Chris B.

That's neat Hauptman. It's interesting that the description beneath the photo is in english. You should make a laser enlargement of the photo, add a couple of old family documents, ( if you have them), old german stamps, coins, paper money and a medal or two and have the whole thing framed and put under glass. It would make a cool family memento. Cheers, Chris B.

Hi there, here's a kind of a loose translation of the Hindenburg quote on the Kyffhaeuserbund medal : "Upright and proud we leave the field of battle which we sustained for four years against a world of foes." Cheers, Chris B.

Hi Lawrence, thanks for the Ontario Regiment history. The hat badge is spot on, and the Armoury my son trains out of is called the Maclaughlin Armoury. Small world. Dallaire's book is called "Shake Hands with the Devil". I'd like to check it out even though it will be a sad and depressing read. Cheers, Chris B.

Lawrence, is that Dellaire's quote at the bottom of your pages? I don't think that man will ever recover from what he had to witness. Never Again really doesn't mean Never Again, does it. Cheers, Chris B. PS, nice stuff. My son is in the Ontario Regiment Reserve. Their cap badge has that cat with the arched back on it.

Mike, good idea! It shows initiative and a real love of the hobby. By the way, the Italian order of the Crown looks a lot like the crown on the Austrian order of the Iron Crown. Are they related? Cheers, Chris.

I'm curious, did he get any awards from the Allied side after the war? Cheers, Chris B.

That's pretty neat Vince! Do you have any photos of this Gentleman? If you know which orden he received, you could try to reconstruct it in full or in part. Framed and under glass with a nice plaque it would make a great display and you'd be saving a little (albeit) reconstructed, family history. Cheers, Chris B.

Just to add a final note. You don't need to have a war to have Beamten. Beamten are civil servants . A Studienrat for example, is a Beamter. But yes, in war-time a Studienrat would not be a Militaer Beamter because there is not a demand for that line of work in the Army in wartime. However, a civil servant whose line of work was relevant in a military context in wartime could conceivably be a Militaer Beamter. I have a relative in Germany who is a Studienrat. He refers to himself as a Beamter. Cheers, Chris B.

I would say a Beamter is a civil servant of sorts. An Amt is a Bureau. So a Beamter is like a Bureaucrat. A Beamter is aso kind of a generic term. In Germany a guy who works for the post office or the Railroad or even the Zoll could say he was a Beamter. It was kind of a "Stand" thing to be able to say, " Ich bin Beamter", rather than being a worker, ein " Arbeiter". A schoolteacher is a Beamter. When he gets hired, it says so on his certificate. He has been accepted into a "Beamtenverhaeltnis" with the State. Cheers, Chris B.

PS I think their pay schedule is different from other folks, monthly or bi- weekly rather than weekly.

You all make excellent points. I sometimes think the war and its aftermath have made neurotics out of all of us germans even those of us born after 1945. It's like the war has defined us, made us who we are, individually and collectively. People like my parents, who were there, just want to forget, and people like me who live with the aftermath, have this nagging, almost morbid curiosity to find out more. Understandably, those who were there more often than not don't want to talk about it. Whether its the last big air raid on Dortmund in April 1945, living on 900 kilocalories a day in the winter of 1945/46. watching the soldiers die like flies in the Rhine camps, or talking about the stories told by surviving refugees from the East, not to mention the Final Solution, it just doesn't make for nice fireside chats or warm after dinner conversation.

So that leaves books and the Net and these virtual communities of individuals who share an interest in various aspects of those days. I'm actually quite grateful for sites like this one. Thanks for your input. Cheers, Chris B.

Hi David. I still have some cousins in Dortmund, and an old aunt or two. I seem to be the only one remotely interested in this stuff though, and from what I heard, any paperwork that might have survived was disposed of or lost when my grandmother's estate was dealt with after she passed away a number of years ago. I've been reluctant to try the WAsT, I feel like I'm prying, like the past should stay buried or something, you know.. Still, every now and then I get curious. Cheers, Chris B.

Chris,

Do you have any family still in the Dortmund area or have you tried searching for any records here?

Regards from Dortmund,

David

Hi Darrel. Ajax is in Southern Ontario , east of Toronto. I think the town was named after one of the Destroyers that fought the Graf Spee. Cheers, Chris B.

Hi Rick, thanks again for the fast reply. Wow, that's a lot of Divisions! The soldier in question was my dad's older brother. He never made it home at war's end so all I have is a couple of old family photos. He has a Krim shield and an Ost medal ribbon bar on his uniform and he had written he was at the Narva bridgehead on the back of another photo. Sorry I can't post picts, no scanner, no camera. Best Regards, Chris B.

Just Beautiful. You could almost see how a generation of young men (and women) could have been seduced by the dream and the acoutrements of a Grossdeutsches Reich and a great Crusade for a new Europe. The medals, the regalia, the pageantry, the opportunity for glory, to measure your mettle in combat. No benefit of hindsight for the implications of what you're involved in; the endgame hasn't happened yet. No thought given to the hubris of listening to a Leader who tells you he has a vision that cannot fail. All you have to do is believe... and obey. OK...enough of that. Back to the picts. As has been mentioned, there must be a market for tasteful artistically presented militaria like that. Sort of like what Robert Taylor did for aircraft art. Again, well done! Cheers, Chris B.

Is it possible to figure out a soldier's Regiment if all you know about him is where he lived at the time he joined the army in 1939: Wehrkreis VI Dortmund, and a couple of the Campaigns he participated in : Crimean Campaign and second battle of Narva in 1944. Thanks to anyone who may be able to help. Cheers, Chris B.

Wow, is this the thread that keeps on giving, or what? Happy St. Patricks day and thanks to everyone. Cheers, Chris B.

Thanks Rick. I wonder why it was so huge, when you consider that the Prussian lifesaving medal is so small. Maybe because Wilhelm II held Wilhelm I in such high esteem. I also wonder why they would choose yellow for the ribbon. Yellow is not really a "Prussian" colour, is it. Not like black or white. But then, the Red Eagle band is kind of a reddish orange, so who knows... Questions, Questions. Thanks for the replies, Chris B.

Thanks Red. That was fast. Nice award doc pict. Cheers, Chris B.

I am really interested in the Kaiser Wilhelm Centennial medal and I have some questions which perhaps someone could help me with. For starters, who were the makers. Is there any reason the ribbon is yellow? Is that significant? Why is it so huge? Who was eligible? I know about the 1866 and 1871 vets. The medal I have is a brown colour,but on ribbon bars they look gold, maybe the finish wears off with time. How many were issued? Any other interesting tidbits of information regarding this medal would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Chris B.

Hi Peter, thanks for the fast reply. Cheers, Chris B.

If someone held the rank of Wachtmeister in the Luftwaffe Flak artillery, what is that rank equivalent to in the Heer? Is it some kind of NCO? Thanks, Chris B.

Wow, that was fast! Thanks for the advice Rick. It never occurred to me that military protocol would be different for Reserves then for Regular Army, but if you think about it, it does make sense. I'll keep

"stoebern" in the direction you suggested. Cheers, Chris B.

Hello Gentlemen,

I would like to request some help in researching a Prussian Leutnant der Reserve in WW1. The officer's name is Emil Henkelmann. I believe he was in the West Prussian Pioneer Bataillion Nr. 17 in Danzig. I know he survived the war, was wounded, and earned the EK2 in 1914/15. Would it be possible for someone to find him in a Rangliste and post the page with his name on it? Failing that, would it be possible to tell me the decorations he won and his final rank at war's end? Thank you for your efforts. Cheers, Chris B.

Brian, that is the best of both worlds. And maybe one day there'll be a post on this site that starts with ,

"I'm the grandson of adjutant von So and So....." He was with your Grandfather at...." Regards, Chris B.