

Nice ! Well done.

Yes, I know. However, there exist photos or red cross men wearing EKs (in 1917/18) AND Hks (yes frontkampfer crosses) in the 1930s. I assume they were wrongly awarded, but such things happened-rarely- and indeed- still happen today. However, I have never seen HK docs to railroad men , postmen, other bureaucrtas (beamten) or female nurses-although I have seen KVK docs to such civillian types.

It is a stamped autograph- probably pre stamped and awarded from the unused stacks on the desk as the war wound down. Was not 30.x. 1918 the turkish armistace?

wow! What was supposed to fly from-a battleship?

Drat! zuruck feuer!

Great photos! I really ike #1. stogieman would weep.

Nice picture Tosun! Welcome to the forum. perchance can you read the old Ottoman turkish script?

Oh My God! Is that a REAL one? It is isn't it? That is the rarest badge of WW1 right? Gordon you amaze me.

Wow!!! I want one for Christmas! WOW!!!!!! Nice one.

Good stuff. In this case not bad loking. I like the British awards better though-but a FAR cry better than the Australian republican monstrosities.

Why not? Many navy men who stayed loyal during the Spartikist revolts and further chaos were considered hard core men and fought with the freikorps. They never were under allied fire, but fought in Berlin etc. etc.. This could easily be, say, a navy cadet's bar who got the EK for "later service". It would tie in nicely with the Italian order too (as awarded-perhaps in 1935/43). Given the length of service he could be Reichsmarine. What colour is the backing? I'll bet it's blue or black.

Komsomol= Communist Youth Organization

It does look very new. I wear shirts longer than one day and they look worse than that.

I think so too-does it sound "dull" if you let it drop onto a hard surface? Interesting the ribbons aren't cheap plastic red though-maybe a Taipei medal instead? What does the back say? USairforce?

Yoemanry? Old R.A.?

Beamter?

Doesn't that say May 1899? One cockade? I have several pictures of these being worn-all to NCOs-presumably the good ones of a regiment. I also have a couple of Officer Stellvetreters in 14-18.

Yes! Yes!! More! More!!

Ah-had he been with the emperoro Waterloo might have ended far differently.

somebody living in Polish Silesia, either an ethnic German or a Pole, who served in the old Prussian army. It happened -a lot. In June, 1944, my Uncle ( a red hat) escourted a series of Wehrmacht POWs off the beach on to the ships. Most were young Poles and their sergeant was an old WW1 vet with a Kaiser Wilhelm moustache- and was also a Pole-or so he claimed.

WOW!!!!!! GREAT BAR. Congratulations. That is the best thing i've seen in 6 months.

I agree-it is in place before the Austrian medal. A subtle distinction-but perhaps aesthetic.

Officer Long Service medal-25 years-Landwehr if military, non-medical (unlikely) or as below, REO, Eagle medal for teachers, a state award as a Doctor (or even a noncom EK2 (1870) or even 1914 version-most of the latter went to civvys anyway-Burermeisters, bureaucrats, private MDs working at war hospitals, and even some Chaplains, etc. OR LS medal (NCO) or AEZ . I can not find my notes, but if memory serves a noncom 1871 medal on a noncom ribbon indicates noncom service in a noncom unit/occupation. This man could well have been a stretcher bearer at the front. Note the lack of bars though. He could also have been a medical officer/nurse sitting in Berlin treating wounded soldiers from Sedan. Many of these noncom medals went to medicals, but some went to Chaplain types too. I think I have seen one to a bandsman somewhere. What ever he was, we know he was born at least in 1853 and was still kicking about in 1916-18 to get a war aid cross at age 63-or above.

Actually-in thinking about it I suppose the Waterloo medal is the shortest campaign-June 16th-18th (72 hours) got you the medal, so long as you were "there" and not in Brussels.