Thomas W

Skrobowa. The assault took place on November 9, 1916. I recently bought a pile of photos that included four images of shock troops training for the assault.

Here's where the training for the assault on Skrobowa took place. Can you read it?

"Preparation for the assault on the Skrobowa position. Small flamethrower has just been turned on to go forward." Something like that?

I can make out "kleiner Flammen-Werfer," but can somebody translate the rest for me? Thanks...

I think I've solved the mystery. Here's another card, from the 9th Company, 9th Battalion, Infanterie-Ersatz-Truppe, Beverloo. I think the original card shows men from the 6th Company, 6th Battalion, 5th Detachment, Infanterie-Ersatz-Truppe Beverloo, being trained by the Maschinen Gewehr Ausbildungs Kommando Beverloo, in the use of the lMG08/15.

Post #5 appears to show that the card was sent from Beverloo. So, the question remains: How big was a Maschinen Gewehr Ausbildungs Kommando? Was it at least six battalions, or does that small sign in post #1 refer to the infantry regiment being trained in the use of the lMG08/15?

Thanks, Jens. Here's information on a Danish-German soldier who served in the 3rd Company, Maschinen Gewehr Ausbildungs Kommando, Beverloo. http://slesvigske.dk...hristiansen.htm

It looks to me like "Musketier Otto ________, 6 Bataillon, 6 Kompanie, 5 Abteilung, Infanterie Ersatz Regiment 146." It makes sense that it's an infantry regiment. Musketier is an infantry private, and the lMG08/15 was assigned to infantry companies, six per company. The MG08 heavy machine gun was assigned to machine-gun battalions; a machine-gun battalion private was called a Schütze. The small sign on the front of the card--in the first post--is totally confusing.

Third line.

Second line.

The writing is so faded I'll post negative color scans. Here's the first line.

Can't make out the numbers on the straps...

Another part of the photo:

The Absender block:

The writing is very faded.

Thanks. I looked up your suggestion and also came up with Maschinengewehr Ausbildungs Kommando, which were machine-gun schools.

Can anybody identify this unit? Note that this Unteroffizier has collar insignia that look like a "B" or a "6."

True, but this one looks like a one-piece white-metal badge. It seems to be casting a shadow. Also, it's very bright in comparison to the other officers' badges I've seen. Somewhere in this massive thread are shots of officers wearing the bullion badge, which photographs as a light gray. Maybe this guy went out and had himself a metal badge cast privately. It's a wartime photo, not a postwar image.

Flamethrower officer's silver sleeve badge. It appears to have a shadow on the upper right edge of the skull, which could mean that this is a metal badge. Never heard of that before...

I'm pretty sure that means a metal lapel pin.

Another baby flamethrower pioneer. The seller told me he was from the flamethrower platoon of Assault Battalion No. 5 (Rohr). There's no proof of that, except for maybe the relatively high position of the sleeve badge. Clearly the badges were awarded to anyone who joined the units.

I think this photo proves that simply joining the unit made you eligible for the sleeve badge. Unless of course this... baby was in reality a stone-cold killer in disguise. Look how he's crunched up his cap and wears it at a jaunty angle to try and prove he's a veteran.

Which may be why Gruss didn't write that it was an unofficial badge. He may not have known that the Kaiser never approved it, or he may have decided to do a little selective editing. As you said, nobody is infallible.

Actually, in heraldry silver (argent) and WHITE are interchangeable. http://www.digiserve.com/heraldry/symbols.htm http://www.obcgs.com/heraldry.htm Gray isn't traditionally a heraldic color.

But the quote still says nothing about official versus unofficial. If the Crown Prince told Rohr's men they could wear his monogram, the argument could be made that the badge was "awarded." However, one badge was approved by the Kaiser, and one wasn't. The Rohr badge has no official approval from any authority, does it?