David Gregory

A couple more:

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Here are a few I have.

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Tony,

Very nice results - I wish I had the opportunity to clean (and sand-blast?) my finds. After we have moved, I'll be able to turn part of the cellar into a workshop where I can finally separate some of the better bits from the crud still attached to them.

Did you sand or shot-blast the shrapnell or use some less violent method?

Cheers,

David

And part of what I think is the gun they're standing around:

Dan,

Its a large rangefinder, probably used for heavy-calibre Flak.

David

Do you mean that the tank displayed at the Panzermuseum in Munster isn't an original ?

Jaques,

The A7V displayed at Munster is a replica.

David

Tony,

Very nice piece.

I wonder if it is evidence of Chav fashions at a much earlier date than previously known?

David

From past experience, I think the seller is a she (or at least seems to be).

Considering what he/she buys on eBay, the seller must have a good idea of what he/she is doing.

Jason,

Thanks for sharing these great images. Not all of us will ever have the opportunity to see that unique piece of armour in person.

Until I get to your part of the world, the replica at Muster tank museum is the closest I have seen to anything that conveys an impression.

Thanks,

David

Hi Dan,

I have to say that a real good job has been done by the French Ministry of Defense these last years. Not only have they published the booklet mentioned earlier, but they have also scanned all available combattant cards of french WW1 vets. This gives as a result an extremely well done, extensive and easy to consult database, as it is available on the web.

Last but not least, all Poilus have been honoured these last years : presence in official commemoration ceremonies, awards of the L?gion d'Honneur, attention of the media and stories published...

Cheers.

Ch.

Christophe,

Can you post a link to the online database for the French combattant cards or any other information on individual soldiers?

Are all known WW1 French combattants listed or were some of the records lost or destroyed in the past?

Many thanks in advance,

David

Kevin,

Without being able to offer any expert opinion, the items he is offering seem to be OK.

As a side note, this seller has a very long track record of splitting good groups of documents and awards. Judging by the stunts he has pulled in the past, the items in his current auctions probably really did come from the family and he is now scattering them to the wind for as much as he can get.

David

Congratulations on an excellent addition to an already impressive collection.

I have been looking for a group like this, or even a single MEZ2 document, for a long time. I hope you manage to reunite the entire group.

Any chance of scans?

Cheers,

David

von Oelhafen : der Feldzug in S?dwest Deutschs?dwestafrika

Alright.... who has it !!!!!!

It has a list of KIAs and WIAs ???

And much, much more....

Anyone have it ? :-(

Chris,

I don't know if this is the one you are looking for, but the following is on offer at www.zvab.com (search terms Feldzug S?dwest) for a lot of money:

Oelhafen, Hans von

Der Feldzug in S?dwest 1914-1915. Auf Grund amtlichen Material bearbeitet. Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft f?r kolonialen Fortschritt e.V. Berlin, Safari-Verlag, 1923. 4?. Mit 42 Abbildungen auf Tafeln, 27 Skizzen und 5 Anlagen. Mit einer Liste der Gefallenen und Verwundeten (21 Seiten). Original-Broschur-Einband in Halbleinen aufge bunden. Selten

[ nach diesem Titel suchen]

- Bei den gefalteten Anlagen I, II und III handelt es sich um Gliederungen der Truppe, bei der Anlage IV, nicht als Anlage gekennzeichnet, handelt es sich um eine mehrfach gefaltete farbige Karte, bei der Anlage V dann um das mit eingebundene Ortsverzeichnis zu der Karte.

Artikel-Nr. 130406-1623

79 weitere Eintr?ge gefunden im

Katalog Kolonialgeschichte beim Anbieter Antiquariat Rolf Salchow - Lila von Meer, Deutschland

and

Oelhafen, Hans von -

Der Feldzug in S?dwest 1914/15. Auf Grund amtlichen Materials bearbeitet. Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft f?r kolonialen Fortschritt e.V. Mit 42 Bildern, 27 Skizzen und 5 Anlagen

Berlin, Safari-Verag, 1923

[ nach diesem Titel suchen]

Gr.-8?, 264 SS., 8 Bll., neuerer Leinenband mit R?ckenschild. Papierbedingt gebr?unt. [ SW - Afrika ]

Sprache: Deutsch

Artikel-Nr. KOL17527

39 weitere Eintr?ge gefunden im

Katalog Geographie Kolonien beim Anbieter Antiquariat Heinz Tessin, Deutschland

David

Paul,

That is an excellent group.

You are lucky to have the Friedrich cross award document as part of a group, since the single documents usually feature no information other than the name of the recipient and the award date.

Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 27 was part of 7. Infanterie-Division and later transferred to 211. Infanterie-Division, both of which spent the entire war on the Western Front.

David

Barry,

That is a fascinating group of documents, which are nicely complemented by the added awards and ephemera.

Since it is almost impossible to know if the awards and documents of a given group really belonged together, I also acquire single examples of awards and bars for display purposes to go with the document groups that are my main collecting interest.

Your eclectic approach makes for an interesting collection.

David

Daniel,

Put me down for one of each volume to be published, too. I only collect the odd medal bar as a side line, but the lists will be useful to me when researching officers' signatures on documents and working out what they also received.

Are there any plans to make electronic versions of the lists available? Perhaps together with the printed versions for serious buyers? It would certainly help people to find names and sort by units, etc., more quickly.

Many thanks in advance,

David

Jens,

Nice piece of kit.

In the image in post #2, it looks as though the British broad arrow /| and serial number have been removed.

It seems to be identical to compasses that were certainly in British Army stores until the mid 1980s. I have seen these dated from the 1930s, but yours is the earliest I have seen until now.

David

Here is a clean example of the Ehrenkreuz 3. Klasse mit Schwertern for junior officers from the front:

And from the back:

This seems to be the same combination to be sewn to the uniform:

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Perhaps there are more of these (navy?) guys around?

I think I have exactly the same combination as a sew-on ribbon bar, which is probably already packed up for a forthcoming move.

I'll post a scan when I can get to it.

The medal might be OK for display purposes, but the document is unique and definitely worth chasing, particularly in view of the location and events relating to its issue.

Many spectacular orders were bestowed to officers who commanded units that were involved in famous actions, but an award for bravery to a simple soldier such as this was earned the hard way.

If I had the funds available, I wouldn't hesitate to bid on it.

G?nther von Reichenbach (born Thorn 31.12.1863) had long served in Hamburg Inf Rgt 76 before transferring to Inf Rgt 140. He's wearing his Johannitter Order cross very nicely stitched on, and ribbon bar of

Red Eagle Order 4, XXV, 1897, and Saxe Ernestine House Order Knight 2nd. Unfortunately I only have the combined rolls from about 1911 and he got that before his promotion rto Hauptmann in 1898. Retired as Oberst after the war.

The Saint Stanislaus ribbon was also used on a variety of Zeal Medals and so on...

but that is very definitely an OFFICER'S Old Style ribbon bar and not an enlisted man's dual purpose one, so methinks what you have in the middle there is a Swedish Sword Order, and this is a pre-war bar.

Will see if I can spot a suspect before the war.

...

No match in 1914 (actually end of 1913) for reguklars and dR. haven't looked dL or aD. Might also be well back before 1914, but always start closest to when the styl was last worn....

Rick,

Thanks for the additional information on von Reichenbach.

If the bar is a pre-war officers one for a Saxon service award, Swedish Sword Order and something Russian, would an officer have received a zeal/merit medal or is a Stanislaus order more likely? I thought the zeal medals were for NCOs, or did officers receive them, too?

What would a Saxon do to receive Swedish and Russian awards pre-1914? Was he just in the right place when the relevant monarch visited or are there any specific connections between Saxony, Sweden and Russia?

Thanks in advance,

David

Is it possible, that this binocular was captures by the germans and they added their unit mark? Possibly Reserve-Infanterieregiment 33? The letter "R" and the numbers are completely different from those of the maker/serial number stamp.

Jens,

Nice optics!

The mark might have been added by the Germans, but there was no Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 33.

It might also be a unit, depot, issue or other property mark.

All you need now is a nice trench in your garden and you can watch the neighbours without being seen

/David

Ribbon bars are not really my "thing", but these turned up (separately) on German eBay and were too nice to resist.

Single Saxon service award ribbon bar:

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The Saxon service award and the Braunschweig non-com ribbon below seem straightforward, but what does the Russian ribbon represent?

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Major von Reichenbach of Infanterie-Regiment 140 also used this plain type of ribbon bar. I worked out what the awards were from the 1926 rank list, but my notes have been filed separately from the photo:

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A close-up of the bar:

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And his cloth star:

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The friendly Frenchman who pointed out where the photo was taken also gave us a print of the same street taken looking in the direction in which the men of RIR 73 were marching in the photo above.

Like most of the other buildings in the village, the church was destroyed and rebuilt after the war. The memorial seen just behind the fountain was erected by the Germans to honour the Crown Prince during the war.

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Not surprisingly, the monument wasn't rebuilt by the French. By coincidence, Chris parked his yellow car in exactly the same spot. Like the soldiers photographed 90 years ago, Tony and I are doing our best impressions of people taking a rest after spending more time on their feet than we are used to.