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And of course a nice look of the backside Christer

:jumping: Two more NC ribbonbars in the collection ! First an old soldier ? Preussen War Aid Cross + Honor Cross NC + General Decoration + Long service + 1897 medal Christer

Aha, thanks Rick. So I will have to look for more books to learn something about his guy. Christer

Here is an example how much time, patience and money it takes to learn soemthing about just a small pic The photo shows three Leutnants, named Ehlers ? , Potthoff and Bine ? And this time there was names on the backside The man to the left Ehlers or something is well decorated EK II, EK I , I think Oldenburg FA cross II and Oldenburg FA cross I The middle man is the most interesting with EK II, Lippe KVK and War Honor Cross Since the WHC was only awarded in 740 pieces I thought it would be possible to find out something about him But inspite of all the books I have (and my wife thinks I have to many....) I didnt have the Staatshandbuch from Lippe (I have the book from 1916 where some of the awardees is listed from 1914/15) so I had to order a book from 1918 from Germany! And I hope he was a member from Inf Rgt 55 ? with that in thougt I bought a Regimential story for only 5 Euro ! and of course if the LIppe Rolls will be published next year I will stand first in line for a example!!! Conclusion : You need a lot of research material and its never enough (I hope my wife read this ) Have a nice weekend all ! Christer

And one ex of the book has now a honor place in my bookshelf in Sweden ! Amazing work, this will be read over and over again I promise Christer

Wow ! Thats a real stunning ribbon bar, what is the last three foreign awards ? I can spot a Bulgarian Order of Merit with crown III I think, but the last three is Super bar and very nice photos !! Christer

Hi, he got a III class in 1945 which must have been the old breast type, and the first class in 1959. Seems normal I guess? Or am I missing something an early breast 1941-44 II class 1948 and one more and all this by 1959, he got got be a high ranking officer What did he end up as? Christer

But Wait, the story isn´t over yet !!! LtDr Arnold Kuschel didnt end up as a Bookseller in Hamburg in 1939, the last document I got is this paper dated 13th December 1942 and now he is Hauptmann ( new rank in 1941-42? ) belonging to Gren. Ers Batl 492, if the info I found is rightthis unit ended up in Poland in 1945. In this doc it looks like Herr Kuschel is in Hospital again !! maybe wounded for the sixth time I havent found him in any search for war dead so maybe he survived even the second WW ? Probably he would have an EK II 1939 or a KVK ? to his other medals Now I only wish to get a picture of him so I could see how this tough soldier looked like. Hope you like the story. Christer

Of course this document was followed by a letter of grattitued This time "signed" by OberstLt B Harisanoff Christer

After some years Herr Kuschel got his last? award in November 30th 1939 he got the War medal 1914-18 from Bulgaria Here is the doc first. Christer

And 1935 it was time for another award ! Herr Kuschler have a real collection now of awards ! The Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer signed in July 1935, now he was Kaufmann in Hamburg. Signed by who? Christer

And the certificate itself as shown earlier in this thread. Christer

Now the fighting has ended and we read 1934, Arnold lives in Hamburg and maybe he wants to look like a "real" officer so he apply for the Hungarian medal for participating in WW1 , wich he gets in January 1934 with some paper . First a paper from Oberst aD von Farkas gratulating to the award christer

And of course the back of the cross , with pin marked 800 Christer

Yes ! I got his EK I , a really nice cross marked 800 on the pin, vaulted and with a nice patina Just love it ! Christer

Lt dR Arnold Kuschler seeems to be a real fighter because in December 1919 he was awarded a EK I ? Or is it just a replacement document for a award got in WW1 ? I can´t tell because I didn´t get the doc... sold for a very high prce to someone else here is a pic from the seller , small bad pic.... But I got something else Coming up next ! Christer

And here is the Bulgarian award ( Pic "borrowed" from Rick " I want to have one !!!!!! Christer

Before the War ended he also got a Award from Bulgaria, in 6th September 1918 he was awarded the Military Order of Merit with crown, most probably 5th class. Observe that this document is signed by the Rgts Führer of Reichswehr Rgt 34 in Danzig December 5th 1919, yes so our resrve Leutnant has now been in a new fight. Now in Reichswehr Rgt34 fighting in Poland if I am correct ? Anyone has info about this Reichswehr unit? InfRgt 34 I have a pic of the Bulgarian award in question borrowed from Rick in another thread ( I hope you dont mind showing it here Rick ) Its the ONLY pic I found on this award... Christer

Of course Arnold would like to wear his Woundbadges award on civilian clothes Christer

And here is the woundbadge ! I managed to get some of the top awards from Arnold Kuschel even if I did missed some papers Christer

In March 1919 he got this mucher nicer document, this signed in Danzig (where he was fighting yet another war,more of this later) Christer

Arnold Kuschel seems to have been in frontline duty and had his share of the bullits and shrapnel that flew around the trenches, but he still survived. July 3rd 1918 he got one of the most respected awards the Verwundeten Abzeichen in Mattgelb, or Woundbadge in Gold. In Gold it was awarded for 5 or moore wounds, but since there was no Wound badge before March 1918, Arnold Kuschel probably got this for wounds he had recived during 1914- summer 1918. Amazing that he was still alive in July 1918..... First the preliminary Document signed by some Major. Christer

Well Our Lt survived the Somme and later he got the standard award from his home state the Hamburg Cross. (this document I failed to get , so the tiny pic is from the seller) awarded in 1916 I think. Christer

Here is the EK II, a small piece of ribbon was included. It´s a silver cross maker marked " U " unknown maker to me ? and a very niece example of a bravery award earned in the mud of Flandern Fields. Christer

At last I have my Arnold Kuschel collection , sad to say I missed a couple of important documents and a medalbar but I got the most of it. To start from the beginning (and of course its a mixture of guesses and facts) He was a one year volunteer from Hamburg starting in Danziger Infantrie Regiment 128, maybe in 1909-10? Probably he made a good impression to the company commander and he continued to be a officer aspirant in the reserve. When the War broke out in 1914 he was a LtdR in Inf Rgt 128 belonging to Infanterie Brigade 71 in turn belonging to Inf Div 36. This division fought on the Eastern front in the beginning of the war,and it explains why he later got a Bulgarian award. In October 1915 the division was moved to the Western front and LtdR Arnold Kuschel was now in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the Battle of Somme July-Nov 1916... He was awarded the Iron Cross II class in August 3rd 1916, the temporary certificate is signed August 12 1916 during the battle. It looks like its signed from one Von Metzler? rank ? anyone? More to come !