christerd

Hmm, I try to do a bigger scan of the 1939-45 ribbon bar , Could the strange Ribbons be Japanese ? Order of the Rising Sun and Sacred treasure for ex ??? Christer

Aha ! Thanks Ulsterman ! So he was a really long long Service Oberstabszahlmeister ..... Hmm the 1937 pic is stamped by a photographer in Königsberg on the back which I suppose dosen´t help much. I tried to do a super scan of the ribbon bar , but I do not know if it helps EK II - KVK x - Würt VK x - EHK - ?? ROA IV Peace ?? - 40 year LS -18 Year LS - ?? PrKO IV ?? - ?? -?? -Hungary MM -Bulg MM If only I had a better (bigger) photo Than we maybe could guess the No 9 and 10 ribbons ... But Ulstermann you got the sharpest eyes yet !! Christer

Thanks Naxos, Maybe he was à Beamter in the First war also, explaining his lack of Bravery awards. ? Christer

And a closeup if the long bar EK-KVK- Würt VK -EHK - ? - and now it looks like Police LS ? - Police LS ? -?? - ?? -?? -Hungary MM - Bulgaria MM A lot of whats looks like peacetime awards but what is No 9 and 10 ?? Christer

And then later during the war he fot some other awards ! Now a stunning ribbon bar , even if its not many high ranking awards ....

And here a closeup of the 1937 ribbonbar EK - Würt Verdienstkreuz X ?-EHK - ?? ROA peace ?? - ?? 1 - ?? 2 - 12 year ? - 18 year ? - ??? Hmm , sorry for the blurry pic , but its the bet I can do Lets see the next one

I wonder if you can help me with two pics of an WH Major ? The first pic is dated 1937 on the back, and shows him with 9 ribbon bar and the second pic is later with a KVK added and some other bringing his ribbon bar up to an impressive 12 !! The question is what does he have ? First the full pic

I recently read a couple of books written by German soldiers in second world war , mostly fighting on the Eastern front. And I agree totally with your thoughts Chris, in 1914-18 it was really a bravery award , but at least 1942 -45 the Iron Crosses was given out as candy in some cases. (not everyone of course ) but still I think the soldiers would rather had Sturmgewehr 44 instead of the EK II The veterans talk about staff officers coming to the front (when it was quiet) and handing out EK to everyone standing up. of course this was in later part of the war and especially on the Eastern front I suppose. Christer

Even Fighting ships went down after being hit by torpedos. An example is HMS Salopian , built as MV Shropshire 10549t 1926. She was torpedoed by U 98 east of Greenland May 13th 1941 , all on board could be saved by other british ships.

S/S Zealandic was a very nice ship and also one of the worst disasters during the war , 10578t built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham 1928 she was a beauty. But the looks didnt help her or the people ombord, 17th January 1941 South of Island she was sunk by Jürgen Oesten in U-106, three lifeboats was reported to have leave but nothing was heard from them again. All 73 from the ship perished, the journy in the lifeboats ending with death must have been terrible.

Japanese ships where sunk at great numbers during the second world war and US submarines played a very important part in isolating Japan from raw materiel. SS Barracoo was built in 1919 by R Thompson and Sons LTD , Sunderland but wwas renamed in 1933 to Michalakis and in 1939 to Kusoyama Maru. With that name she went down after being torpedoed by USS Tunny 8February 1943 west Formosa.

City of Wellington , 5733t build in 1925 for Ellerman Lines. She sailed for 17 years before her destiny met her outside the coast of Africa. 21th August 1942 she was hit and sunk by U-506. Of the crew on City of Wellington 7 was killed in the attack. The submarine itself only lived one year more before itself was sunk in July 1943 , only 6 sailors survived from U 506.

Another ship another disaster , only 6 people died when S/S Holme Force 1216t was torpedoed by a German E-boat August 8 1940, but for those 6 and their families and relatives the war had taken a cruel toll.

Hi Mervyn , Yes the Duchess of York was on fire and very bad damaged so they decided to sink her. A couple of new ones A.H.S Centaur was a former passenger ship that had been rebuild as an Hospital ship for the Australian Navy. 14th May 1943 there was 332 people ombord when she was hit by an torpedo fron the Japanese submarine I-177. A nightmare followed, no life boats could be relaesed due to the extreme short time before she sunk (about 3 minutes) and 268 of the nurses,wounded and sailors followed her to the deep. the survivors among them only one nurse could be saved after 36 hours. The sinking of Centaur was considered to be a war crime but since I-177 was sunk wiyh all hand in 1944 no one could be accused. The sinking was

The S/S Hogarth built in 1893 for the Aberdeen Steam nav Co couldn´t show a similar place in history as NJ Fjord but her fate was moore horrorful. June 7th 1918 she was torpedoed by SM UB 107 under the command of KaptLeutn Eberhard von Prittwitz und Gaffron. Of the 25 sailor on Hogarth only one survived the sinking. UB 107 didn´t make it until november and war end either, she probably hit a British mine in July/Aug 1918 and sank with all hands lost.

S/S N.J Fjord 1425t built at Lolnitz Co 1896 . This small ship had the strange destiny to be the reason to a large sea battle in teh first world war.... She was torpedoed by UC-31 under the command of Otto von Schrader 5th April 1917 , the sinking got both sides into sending war ships to the area wich triggered the Battle of Jutland... Although no one was killed ombord the SS NJ Fjord a lot of sailors lost their lives in the greatest sea Battle in WW 1 that followed ther sinking.

SS Biela was built as War Mastif by Short Bros , Pallion Sunderland 1918, later renamed Biela. She sailed in the convoy ON-62 from Liverpool to Buenos Aires i January 1942 , i md Atlantic she left the convoy and headed South. close to midnight 14th February she was topedoed by U 98 and sunk, all 48 ombord Biela perished in the cold water.

SS Barrdale 5072 t built at Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd in 1925. On way from New York to Abadan she was spotted by U 156 under command of Werner Hartenstein. 17th May 1942 she was sunk by a single torpedo and after the sinking U 156 surfaced and took ombord one survivor as prisoner and 10 tires as war loot ? One ombord Barrdale was killed in the attack.

28th September 1928 was the date when SS Duchess of York was launched in Glasgow , 20021 t and made for Canadian Pacific Steamship Co on the route Liverpool-New Brunswick. In 1940 she was converted to transport troops and sailed with tropps to Europe and POW s to Canada. July 11th 1943 she was atatcked by Luftwaffe , Focke Wulf 200 Condor bomber from KG 40 , none of the 27 ombord was injured but the day after she was torpedoed by Royal navy and sunk. A sad ending for a proud ship.

A ships story is often about the men and woman ombord and many sad and heroic stories can be told about these people. Here is a story about such a ship , HMS Vortigern launched 1917 and in service in WW 1, 1939 again in service in a new war and used as convoy escort between England and Gibraltar. March 1942 she was defending such a convoy against German E-boats when she was torpedoed by S-104 and sunk with the lost of 110 lifes, only 14 could be saved from the water. She now rests in only 17 m deep water off Cromer.

And here a really unlucky ship ... Not only was SS Toran torpedoed in 1940 , she was hit by the British submarine HMS Sealion by mistake ... SS Toran was built for Christiansen Steamship Co 1918 and was on the way to England when she was torpedoed and two omborde died.

Next ship is SS Ionia 3102 t build in 1922 for Hamburg America Line , later to Deutsche Levant Line in 1923 She was attacked and sunk by a British submarine outside Narvik , Norway in April 1940

Torpedo Los !l Long time since I posted some unlucky ships here But now I have a lot of new photos and stories to tell you , here we go..... SS Sockaboemi 7051 t was built in Netherlands 1923 , she was torpedoed by U 356 in December 1941 but this submarine was sunk by Destroyer escort and all ombord killed, but then U 441 put a torpedo in the doomed ship and Sockaboemi sunk. Only one man ombord died in the attack while 69 survived. U 441 itself was sunk in English Chanell 8 June 1944 with all hands....

And of course the inside , with the cross itself

Here is my latest purchase The hardest to find box for Honor Cross ! The turtle coloured I know that these boxes wheren´t given out officially , instead people bought them private. Like the EK I and EK II boxes. But they are insane expensive , since we collectors make the value ourselfs ..... I mean in reality a 1939 Knight Cross maybe have a silver value of ? 20-25$ but everyone pays a LOT more if we can afford it Enjoy !