David Gregory

Christophe, Very nice example! This an award that I am also looking for including, of course a document. David

Rick, Which Schaumburg-Lippe awards will you be including in the rolls to be published? Only the orders or also decorations such as the Kreuz f?r treue Dienste? Do you know how many Kreuz f?r treue Dienste were awarded? David

Dan, Although I am sure my modelling and painting skills would never do any of your figures justice, I would prefer to see the Landsturm soldier as a figure. David

Erich, You are a very lucky man! David

Wild Card, I have just found the award details in Peter Ohm-Hieronymussen's book on the Mecklenburg-Strelitz orders and decorations. He reports that 269 crosses with the inscription "Tapfer und Treu" and 14 crosses with the inscription "F?r Tapferkeit" were awarded between 1871 and 1872. Of the crosses bearing the inscription "Tapfer und Treu", 180 were awarded in 1871 and 89 in 1872. All 14 crosses marked "F?r Tapferkeit" were awarded in 1871. The recipients of the latter 14 crosses are listed. Your example is rare indeed. David

Rick, The correct unit entry for Leutnant der Reserve Georg Eschenhagen should read: Eschenhagen, Georg Lt dR Res Feldart Rgt 5 19.07.18 533 Besides all of the other tireless and unpaid work you do for us all, thank you very much for providing Eschenhagen's award date. From J?rgen Kraus excellent two-volume handbook of the troops and formations of the German Army 1914-1918, I know that Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 5 was part of 5. Reserve-Division when he was awarded the Z?hringer L?we. At that time, 5. Reserve-Division was fighting on the Avre and the Matz. David

Great condition and interesting to see an unblocked tube! Do you need any sort of paperwork to own something like this in your neck of the woods?

Chris won't be back for the best part of a fortnight.

Hi Tom, Very nice! Is the suspension ring on the MEZ original or has it been repaired? TIA, David

Before it is destroyed or otherwise disposed of, it would be a good idea to post the weight and dimensions.

The man on the left in the image in post number 14 resembles Paul Hausser. Could it be him?

Are there GMIC meetings in OWL that I don't know about?

The Battle of Neuve-Chapelle was in mid-March, so the units that fought there might have been rotated out of the area by May. Elements of Pio.-Btl. 22 were spread over 7 different divisions, which makes it hard to pin them down by the number alone. I wouldn't rule out the other units solely due to the lack of the right cuffs, as the supply situation was never entirely cut and dried. However, Bavarian 22. I.R. was part of 3. bayerische I.D. at the time and around 30 kilometers south of Neuve-Chapelle in May 1915. Prussian 22. I.R. was with 11. Reserve-Division in Verdun for a prolonged period and L.I.R. 22 was somewhere on the eastern front. 13. I.D. was just a few kilometers south of Neuve-Chapelle in the area of La Bass?e from early May until late June. This makes FAR 22 quite likely, which would suggest the men were part of an artillery observation group. Is this a single photo or part of a group?

I have to agree with Mike. The image may be very poor and misleading, but it doesn't look good from here.

I agree with Mike. The straight (rather than curved) serif on the number 1 seems to be a common feature of what is generally accepted as a fake. The discolouration on the rear does not inspire any confidence in me, either. As someone who tends to be cautious (rather than really knowledgeable), I would rate this as "not for my collection".

My books arrived this week! Thank you Rick and Daniel and all of the other gnomes behind the scenes. Within two minutes of checking some names in the SEHO book, I discovered that a small document group I have to a Saxon Oberleutnant is not complete. I wonder how many more fragmented document groups I have? Never mind, at least I now know what to look out for and I can start making some dedicated enquiries about the missing parts of the jigsaw puzzle(s). I am still astonished at the low numbers of bestowals for some of the awards. The rolls are an amazing resource and absolutely essential for anyone seriously interested in researching the lives and times of the original recipients of the items in our collections. Will it be possible to create an online errata, perhaps in the form of a series of PDF files, as and when additional information becomes available?

What a beautiful addition to a growing collection of very rare items! Is this cross the one from the other side of the pond that you told us about?

Rod, If the sword was sold by a distributor in Dortmund, it was without doubt given to the recipient by a rifle club in Dortmund-Scharnhorst, which is just to the north-east of the town centre. There is no rifle club by that name there any more, but I'll ask a friend of mine who lives in Dortmund and works as a historian for the Landschaftsverband to see if he can find anything. David (who used to live near the Westpark in Dortmnund)

Tom, That looks like "gew. v. d. Sch?tzen-Comp. Scharnhorst 1906", which means dedicated by the Sch?tzen-Compagnie. Although it sounds like a military unit, Sch?tzen-Comp. Scharnhorst 1906 is almost certainly a rifle or shooting club. Is there any other information on where it came from, e.g. maker, distributor, engraver? David

Gordon, Very interesting. Where did these images turn up? I wonder how many members here could recreate some of these displays with what they have in their collections. David

Great image! I really like his belt.

There is a small town called Scharnhorst not far from Celle. It might also be the name used by a rifle club in a place with Scharnhorst as part of the name, e.g. Dortmund-Scharnhorst.

Looks like = Kommander der Mineurgruppe S?d (.....)

= Train-Abteilung 18, Eisenbahn-Betriebs-Kompagnie 22

Don, I've only ever seen this type of document issued to men wounded in WW1. Conversely, I have only ever seen the more or less standard 1939-45 format document (except for expedient types issued in the field) for awards of that era, including those to members of various organisations serving in Germany: TENO, Beamte, firemen, railway workers, etc., who were injured during bombing attacks. Although I hesitate to say "never" when it comes to collecting militaria, I would be very surprised to see one of these documents issued for wounds/injuries sustained in 1939-45. David