landsknechte

Azad Hind:

Another one from the same series:

Please excuse the poor image quality. My scanner is being testy at the moment, and my digital camera is horrid at macro work.

Aaargh. Typoed the title of the subject.

I'm trying to research an ancestor of mine, perhaps the only one of the Civil War veterans amongst them that was high enough ranking to leave any sort of appreciable paper trail: John Archebald Morrison He served as a Lieutenant Colonel with the 13th Kentucky Cavalry, a Major with the 32nd Kentucky Infantry, and before that a Lieutenant and a as a Captain with the 1st Kentucky Cavalry. He makes a few appearances in the book "The Patriots and Guerillas of East Tennessee and Kentucky" written by one of his fellow officers from the 1st KY Cav in 1863. Beyond that, I've found precious little. Anything that anyone might be able to provide me with would certainly be welcome. Thanks, --Chris

Great find. I've been eye-balling those ever since they first appeared on eBay. At the time, I didn't really go after them because there was no way that I could have afforded to win the entire bunch of them (they were all being sold separately). I'm glad that Stogierick was able to rescue the group, and I'm glad to know that they went to a good home. I only have one ribbon bar with a Turkish decoration, a Wurttemburg bar with the "Iron Halfmoon". That bar device is gorgeous. --Chris

Another one that bears a striking similarity, this time from a different seller on eBay with an equally stellar reputation. Excerpted from his listing: FOR YOUR INFORMTION, I hide all my eBay auctions as PRIVATE. This measure is solely intended for the increase of your security. In the past, some of my customers have been contacted by fraudulent "sellers" with offers of similar or identical items. I believe that my bidders have a right to privacy and not to be solicited by fraudulent entities. Funny. I had always thought that private auctions on anything other than porn were generally a bad thing. I feel a little bit better now that he has informt me to the contrary. --Chris P.S. You may now commence snickering.

Excellent read there. Thanks for posting it. ...although I've got to ask, just how long is your commute?!? --Chris

It's all part of the hazing rituals standard to the initiation into any secret society. Just wait until they get to the part with the jello and the ping-pong balls... --Chris

Tell me about it.... What's that last ribbon on the bar in post #29? Never seen that one before. --Chris

Spange Bob? (Sorry, it was just so there...)

The pin arrangement is a bit unusual, but certainly not anything that would set off any alarm bells. This one has a flatter pin, but more or less the same arrangement. --Chris

Admittedly, as a historian, there's a gap in my studies that you could drive the period from the Thirty Years War to WWI through. While we may not be able to ferret out specific genealogical histories of these men, there may be an answer in looking at some general trends or events that may have landed Scots in Germany and Austria. Something along the lines of the French religious wars in the 16th century that scattered Hugenots to all sorts of random places... As a side note, there was still a fairly sizable cultural divide during the mid 16th century between lowland and highland Scots. Obviously Gaelic-derived surnames (i.e. anything Mac) weren't all that well represented amongst the inner-circle of Mary Queen of Scots' court. --Chris

I seem to remember reading a reference somewhere to MacGollob being an Austrian, but that's about the extent of the light that I can shed on the subject. --Chris

Wouldn't the ribbon in fourth place have to be downright yellow to be Bulgarian? I read it as a Czech Annexation with swords.

Not a "baff002" creation, but still painful nonetheless...

It's not the Iron Division medal, that one has very narrow white edge stripes. I honestly haven't a clue what it is, and that's probably why I remember it in the first place. --Chris

A little while ago, this lot of items were up on eBay. Unfortunately, I never bothered to keep track of who ultimately won it. Didn't really matter at the time. Now, this bar appears on eBay: The seller's track record doesn't exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I can't help but wonder if a new EK ribbon was slapped on that first bar, and then medals were thrown on to complete the package. Makes one wonder... --Chris

Now that I've got a rare moment off work, I'm finally getting a chance to update my collection catalog (i.e. book of notes)... What is the "proper" name for the zeal medal, and what would the name for that, and the St. Stanislaus be in Russian? Thanks, --Chris

It's all a matter of geography. You're in Lovecraft territory over there. I live in the backdrop for "Lost Boys". There's a very fundamental difference in paradigm. Not having the benefit of first-hand exposure to the Black Ranklist of the Ancients in the Miskatonic University Library, I've had to slowly float my way down the vortex artifact by artifact. The Pandora's box of speaking the hidden names associated with relics from another time. Perhaps not as benign a hobby as we had been led to believe. Of course, perhaps I only think that I have choice in the matter... --Chris P.S. When I get some time, I'll post the photos of my new Oberleutnant von Mebpaxnomon-Opopazp grouping.

You know you're starting to head towards the point of no return when you start to see ribbon patterns in other places that haven't the slightest connection to them. I caught myself looking at a stack of multicolored 3.5" floppies, and picking out the Ostfront and Saxon FAM that were incidentally formed by the diskettes. I'm sure that there are other collectors that see similarities between patterns in mashed potatos and die flaws in German war badges, so really it's just a matter of choosing your insanity. --Chris

Here's a better photo of the ribbon in question:

My old photohosting website seems to be a little flaky. Here's the picture again:

...and a pic of the family homestead (up until 1838):

Friedrich Egon August Karl Maria Freiherr von Berchem, Major der Luftwaffe a. D. After much searching, I finally tracked down an image of the arms of the barons von Berchem.