David Gregory

Gordon, I am sure that most members will appreciate your gesture and the importance of meeting a man who was awarded an item that so many of us seek to own. Thank you for enabling us to share in a real moment of living history. David

Darrel, Very nice. American items are not really my "thing", but I do like attributed awards. What records are available on Purple Heart recipients? David

Robert, The awards are certainly typical for a member of IR 75, but could equally have been given to men of many other units who served in the same areas, including any units attached to IX. Korps, to which both 17. Infanterie-Division and 18. Infanterie-Division belonged. Another factor worth considering is that a number of units were disbanded and their men transferred to other formations in the final months of the war, so your man may have been entitled to the battle entries of more than just one unit. Page 12 should indicate the units he was assigned to. Does it contain any details of his pre-1918 service? David

Barry, There are a number of ways to do this, but a fairly simple method is as follows: With the cursor in an application such as Word or a forum text field, press and hold the ALT key down and enter a number using the number key block on the right of your keyboard to obtain the following characters: ALT + 0224 = ? ALT + 0225 = ? ALT + 0232 = ? ALT + 0233 = ? ALT + 0200 = ? ALT + 0242 = ? ALT + 0243 = ? A complete list of possible characters can be found at http://www.starr.net/is/type/altnum.htm. This method and others are explained in more detail at http://www.starr.net/is/type/kbh.html. It is fairly straightforward and should work on any computer using a recent version of Windows. David

And the same arrangement when closed: [attachmentid=59115]

This keyback version was probably privately purchased. It came with very good credentials as part of a group, so I am happy with it. Open: [attachmentid=59113]

Here are two pinback types similar to some of those above: [attachmentid=59109] [attachmentid=59110]

These look as though the Imperial awards have been reinstituted virtually without change. I wonder just how much Czarist symbolism will be readopted?

Jens, Thanks for the good link. These and ones like them are often sold as reproductions on French eBay, but sometimes offered as original. David

Paul, It is an interesting bar, but the seller seems to have ended the auction early. Do you already have it? David

Stijn, Foot artillery regiments were usually deployed by battalions or even smaller sub-units (e.g. batteries) that were spread among divisional and corps formations. The 2nd batallion was part of 21. Infanterie-Division on the Western Front from May 1918, for example. The Ehrenbuch der Deutschen Schweren Artillerie (2 volumes) and the Badener im Weltkrieg will probably contain references to elements of the regiment, but neither are indexed. If you can provide a bit more information on which part of the regiment you are interested in, I might be able to find something. David

Laurence, I hope I understand your question marks as you intended them. In my opinion, no one should feel stupid for asking a question. However, not all answers are helpful, especially if they are condescending and/or imply that the question was stupid. I did not mean to imply that all answers are stupid, but rather that some answers are stupid, e.g. the condescending kind. If people were afraid to ask questions on a forum for fear of being considered stupid, then this meeting place would be reduced to a simple showcase and not a venue where people can learn something. David

order_of_victory Good for you. Even a very basic knowledge of the alphabet and key words will help to make a lot more sense of what would otherwise remain research by proxy or, at worst, sometimes lead to missing minor details that might be very important. Don't be put off by the Cyrillic alphabet, it really isn't that difficult to grasp and the inscriptions on awards are fairly self-explanatory. German isn't too hard, either. When you have acquired an understanding of the language and covered the basic DDR awards, you can start on learning French and cover French and Belgian awards in one go. David

Jon, There is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers. IIRC = if I recall correctly. Cheers, David

militaria0815, Which archives are there in Darmstadt? I thought that the medal rolls and records had been destroyed during World War 2. Do you have any archive contact information for military records kept until 1918? Many thanks in advance, David

Yes please!

Joe, That abbreviation represents 2nd Bavarian Army Corps. David

Don, I am still very much interested, I just haven't found an affordable one yet that I really like. Cheers, David

Jens, The suspension clip and the leather strap look like a commercial type from the period between the world wars, possibly for the Scouts or a similar organisation. It is a very nice example. David

Eduardo, The ribbon on the left may be that of the Baden MVO, probably for a Silberne Verdienstmedaille. The one on the right still looks like that of the Hessen Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, although it might be for something else. David

Jacky, We made a start at http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5225&hl=. Since then, I have found a few more photos in my files. I'll add them when my scanner decides to do its job again. David

The 1st class is described as a wearer's copy in the auction, so it may well have been cast.

Chris, An anonymous unnamed award will turn up again some time, but this item is unique and begging you to acquire it. Like you, I am also suffering from a self-imposed temporary ban on spending anything on militaria. It hasn't stopped me entirely, but it has slowed me down a little. Go for it, you know it is the right thing to do. David

Chris, While I can't help you with the question of whether the smock is original, although it looks fine to me, I think the drop zone patch indicates that it was worn by a member of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. David

From the size of the stripes, it might also be a Hessen Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen.