Thomas W

I should do a lot of things. The problem is that the mornic German dealers block the bids without telling you. The only way you find out they don't sell to the US is when you make the bid. Since I use a sniping service, having someone bid for me wouldn't work unless I had a time machine to go back to a couple of days before the bid, or if maybe I had the stopwatch from The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything and was able to stop time. But thanks for the adivce, as always.

What's there be insulted about? I found the answer. Nobody has to accept it. In fact new ideas are never accepted. But that doesn't detract from the factually of the answer. All the attempts to explain away a perfectly logical and simple method of ID are the theories. I've seen the photos. Where there were some photos they'll be others.

I also determined without question that the position of the flamethrower troops' sleeve badge identifies the unit or specialty. I did this by finally seeing photos that proved my theory. I couldn't buy them because the moronic German dealers don't sell to Americans. One priceless shot of flamethrower-regiment machine gunners went for 80 Euro, and one of flamethrower regiment grenade-launcher sqiuads went for 60 Euro. I told the dealers after my bids were blocked that I would've paid over 500 Euro for each. So: This is fact, even though it's not written anywhere. Badge in the middle of the sleeve cuff, flamethrower operators. Badge below the left elbow, flamethrower operators of Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr). Badge at the top of the sleeve cuff, machine gunner. And badge overlapping the cuff and sewn halfway on the sleeve, grenade-launcher crew. Wish I had the photos of the men with their weapons, but Germans don't like Americans these days. As a result, they're selling priceless cards for next-to-nothing.

As we well know, Robin, the "experts" are anything but. A shock trooper with a badge that was never authorized. Ergo, it doesn't exist.

Trench-mortar pioneers, flamethrower pioneers, telegraphers, and artillerymen were issued with M87/88 cartridge pouches. Line pioneers and gas pioneers could be issued with either M87/88 or M1909. Pioneer Regiment 36.

He's got a serrated bayonet, meaning he's a pioneer. I have photos of men from Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 12 on the Eastern front wearing Pickelhauben with "XIVS" written on the side, during their training for the attack on Skrobowa, November 9, 1916. There were fourteen enormous shock troops organized, so I deduce that "XIVS" means "Shock Troop 14." Signboards indicate that squads and temporary assault units were generally given Roman numerals. Again, these are unofficial insignia. The pioneer with "St" on his helmet cover has no numerals on his shoulder straps. I'm pretty sure he's from the original Sturmabteilung that later became Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr).

Hi, Chip: Kraus disagreees with you. In the photo on the left, there's clearly no "W," since you can see the whole strap. These are unofficial badges. My research has uncovered dozens. Hand-grenade throwers wore a variety of badges initially on the shoulder strap and later on the sleeves.

Thanks. I'm okay. I just need some reviews to undo some of the damage.

And finally, infantry assault squad of Armored Train 13 (Panzerzug 13). Based on the Russian practice of having one assault unit per train.

Hand-grenade squad member of Pioneer Battalion No. 29.

Antitank rifleman.

Pionier with "St" handwritten on his helmet cover, and Gefreiter of Württemberg Infantry Regiment No. 120 with unidentified badges on his collar tips.

Unteroffizier of the Bavarian Infanterie Leib Regiment, with a nonstandard jacket and unofficial "2" or "Z" badge on his shoulder strap.

The four official positions of the Totenkopf sleeve badge, as confirmed by photos that German dealers refused to sell to Americans. They are from left: Flamethrower pioneer from the Garde-Reserve-Pionier-Regiment. Flamethrower pioneer from the Kleiftrupp of Sturmbataillion Nr. 5 (Rohr). Machine gunner of the Garde-Reserve-Pionier-Regiment. Grenade-launcher crewman of the Garde-Reserve-Pionier-Regiment.

Unofficial "H" for "Handgranaten" and "M" for "Minenwerfer" insignia on shoulder straps of Bavarian 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment and Bavarian 4th Reserve Infantry Regiment respectively, both from 1915.

Flamethroiwer squad. The lance operator either wears a cut-down Turkish-style helmet, or he wears his helmet backwards. The Kleif carrier and assistant wear visorless helmets, while the squad leader wear a normal helment

Gentlemen: I haven't been here in a while. In 2013 both my parents committed suicide and I hooked up with a fake publicity firm that took me for $40,000. I never spoke about my personal issues here, but I have Meniere's disease, an incurable autoimmune disorder that keeps me housebound, and I have PTSD. Both conditions are worsened by stress. For seven months my fake publicists sent me supportive e-mails "helping" me through the endless series of crises, when in reality they were monitoring my blog to judge when I was at my lowest emotional and mental ebb. They double billed me, charged me for services not rendered, and made promises they didn't keep. Ultimately PayPal refunded me $9000, since I documented everything. You can go to my Website and read the "About" page. It has a link to the story. Not a single media outlet in the United States nor a single law-enforcement agency responded when I told them what had happened, so the criminals will get away scot-free. Until they con the wrong person. I've spoken to a quite terrifiying man from Montana, a state where they believe in frontier justice. Hopefully I've talked him out of his plan. But now I have to start my writing career over from scratch, since the two books that the fake publicists pretended to market are now dead. I have a new book that's part of the trilogy that I wrote, but I need Amazon reviews of my previous books. Some of you have read my books or know others who have. German Flamethrower Pioneers of World War I. Flamethrower Troops of World War I: The Central and Allied Powers. German Assault Troops of World War I: Organization, Tactics, Weapons, Equipment Orders of Battle, and Uniforms. Every review will help immensely. I'll be eternally grateful if you take the time to write one or ask people who've read the books to write one. Before this happened, I'd begun collecting photos for Assault Troops of World War I: The Central, Allied, and Neutral Powers. It's on hold now as I try to rebuild, but no reason why you shouldn't see a little taste. Did you know that the Germans fielded visorless helmets in 1917? They're rare, but I have photos of them. They copied them from the Austrians, who first began wearing their helmets backwards and then cut off the visors. Visorless helmet with cloth camouflage cover.

You need to BUY it! Ask Robin Lumsden. He has a copy of it. He'll tell you what he thinks of it.

Friedrich von Gerok. He's inspecting Detachment Rommel after it took Monte Matajur on October 26, 1917. The full photo appears on page 244 of my book German Assault Troops of World War I.

My pleasure, Robin. I always appreciated your positive, supportive approach to this field. I'm glad you like the book. It's my final volume in the field. I'm publishing my memoirs in the fall, and then it's on to fiction.

Excellent job of completely missing my point. I've never said, "I've said it, so it must be true." I've said we've gone over this many times in this very thread, and I'm tired of explaining my theory, which I've said is just a theory. However, I've laid out concrete curicmumstantial evidence for the theory, and not gotten any rebuttals except, "I don't believe it," or "Maybe they just put it on wrong." Not very impressive, I must say. That tells me that there's an idée fixe at work here, and when we're dealing with that, there's nothing I can say to change anybody's mind, so there's no point in going on about it. "I don't believe it because I don't believe it" is just as inflexible and illogical as "I've said it, so it must be true." Don't whine to me about hostility. I've had a boatload of it directed my way for no reason at all, along with derision and bizarre pretzel logic. I'm just giving back what I've been getting. I never said I don't like people questioning my work. But show me a thoughtful, detailed, non-snarky post where someone respectfully presents an opposing viewpoint along with their own factual evidence to back it up. I'll wait. Besides, this isn't even hostility; it's just a "lively discussion," remember? It's what we love, 'cause it's exciting! And finally, you're getting the picture: Rohr's men put their badges in a higher position because they felt superior to Reddemann's men. Rohr was the superstar, while Reddemann was the carpenter's son and a member of the the reserves. Just a suppositon. No actual military documents stating "Rohr's men felt superior to Reddemann's men," so it's impossible. Impossible, I say! I've presented tons of circumstantial evidence, and those who think my ideas are all wet have done no such thing. That's why I've finally lost patience. Who needs this? Seriously. If you can't understand my impatience, too bad. Besides, the post I wrote before this last series of exhanges was to Robin about a possibly black Totenkopf. Did anybody offer anything in the nature of a serious disussion about my photo? Of course not. It was just the usual mocking one-liners from Chris. Did anyone wonder why a pioneer was including in an infantry unit? He's not from an infantry-gun battery, because he has no exploding shell on his shoudler straps. He's a pioneer with what appears to be a skull-shaped sleeve badge, but he's not from the flamethrower regiment. I thought people would be genuninely interested. My mistake. So if you've got a problem about how this has devolved, take it up with the people who turned it into some weird, completely uncalled-for p*ssing contest, the way all military-history forums are. I originally got into the field of military histroy to share information. I've discovered that my approach is not welcome because people aren't interested in new ideas, so that's why I'm not going to waste any more time on it. This was just the last straw, that's all. It's been building for a long time. I linked some of the responses here to another non-military forum, and people were utterly shocked at what they called the most amazing head-in-the-sand attitude they'd ever seen. It's endemic in military forums. That's fine. You don't see it because the culture has taken you over, apparently. But I can still think for myself. I've enjoyed some of my time in this field, but in the end it wasn't any more rewarding that of music journalism, so it's time for me to stop messing with it. My three books are out there for anyone who wants to read my retarded theories and the many, many, many pieces of evidence I use to back them up. If anyone ever has a substantial argument against them, with their own counter-evidence, I'm willing to listen. But I'm done with laughing emoticons and one-liners. Who needs it? It's a gigantic waste of time on my part, because there's no engagement. I dont mind engaging with people, but this adolescent, endless snark has taken all the pleasure out of it for me, so I'm moving on. Big deal. The forum will go on fine.

You would think the answer is simple, but the reality is much more complicated. Rohr and Reddemann had an obvious rivalry during the war. My research has indicated that it was Reddemann who developed Stosstrupptaktik and then Willy Rohr was given the credit. Max Bauer said that Rohr and Reddemann developed the tactics jointly, but it's clear from the dates that Reddemann's men used shock-troop tactics long before Rohr was given command of the Assault Detachment. Both Rohr and Reddemann competed for the attention of the Crown Prince, who called Rohr's unit his favorite, and Reddemann's unit his "body guard." The history of Rohr's unit by von Schwerin claims that during the first use of the Rohr flamethrower platoon in December of 1915, the flamethrower pioneers had no idea how to cooperate with infantry, due to lack of training. Either this is an out-and-out lie, a mistake, or the first flamethrower operators were not provided by Reddemann, because by December of 1915, Reddemann's men had carried out several successful attacks with infantry, and Reddemann's "Instructions for the Empoyment of Flamethrowers" had been issued in September of 1915. It describes in detail how infantry and flamethrower pioneers were to cooperate during an attack. Von Schwerin said that the first flamethrower operators assigned to the Assault Detachment in October of 1915 were from "Flammenwerfer-Regiment Pionier-Bataillon 36," a unit that obviously didn't exist. He may have meant Pionier-Ersatz-Bataillon 36, which provided replacements for Pionier Regiments 35 and 36, the gas regiments. Records indicate that replacements for the Rohr flamethrower platoon came from Reddemann's 3rd Guard Pioneer Battalion, but the origins of the first flamethrower operators in Rohr's unit remain unclear. Reddemann never mentioned Rohr once in anything he wrote, and von Schwerin never mentioned Reddemann. Ludwig Charles Theune, author of Sturmtruppen and Flammenwerfer, said that Rohr used Reddemann's tactics to create the Assault Detachment. He unequivocally states that Reddemann was the originator of the tactics. So, we have obvious bad blood between Rohr and Reddemann; we have Reddemann the clear inventor of the tactics that made Rohr a national celebrity during the war, while Reddemann was referred to only as "Major R." in the newspapers; we have Reddemann never mentioning Rohr or Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr) in his comprehensive history of the flamethrower arm; we have Rohr's adjutant not mentioning Reddemann and then possbly lying about the state of training of Reddemann's men; we have the possibility of Rohr's first flamethrower operators not even being Reddemann's men, maybe because Reddemann refused to provide them, which resulted in gas pioneers having to be used instead; we have the death book of the flamethrower regiment not mentioning the names of the 14 Rohr flamethrower pioneers killed during the war; we have Reddemann's history of the flamethrower arm lising the name of every Offizier-Stellvertreter except one named May, who was the commander of Rohr's flamethrower platoon; and we have the Rohr flamethrower pioneers wearing special Guard Pioneer uniforms not worn by any other flamethrower pioneers attached to assault battalions. Given all that, along with the photographic evidence, I deduce that Rohr's men wore their badges in a different position than Reddemann's because Rohr and Reddemann hated each other and did whatever they could to differentiate their men. I predict that with the exception of a tiny handful, most people will read everything I just wrote and still say, "I don't believe it," because that's how most people are in the military-history field, I've discovered to my disappointment. That's why it's a bad fit for me and why I'm done with it. People are too blinkered, too close minded, and too apt to shoot from the hip without having any actual knowledge on the topic. The first reaction to any different idea is "I don't believe it" instead of "Wow! What an interesting thought!" I probably just wrote a lot of things you'd never even heard before, but you still won't accept it. It's the same in music journalism. Different ideas are anathema. If things don't fit into a preconceived notion, they must be insantly rejected or denigrated, without any thought whatsoever. It's that knee-jerk reaction and instinct to get into a fight under the guise of "lively discussions" that I can no longer tolerate. I can't tolerate the rampant, thoughtless disrespect shown for different ideas, right off the bat. Reactions are entirely predictable in this field, and I'm done with predictability. It bores me to death. And just to freak everybody out even more and upset their apple carts, here's a photo of a Guard Pioneer Unteroffizier wearing a Brunswick Totenkopf on his cap. The photo was taken July 7, 1916. My deduction is that he's member of the flamethrower platoon of Assault Battalion No. 5, which was authorized to wear a Guard Pioneer Pickelhaube with a Brunswick Totenkopf on June 6, 1916. I deduce that Rohr's flamethrower men then began wearing the Brunswick Totenkopf on their caps. My deduction is that Rohr Pickelhaube is what prompted Reddemann to ask the Crown Prince to award his unit a Totenkopf badge, too, but through a more official A.K.O. I have photographic evidence that Reddemann associated the Totenkopf with his flamethrower operators before the badge was officially awarded in July of 1916, so I deduce that when Reddemann learned of Rohr's men being authorized to wear a Totenkopf, he demanded that his men get a Totenkopf insignia, too, but as an official award sanctioned by the Kaiser, to make it more prestigious than Rohr's Totenkopf. The letter by the Crown Prince announcing the Totenkopf sleeve badge says it was to be worn by the flamethrower regiment, not the flamethrower platoon of Sturmbataillon Nr. 5. Both the history of the assault batallion and the death book of the flamethrower regiment show that men serving in Rohr's battalion were not considered men of the flamethrower regiment. Therefore, they shouldn't have been awarded the sleeve badge at all. But they did wear it, in a different position. I deduce that Reddemann bitched to the Crown Prince that he didn't want that b*stard Rohr's men wearing his badge, and Rohr demanded that his men be allowed to wear the badge, since they were flamethrower pioneers, too, so a compromise was reached: Rohr's men got to wear the badge, but in a different positon than Reddemann's men. I have two photos of a flamethrower pioneer wearing his sleeve badge first in the higher Rohr position and then later in the lower Reddemann position. Why did he have to change it, if the positon didn't matter, as everyone here says? If the position didn't matter, it wouldn't matter. But he changed it wihin a matter of weeks. I deduce that men from Rohr's batalion were transferred into Reddemann's regiment and told to put that damn badge where it belongs, solder! Yes, yes, I know. Sheer insanity on my part to think this. But it's what I think, and it's what the director of the German Firefighting Museum thinks, having come to all the same conclusions that I had, independently of me. His deduction--based on Reddemann's behavior after the war, the fact that he became an ardent Nazi, his failures in the firefighting industry, and the fact that his widow never once spoke of her husband in the 20 years that she outlived him--is that Reddeman went crazy from anger and resentment and being robbed of the credit for developing all the tactics that Rohr used to become a famous German hero who was even mentioned in British, French, and American newspaper during the war. Reddemann was never promoted above the rank of major, even though he commanded a regiment. I deduce that since he was the son of a carpenter and became steadily angrier throughout the war as he saw himself eclipsed by the more famous assault battalions, he became more difficult and uncooperative. I deduce--based on the correspondence I've read--that this bacon was saved by direct intervention by the Crown Prince, but Reddemann's behavior kept him from acheiving the promotion he thought he deserved, adding to his anger and making him even more difficult. Thus endeth the lecture. This will be the last time I discuss this here, because it's truly a waste of my time, I'm sorry to say, and it just upsets me too much to encounter this impenetrable, utterly predictable, implacable hostility over anything new and different. Don't ask me about this anymore, because I'm done talking about it. This is my evidence, and when you reject it because it's in your nature to do so, I don't need to hear about it anymore. Reject it proudly, but don't bother me again with this question. It's a waste of everybody's time, because only one or two people here are open to new ideas.

Yup. The simple answer is that Rohr's men wore their badges at their elbows to disntinguish themselves from Reddemann's men, since Rohr's men were not members of Reddemann's unit. Rohr's men had as close a relationship with the Crown Prince as possible, being the Fifth Army assault battalion. The Crown Prince was the one who recommended the badge to the Kaiser, being the one who helped develop the flamethrower arm. You believe that he saw all of Reddemann's men wearing it in one psotion but either didn't notice Rohr's men wearing it in another, or else decided not to mention it and let them continue wearing this prestigious award in the wrong position for the duration of the war.

So, the Alpenkorps guys wore their badges wrong until somebody corrected them, but the Rohr guys wore their badges wrong and not only did nobody correct them, their boss didn't even notice. Okay.

If you go with the red, then it means that the Rohr guys got special dispensation to wear their badges in the wrong place for the duration of the war. Doesn't seem plausible to me, but whatever. At any rate, you agree with me that they had special privileges, which is what I said in the first place. We've already gone through why the two units would wear their badges in different places, so I'm not interested in explaining it alll over again. Like you said, let's agree to disagree. My original post was to Robin, anyway. I wasn't looking to have this same argument about the Rohr badges all over again. I'm perfectly happy with my deduction. You reject it. Fine. Let's stop wasting time going over the same old ground over and over, okay?