Thomas W

And 1925.

1917.

1916.

Just for fun, I'll add all my Reddemann photos, so you can see what a chameleon he was. He looks different in every photo. The key is the ear, the chin, and the nose, all of which are the same. He clearly had an issue with his mustache, though. Here he is in 1915.

I'm still not convinced it's not Reddemann, since the age, physical build, and facial features match almost perfectly. But thanks for all the comments.

Thanks very much. TW

Thanks for the reply. Here's what's weird: I'm almost positive that my photo shows Bernhard Reddemann, the former commander of the flamethrower regiment. Facially, the man in my photo is very similar to Reddemann as he appeared in 1911 (photo on the left). As you can see, the ear, nose, and chin are nearly identical, if you take into account the different angles of the head in the two images. My photo was taken between 1931 and 1934; Reddemann died in 1938 at the age of 69. Reddemann was the fire chief of Leipzig before the war. After the war he lived in Berlin and worked for Minimax, which produced firefighting equipment. He edited a firefighting journal during this period. It doesn't seem likely that he would have been a member of the Baden volunteer fire brigade for 25 years. Could he have been awarded an honorary badge, in recognition of his long service as a firefighter? He wrote several books on firefighting and invented several extinguishers and nozzles. Could he have been given the medal, and then asked to pose in the Baden uniform? Back in the day, it was customary for military leaders or heads of state to pose for photos wearing the uniform of the unit they were visiting. Did firefighters have the same custom? There's always the possibility that my photo doesn't show Reddemann at all, but the faces sure look like the same guy.

These are on the chest of a firefighter photographed in Baden Baden in the late 1930's. He's a former flamethrower officer. Any ideas? Thanks. Tom W.

Thanks very much.

Any ideas about this badge? It's a crowned "E II" with a crossed hammer and wrench. Isn't "E II" the monogram of Catherine the Great? If so, aren't the hammer and wrench too modern for her period?

Here's a man of the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade. I think you're right; it looks like he's wearing the M1881 saber. Thanks again for your answer.

Thanks, George. Any ideas about the kind of sword carried by enlisted men in a field-artillery brigade?

This badge is worn by a combat engineer. Any ideas? Also, what kind of sword was carried by an enlisted man in a field-artillery brigade? Thanks. Tom

Here's a Web page with World War II U-boat uniforms. http://www.unterseeboote.co.uk/uniforms2.htm The seventh photo down shows a gray leather jacket. I know that the German tank corps in World War I wore gray leather coveralls, so it seems likely that at least some U-boat crew members wore gray leather jackets in 1914-18.

Here are the helmets outlined...

I have dozens of photos of flamethrower troops training with steel helmets and/or soft caps, but this is the only one I have of a flamethrower squad with Pickelhauben. I could see them wearing it with the spike removed, but with the spike in place? It just seems unnecessarily cumbersome. On the other hand, I have an actual combat photo taken on February 21, 1916, at Verdun. In the background is a flamethrower squad armed with an early-model Kleif M.1915. The Kleif carrier (the guy in back) is wearing a steel helmet, while the lance operator is wearing a covered Pickelhaube with the spike still attached. I guess if it was good enough for combat, it was good enough for training.

I bought a postcard on eBay that nobody wanted because the image was so tiny, but when you enlarge it you find something quite interesting. The flamethrower is the Wex M.1917, introduced in May of that year, yet the men--from the Garde-Reserve-Pionier-Regiment--are wearing Pickelhauben with the spike in place. Several of the helmets are uncovered, showing the Garde eagle. For flamethrower training pioneers usually wore the Stahlhelm or the M?tze. I wonder if they wore the Pickelhaube for the benefit of the photographer... The photo was taken at a camp in Sennelager.