Rittmeister

Just two awards; the first one must be the M?daille de la Victoire because of the many colours? But what is the second one? White with a star?

I found this soldier between several Belgian POW's but that cap and symbol don't look Belgian to me. Could it be British? I don't think the Belgian Army had any caps like these in 1914.

I only know for sure it was taken in Hannover. I assume this is a Leutnant in an infantry line regiment?

Thanks Mike, for the reply. So in theory this Reimer here couldn't even be among those, if he was commissioned in, say, 1916? Also, where can I buy the Rangliste 1914? I always feel like a pest when having to ask questions for which the answers are so readily available.

Too many Reimer in the Rangliste?

Anybody can tell me something more about him?

Since the subject comes up so many times in so many different places I decided it might be interesting if I did some research of my own. So I searched and found the dossiers of the Belgian military tribunal that was tasked with researching the cases. They did their best in assembling material (mostly the sworn statements of eye-witnesses) but most cases remained unsolved and classified. The curious habit seems to have been on immediatly charge the local commander for the crimes troops under his command supposedly committed; innumerable are the charges of volontary manslaughter (homocide volontaire) against General von Boehm for instance. However, one case drew my attention as it seemed to offer some more depth and at least gave a name of the supposed perpetrator; a certain "Karl von Kohlenberg". The city of Aalst/Aloste in the Belgian province of East-Flandern was inhabited predominatly by the working-class, the province being the first to start up the industrial revolution in Flanders after 1830. The Germans arrived at the gates of the city late september 1914 and started shelling the city. With the city in flames, German troops from the Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment 73 (Hannover) poured in and some of them then seemed to have unleashed fury on the inhabitans, who had mostly resorted to hiding in cellars. Basically, the charges against German troops would be three-fold; plundering, setting fire to houses and murder. According to some eye witnesses, anybody who came out of hiding (mostly to check up on their house during a pause in the shelling) were stabbed or shot to death immediatly. The instigator of the crimes was by several people identified as Oberleutnant Karl von Kohlenberg, whom they described as having led the operations while qui se conduisait en v?ritable forcene - he behaved furious, him being groot and struisch; big and strong. I count at least 25 charged of volontary manslaughter brought against him, all of these happened before the 27th of september 1914. The city fell on 28th september 1914. Kohlenberg was supposed to be company commander of 8.Kompanie of above regiment. Whilst not personally involved in any of the crimes (the stabbing and shooting of mostly male inhabitans) he is at least identified by one person as having given the orders to do so. Kohlenberg didn't survive; the died on the 27th when a burning chimney came down crashing from a roof on top of him. He was buried in Aalst and many of the people who lost a relative walked past the grave each day for the duration of the occupation. Eventually the Belgian military tribunal halted all prosecution on 17.12.1924 because the main suspect was dead. His real name was actually Karl Kohlenberg, the "von" seems to have been a collective illusion after the war. So my question is, can anybody provide any more details on this person? I know next to nothing on him. He is buried at Vladslo. I also vaguely remember a post by forum member Ulsterman who, on a topic with the same subject, referred to IR 73 as being a source of much problems. Could it be the same regiment? It would seem that the German war crimes were the result of a small number of bad apples.

Yes, I know that book, but I wondered if there exists something that is the equivalent of the German Rangliste for Russian Imperial officers? It seems like all of the immigrants served during the Great War.

The end of the Russian civil war in favour of the bolsheviks saw a mass-exodus of Russians, I presume most of them to be soldiers of the defeated White armies. I don't know if Belgium was a popular destination for Russian immigrants in this period. Most of them settled in Brussels. I assume that individual soldiers will have left no traces in Russian archives or literature, so researching them will be pointless? I noticed that a disproportionate of them were officers, which would also explain how they managed to immigrate and rebuild their existance. Farmers or handworkers would usually not have the necessary funds for such a journey, even if they felt the need to emigrate. So I focus here on officers only and wonder if anybody has more information regarding their respective war service? I mention here some of them; Michel Hovansky-Krasnoff, born 02.03.1898 in Petrograd. Naval officer, took part in the Great War 1914-1918. Th?odore Essen, born 19.09.1887 in Abdoulino. Captain in the Russian Imperial army, 1914-1918.

Thanks Glenn- I believe that the second Nobach must be the one that I am looking for. He was 28 years old when commissioned, that is indeed rather old. He went to a Kadettenanstalt. Are these the only two Nobachs to be found? Since the searched Nobach was not a professional soldier I think the second one Glenn found must be the right one.

Thanks Mike, that's very helpful. Any other tiny fragments available, like surname or birth date?

Can anybody provide any more informations regarding this man? He was born 1879 in Ostpreu?en. Served as an officer for 12 years in the alte Heer and thus participated in World War I.

Thanks, Ralph!

In 1925 he was the British military attach? in Belgium. Was he still in active service by 1940?

Back to the drawing board it is for me- tried identifying this man by his awards but there are too many in his regiment with the combination we identified. Hence my last ditch effort; is it possible that we missed an Ordre de Lepold (avec palme)? The first, white medal on the top bar seems to show two medals. It's also bothering me that there are two palms? But on the same award? I attached a better scan, hopefully it reveals something positive.

Hi Roel, Sorry for the late thank you and reply to your post! Okay, I now can make out that Belgian medal bars have their own logics. Translating the award names into their French names, I thus get this sum of (5) awards for this man; - Ordre de la Couronne (or: Ordre de Leopold) - Croix de guerre (avec 2 Palmes et Lion?) - Yser-Medaille - Medaille Commemorative de la guerre - Medaille de la victoire Last but not last there's the attached photo showing the man's two aiguilletes. One will surely be the Vuurkoord of his unit (which one?), which of course raises the question what the other one is for?

Thanks a lot for all the quick help! I'm, however, a bit confused. Let's start with the awards that are surely to be seen; - Ysermedaille - Oorlogsherinneringsmedaille 1914-1918 - Overwinningsmedaille 1914-1918 So, these are sure. However, I seem to count many more medals on the bar. Am I mistaken when I count like the German system? Were Belgian ribbons wider than German ones, giving the impression to my untrained eye that there are at least 5 on each row? I've attached an image with some numbers so that I can learn how to identify the awards properly in the future; 1) Not yet identified? 2) Oorlogskruis met twee palmen and a lion? What was the importance, if any, of a lion here? 3) Ysermedaille 4) Not yet identified? It has a crown? According to love4history, the last bar on the second row was an interallied victory cross, I can't seem to find that one on this site, however. So that leaves, to my untrained eye, many more awards to be identified, no? I seem to count 6 awards on the lower row alone? Thanks for all the help and the patience with a newbie!

Can somebody recognize the awards? I can recognize two palms and one crown on the ribbon bar. The other ones I don't know. I assume it would be something like Oorlogskruis met Palmen and Kroonorde?

Thanks for the replies! I tried to enlarge the photo as best as I could, thereby showing the arm since he appears to be wearing an armband of some sort? Also, why would cavalry officers wear the Litewka instead of the Ulanka?

An officer, but from which regiment? The unusual thing seems to be the button on the Krage, could it mean they are from a Sachsen regiment? Also the uniform combination is unusual, a white Waffenrock and black trousers? They are horseriding trousers clearly, but part of the uniform or just for training?

I am impressed! Indeed, he is wearing Feldgrau and the photo was indeed taken at the earliest in 1916. Of course, there are two pips! As you can see I'm a newbie to this and easily thrown off guard. I didn't even see the "A", is it just below the crown? I guess it would stand for Emperor Alexander, which the regiment carried in it's name, and the roman numeral "III" for the regimental number. The numeral however seems strangely crafted, the first digit almost looks like a 3. Is there a reference somewhere, where the numerals are better depicted? Regarding the double piping of the Epauletten, according the site I quoted they had "Gilt on white with gilt cypher". Indeed I can also make out the darker piping, seemishly red. According to the (digital) textbook, it shouldn't be there? Thanks again for your help, I've learned a lot.

Hi Rick, I'm curious, is the DAL for example 1914 available somewhere? Or is just the lucky few that managed to get copies or something?

Dwmosher: Thanks a lot! You've pretty much solved it. UL1 it is then. The piping on the ulanka is indeed white. I'm curious though how you figured it out. The Epauletten show only 1 pip, yes? Then there seems to be a crown, and then some symbol I couldn't figure out. What does it represent?

Attached the man's Schulterklappen. Who can fully identify it? I can only identify a pip for Oberleutnant.

Thanks Blackhorse and Mr. Lemke for the interesting discussion! I have a question that might provide some insight; on the Schulterklappe of this officer I can clearly see a crown. Would a member of Ulanenregiment 1 wear this?