Ulsterman

very cool. Aberdeen- by any chance do you have a picture of any of the Continental groups you mentioned? Have you ever encountered an Ethiopian group at all?

very cool! Pristine. May I ask- how much?

What are they Kev? Are they marked on the back at all?

wonderful!! Did you buy it?

Fritz Franz Gustav OSWALD was born in Schippenbeil, East Prussia on the 4th of October, 1870. A Protestant and the son of Privatbaumeister Gustav Oswald and Emma nee' Hein. By 1910 he was married to Frieda nee' Paschke. On October 3, 1891-as an Abiturient- he joined IR 52 as a Volunteer Jan. 27 1893 promoted Lieutenant Jan. 27 1902 S4s Oberleutnant Jan. 1908 J6i Hauptman 01.10.96-31.03.00: Adjutatnt III/IR 52 01.10.00-20.07.03: attended complete course at the War Academy, but he did not pass to the General Staff 15.03.05-18.04.05: Took the course in infantry marksmanship at the Markmanship School (obviously good timing!) 24.08.05-26.01.08: Regimental Adj. of IR 52 27.01.08 transferred, with effective promotion to Captain, to IR 141 22.03.10 transferred as an instructor to the War School Glogau early 1914- transferred to IR 81 23. September 1914 killed in action near Ville Sur Tourbe while serving with IR 87...by someone whose markmanship was just as good...if not better! Awards: RAO4 (received in 1914?) Kaiser Wilhelm Centenary Medal Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th class (BMV4) Source: Stammliste IR 81/ Honor rank lists

From Rick's last trip to Boxborough...from the vaults of Mordor.... " Greetings from the Island! "This is an ironic sword- awarded for marksmanship! This is a beautiful maidenhair Damascus pattern IOD 89 with a two ring nickled scabbard, blackened for wear after 1906. It was -as all such "Kaiser prizes" were- the personal gift of Kaiser Wilhelm himself to the officer commanding the best marksmen in every Army Corps at the annual maneuvers. (The officer also got the REO4 according to some sources). It is inscribed "Ehrenpreis fuer hervorragende Schiessleistungen 1905 dem Oberleutnant Oswald von Infant. Regt. Von Alvensleben (6 Brandenb.) No. 52. With deluxe fittings and a "WII" pommel cap.

The handwriting is too small for my aged eyes-but I do see "IR 116". Can you enlarge them at all?

Cool! Is it still possible to buy the old black/red/yellow ribbons at all?

There is a Kreigsmarine forum linked to the archives in German. This is the sort of thing that they might help with; there must have been an award lists of those made. I doubt Stogie or RR will be able to help with this one. Rick does officers mostly. But he'd LOVE to see it. It would make a great JOMSA article though.

You are right- D'Oh!

Pretty cool- but still cheaper than an SS helmet...but in a few years......

I think what I'm seeing is two Gefreiters and two Unterofficers -Bavarians? @ 1917? Rare indeed. The chaps second from the left looks familiar-seriously.

Does anyone have the Wer Ists...from @ 1930?

IMHO: 1. It's a good 'un-despite the missing LS eagle (it happened)...... (although these days I want to fondle everything before I purchase it) and 2. It is unlikely that it is re-searchable- since the Saxon orders are rather common...and the LS medals don't jump out @ 18-20 years service before 1940 means he's in the Reichsheer/Reichsmarine ranklists somewhere...along with at least 10 other guys. But we might be able to narrow down the possibilities.

The US War Dogs Association has created a medal. They lobbied the pentagon for a CIB for dogs- or use of the Commendation/Merit medal, but so far the Pentagon has nixed that idea: "humans only". See here (beware -the music is country AND western ) http://www.uswardogs.org/id67.html But- this is out there on the web- an EK award by the Kaiser to a wounded dog. I would very much like to check that story, but...stranger things have happened at the hands of a Prussian monarch. http://doglawreporte...ce-dogs-in.html

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! :jumping: :jumping:

I see two Delius (es) in poking around my books (and google) - Rudolf and Heinz. Do you know the names?

Cool!

He was in a Bavarian unit from Berlin- "rot Spandau"?????? I wonder how that happened? Hmmmmm...off to the OOB books.

The Saxon book is in a box buried deep in my attic and almost impossible to reach at the moment (due to my wifes' house renovations), but a GREAT little book is: "Reservisten In Baden-Wuerttemberg" : Freiburg, 1992 by Andreas Maase and Henning Volle . 3000 examples (privately published). I think it was redone @ 2002. It has no ISBN number. (Abe books.com is a good source)

So..... 120-ish total bars awarded? The German Naval archives are notoriously "difficult" (some say "lazy") to access, but I would bet this is the sort of thing they might have records of. It's a great story and by a process of elimination you might be able to narrow this bar down to a couple of dozen enlisted men I'd bet. It must date to at least 1917 given the Prussian war merit cross. I had no idea it was so rare.

Not many- the numbers seem to be rather solid. Bavarian medals have extensive bibliographies and research going back many, many decades. The Bavarian medal museum sponsored such research and it seems rather complete. The Bavarian personnel records for 1914-18 are all on-line at ancestry now and the awards gazettes/lists are still in the archives. Someone can go back and recheck them as a long-term project nowadays with very little effort. My "gut" is that the numbers are probably definitive, but if they aren't maybe a 15-20% at the most? Like you said Dave, how many of these Beamten were there? By the way Claudio- wonderful bar!

Oddly enough- that looks like the Austrian 1914-18 war medal in pre- Anschluss placement.

very cool. The one thing missing was the Hamburg Ehrenzeichen (Deutschefeldehrenzeichen) but there's a ton of information in the book. There is also a REALLY good book on Saxon veterans associations and I have seen another on Bavarian associations too.

I think this one was identified @ 10 years ago. I seem to remember fondling this ribbon bar (gently- and I think he made me wear gloves too) in a parking lot in Lowell @ a decade ago.