Bernhard H.Holst

Hello readers. A recent auction had this medal described as the campaign medal for East- and West Africa. As Peter Duckers in his book British Military Medals, 2009 writes that this medal does not come without a clasp and the offered one shows no clasp I was wondering. But with the reverse described by Peter Duckers as one of the most beautiful ones devised I took the chance , bid and obtained it. Having received it I found the rim inscription to read " H. Thompson Py O??2cl HMS Himalaya". A search revealed the "Himalaya" to have gained battle honours in Ashantee 1873-74. So it seems to be the campaign medal for the Ashanti ( Ashantee ) campaign of 1873/74 and not for any East or West Africa campaign. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Paul. I cannot help with the signature but here is the inscription in red: lt. G.M.K. Sammelstelle I v. 17.3.17 ztg 3 Monate g.v.H. dann K.v. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris. You are welcome to make use of any material posted by me in this Forum. You may also be interested in another post by me about Marechal des Logis Theodore Haneman. Searching by his name should give you the post. as I am unable to give you a link.Capitaine Gilnaves ( I have encountered different spelling of his name) was the company commander of a good friend of mine until he was killed at Hoa Binh during the beginning of the evacuation of this strongpoint . He was much liked and missed as I was told by several members of his company. Please mention this to the comrade Jatczak Bernhard H. Holst

hello Jim. Krim Shield signed by v. Manstein and Kuban by v. Kleist. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello. To summarize the description of the deed(s) that led to the award it was of note that during a bombing attack which killed a number of troops several were severely wounded and were in exposed positions. Uffz. Knappe retrieved them and sheltered and treated them without being intimidated by further bombing and strafing. He distinguished himself on two other occasions. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Thanks for showing these documents. I do not believe the Bann number 77 was derived from the 2. Hannoversches Inf.Rgt. Nr.77 . The H.J. had their numbering system. Good luck with the new employment coming real soon, right around the corner. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Rick. If you can at all: BOTH !! But should you go with the first one, I would be willing and able to acquire the St. Henry et al. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Heiko. Morten showed the relevant entries from the Lohmann and Hildebrand reference book. Of note is the ending entry " verstorben" which shows that K.-Kpt. d.R. was not killed in action or "gefallen" but died of other causes while in command of 18.Vorposten Flotille but location is not given ( some hospital or such ). He was awarded the D.K.i.G. while with the 18. Vorposten Flotille probably as commander of the flotilla. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Nice photos these. Jungmaedel wears the Kletterweste ( climbing vest ), a mustard colored short jacket and what seems the "Teufelsmuetze" or devils cap quite the rage then. Grand mother does not look too happy, does she?!? The SA sign shows the correct applied SA der N.S.D.A.P. nomenclature and then the Standarte with the assigned number. Thanks for bringing these up. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Interesting photos you hunted up. It seems to be about the time leading up to the 1936 Olympic Games. The very last is of the stadium where most of the games took place. In the foreground the thingy where the flame was displayed. The very first a government building, perhaps Goering's air ministry? If so this and the Olympic Stadium grounds were defended until close to the end of the fighting in Berlin April/May 1945. The tall tower part of the Olympic Stadium but not sure. The " flag tower" is a new one on me, never saw that before. Impressive and shows the output of what must have been a thriving manufacturing part besides Krupp. Thanks for showing these. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Thanks for bringing these to our attention. These must be rare, just noting the dates , only a few days before the cease-fire. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Douglas. This helped and here is the translation: My dear cousin. Received your package which really pleased me, heartfelt thanks. It also pleased me to hear of your near recovery. Hopefully you will receive a special recovery leave to....? ( must be the name of the locale ) I have the honor to tell you of my receiving the Iron Cross today. I will also write today to your sister... ( name but cannot read ). Auf Wiedersehen. Greetings a thousand times. Your cousin Josef L.. Uffz.d.Res.

Hello Douglas. The first card's inscription is difficult to read because of handwriting and also position of card ( tough to read sideways and I am unable to print the enlarged version). It is apparently expressing wishes for the wounded recipient's recovery and hopes for a special recovery leave. The date stamped being November 1914 establishes this as fairly early in the war. While musicians appear in the photo displaying trumpets ( audible signals being used ) all personnel shown seem to fulfill a combat role . A cavalry H.Q. group based on the specialties involved ( musicians, farrier, medic etc). They have on display French pistols, a kepi and what looks like a map indicating some successful action just concluded. Plus a recently bestowed Iron Cross 2nd class. The Navy inscription is as follows: Dear Uncle and Aunt. I am sending a photography. It is a picture of my room mates. To commemorate the end of our infantry training which we completed last Saturday. Nothing new otherwise . With many greetings to all of you I remain your nephew, Adolf. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. Thanks for showing these documents. The fourth doc. shows that the man reported as required as " Unter???" , signed by a Bezirksfeldwebel or the NCO in charge of a district's mustering-in of new recruits and other administrative matters such as periodic training call-ups of reserve personnel. One doc shows the signature of a Second Lt. as substitute battalion commander/leader. As often times shown promotion in the German Army during WW I was slow to non existing, companies usually commanded by 2nd Lt.'s once the huge losses in officers during the opening months of the war were incurred and battalions by captains and 1st Lt.'s. The one doc shows your man being present in the war zone for a short duration so one may ask what did he do the rest of the time or did I miss something? Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. I agree with you that the last two entries for decorations may be iffy. To note that there did not exist a Panzer Sturm Abzeichen but properly named Panzer Kampfabzeichen. Based on the stamp-crazy list of close combat days he would have qualified for a Kampfabzeichen a lot sooner than 1945. As to no religion entry may just mean that the family did not belong to any organized religion ( and therefore did not have to pay Kirchensteuer/church tax ). Bernhard H. Holst

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Hello Jock. Thanks for showing this. As you note his name is French. Most likely a descendant of French-Huguenots who left their country to escape persecution of Protestants in France at some time in France's history and found refuge in one of several German states offering a new home. By the way it was also hoped that the newcomers were bringing new talents which were needed. The inserts shown is an expedient way to list special training in weapons and differentiates actual training and familiarization only. It provides a quick glance at the array of weaponry then in use overall. Thanks again. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Edwina. As you note he was assigned to HFVA-SS Berlin ( welfare and care ) until June 30, 1944 and as of 1.July, 1944 to Rasse und Siedlungs Hauptamt which also had charge of welfare and care ( families, orphans, and disabled as well as surviving spouses ) among other duties. No other duty assignment seems to be recorded so that may have been his final assignment. These administrative units were put on war footing during the last phase of the war and utilized wherever a need was. I hope this is of some little help. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Edwina. Usually the Wehrpass was returned to the surviving spouse or parents if the person involved died in service. That would be entered in the Wehrpass which then served the surviving primary party as a remembering object but also to support any material claim such as survivor pension or such. Truppenteil still shows him as before. Probably treated by his medical officer and told to carry on. I was unable to locate him in the German Volksbund listing of dead in action or missing which does not establish his surviving the war. Of note is his crossed out religion substituted by "gottglaeubig" or belief in God, much pushed by the Waffen-SS instead of a religious affiliation. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Edwina. The entry states a brain concussion through artillery hit pointblank.( Volltreffer). I do not quite understand your " and was somewhere"? Bernhard H. Holst

Hello. With apologies I must correct my above post which states that the book by G. Tornau and F.Kurowski does not mention the Stug.Abt.Brigade 911. Hucks216/Kevin's post about the unit made me review the contents again. The unit became a Grossdeutschland ( Fuehrer Grenadier Brigade) component towards the end of the war. My omission was caused by the summary contained in the book which lists the unit numbers in a way that could lead one to believe number 911 did not exist. A write up in the book states that the brigade during the time span April to August 1944 was subordinated to the 168, 258, 282 Inf.Divisions, also 4.Geb.Div. and 2. Fallsch.. One author, G. Tornau of this book was a recipient of the Knights Cross late in the war while commander of the brigade, now part of Fuehrer Grenadier Brigade. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Jock. The book "Sturmartillerie Fels in der Brandung" by G. Tornau and F. Kurowski which can be considered a reference book, does not list a Sturmgeschuetz Abteilung nor Brigade with the number 911 . I have another book somewhere in the wreck of my "library", will have a look see. I was unable to locate W.v.Hoersten in the Volksbund files but am unable to apply the o/umlaut. Sad about the length of time until the family received notification of his death as expressed in his death notice. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello. Jock did a nice job translating the relevant section. He inadvertently named Lettland ( Latvia) Lapland which is the north of Finland. Bernhard H. Holst

Hello readers. I recently retrieved another reference book relating to the Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross, "Ehrenbuch des Militaer-Verdienst-Kreuzes" published in 1960 by the Association of Recipients of the Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross. The book lists two recipients of the cross during the war against Austria in 1866 who were members of the 1.Garde Regiment zu Fuss. They were one Unteroffizier and one Fusilier ( no names or companies given) out of a total of sixteen awarded. During the German war against France 1870 - 1871 non were bestowed as the Iron Cross was reintroduced which proved adequate. During WW I a total of 1770 were awarded. This number was established by the association after several reviews and the elimination of duplicates caused by numbering errors and such. The association had access to the files in the 1930's before their destruction by bombs late in the war Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Chris and Dave. I read the second entry as "Zellgewebentzuendung rechtes Knie" or tissue inflammation right knee. Bernhard H. Holst