Dave Danner

He was wounded as a Gefreiter in 3./IR 155 in fighting between 10 and 14 February 1915. He became a Lt.d.R. in IR 155 on 5 April 1916. He was injured in an accident in 1917, but 1917 Verlustlisten don't include units. His personnel file as a Lehrer in Essen says he was a Kriegsfreiwilliger on 1 August 1914 and served in IR 155 and IR 146, leaving service on 1 January 1919. He had the EK2, Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer and presumably the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen 2.Klasse since he started teaching in 1911, military time counted for years of service, and he was still teaching as late as 1942, the last date for which I have any information on him.

My only Ludendorff item, and the only photo I have ever seen where he is smiling.

I uploaded the unit history here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/files/file/39-das-1-bataillon-berlin-2-garde-landwehr-regiments-im-feldzuge-1870-71/

File Name: Das 1. Bataillon (Berlin) 2. Garde-Landwehr-Regiments im Feldzuge 1870-71 File Submitter: Dave Danner File Submitted: 24 Dec 2012 File Category: Germany Excerpt from the Geschichte des Königlich Preußischen 2. Garde-Regiments zu Fuß 1813-1882. Click here to download this file

When I see a KVK2X on a bar with nothing else Third Reich era, I would think reservist working somewhere like a Meldeamt or school or construction unit, or the like. Add a 4-year Wehrmacht DA and you often get an E-officer.

Actually, I think the combination is uncommon, since most generals and other Wehrmacht DA 1.Kl. holders had other awards that would rule them out. It may be Saucken's. But without provenance, you can't be certain. There could also be some anonymous E-officer who came over from the police or other position whose time qualified for the DA, so he had 25 years, but never made general, maybe due to death. He wouldn't show up in Reichswehr rank lists or generals' biographies.

I would definitely want evidence of provenance. Does the auction house say anything about that? By the way, note that the precedence of his Feldspange does not match the Ordensspange. The Ordensspange incorrectly has the Austrian Military Merit Cross after the Honor Cross for Combatants. Pre-1938, the "foreign" award would come all the way at the end. Post-1938, it would be another Landesorden, and as a war decoration would come before the Hindy, as it is on the Feldspange in the picture.

Probably the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen. When the average person sees the bar, his eyes seem to immediately focus on that big swastika and he makes the snap judgment "Nazi". Doesn't matter if the recipient was a schoolteacher or clerk at the patent office. Then you have to spend more time explaining the "Nazi" medal and forget about whatever interesting story the other medals might tell.

Some additional information: Post 107 Forstner, Viktor Alexander Max Fritz Lorenz Freiherr von 10.8.1864-24.8.1939 in 1914 Kdr. III./IR 162 Kdr. IR 164 (1916-17) Kdr. IR 84 (1918) Oberst a.D. Post 108 Usener, Berthold 6.9.1879-22.11.1921 Kaufmann in Berlin in 1914 Lt.d.R. (III Berlin) d. IR 165 12.10.14 OLt.d.R. 24.1.16 Hptm.d.R. HOH3X, BMV4X Post 109 Pfeil, Maximilian von 2.3.1864-13.10.1942 Kdr. RIR 116 (1914-?) Kdr. IR 168 (?-1916) Kdr. 176.IB (1916-19) Kdr. 55.IB (1919) Kdr. RwBrig 19 (1919) Bfh.d.Inf., RwBrig 7 (1919) Bfh.d.Inf., RwBrig 16 (5.-9.1920) Generalmajor a.D. Post 110 Maybe Hptm. Engel from IR 170. He was still a Hauptmann in 1919, so I suspect he may have been taken prisoner. I believe his first name was Ernst. Post 111 Scheibengraber, not Scheibengruber Dr.jur. Eugen Scheibengraber, Assessor in Frankfurt a.M. 11.1.1885-12.6.1918 18.10.14 Lt.d.R. (I Frankfurt am Main) d. IR 171 gefallen bei Corcy als Fhr., 3./IR 171 Post 112 Modrow, Bruno 20.10.1861-29.8.1923 1914 Kdr. JB 1 Kdr. RIR 59 (8.1914-?) Kdr. 67.IB (1917-18), which included IR 173 in 1918 Generalmajor a.D. Post 113 Brinck, Franz 16.5.1863-12.12.1931 1914 Kdr. II./IR 42 Kdr. I./RIR 2 (8.14-?) Kdr. IR 175 (1915-18) Fhr. 241.RIB (1915) Generalmajor a.D. Post 114 Hornhardt, Albrecht August Heinrich Alexander von 10.7.1866-? 1914 Kdr. II./GR 5, schwer verwundet 26.8.14 Kdr. IR 176 (1915-16) Kdr. IR 389 (1916-?) Kdr. e. LIRs (um 1918) Kdr. 2.LIB (1918-19) Kdr. 10.RIB (1918) Generalmajor a.D. Post 115 Doerstling, Egon 28.1.1890-9.11.1965 General der Flieger in der Luftwaffe, was in IR 177 until going to aviation in April 1916. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Doerstling Post 116 There were a bunch of Saxon Lts.d.R. Glaß or Glass. Post 117 Illegible. You'd probably need a regimental history. It was a Saxon regiment, so the wartime Kriegsranglisten are probably in the archives in Dresden. Best regards, Dave

They all have personnel files in the Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. • Frech, Paul, geb. am 29. Juni 1890 • Hamburger, Eugen, geb. am 25. Mai 1886 • Rieber, Artur, geb. am 11. April 1894 It appears Paul Frech also has a personnel file in the Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, as a Studienrat in Feuerbach. The inclusive dates for the file are 1908-1962, so it would appear he survived past 1934, but also it would be possible he earned the Treuedienst-Ehrenzeichen. His file would probably show any additional awards. Also, are there two Eugen Hamburgers? I only see a file for one. And the Württemberg Militär-Verordnungsblatt has him receiving the WgM on 21.2.16 as a Lt.d.R. in GR 123. He is shown in IR 126 along with Frech and Rieber in the announcement of awards of the LüH. Regards

Prinz Oskar was à la suite to Kür.-Rgt. Nr. 2, as well as Gren.-Rgt. Nr. 7, 3. Gd.-Gren.-Ldw.-Rgt., and Royal Saxon Gren.-Rgt. Nr. 101.

Awarded by Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt on 5 September 1912.

Paul Schmitt received the BMV4b on 30.12.13. Both the Kriegsranglisten of the 6.b.ID, his unit at the start of the war, and of GKdo.z.b.V. 63, where he was when he received the SA3aXKr, are apparently missing, which may explain why there was nothing on him in the Bavarian records on Ancestry.com.

I think by definition the Guard units were considered the elite. Certainly what was considered an elite quality in the peacetime army might be re-evaluated in the crucible of war, but I think the Prussian Guards were considered elite throughout the war and repeatedly relied on as assault or shock troops. The same for the ILR and LGR 100. Among the other states, given their smaller recruiting areas, maybe "Guard" didn't have the same elite status, but still meant something. From Baden, I mentioned GR 110 as maybe better than LGR 109, for example, though they spent the war in the same division and had pretty similar experiences. You mention IR 116 as a favorite, so perhaps you have a reason to prefer it to LGIR 115?

1. Iron Cross 2nd Class 2. probably a Military Decoration 2nd Class (Militärehrenzeichen 2. Klasse) 3. Saxony: Honor Cross with Swords (Ehrenkreuz mit Schwertern) 4. Saxony: Silver Friedrich August Medal (Silberne Friedrich-August-Medaille) 5. Honor Cross for Combatants 6. Saxony: Service Decoration for NCOs and Men (Dienstauszeichnung für Unteroffiziere und Mannschaften) 7. Southwest Africa Commemorative Medal (Südwestafrika-Denkmünze) The Saxon long service medal would probably be a 1st class, given colonial and WW1 service.

What you are showing is a Knight First Class. Note the lack of a blue enamel ring around the center medallion, unlike the cross on the chain. The cross for the Commander grade is the same for the Commander 1st Class and the Commander 2nd Class. The difference is that the Commander 1st Class also includes a breast star. This is a Commander's Cross: And the breast star of the Commander 1st Class:

An RAO4Kr and DA without a Centenary Medal is odd. Is there any chance that that is an LD1 or perhaps even a Kronenorden?

No arrowheads, so probably not a paratrooper. Many units that served in Normandy in June and July 1944 received five campaign participation credits - Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. Units that served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy as well often had more battle credits. Two Distinguished Unit Citations is less common, especially without arrowheads pointing to a well-decorated assault regiment. Just flipping through DA 672-1 for units with five credits, two PUCs and no arrowheads, I don't actually see all that many, but they include some armored infantry units and some engineer combat battalions, for example.

Felix and Adolf were brothers. Adolf Theodor Ernst, born 6 January 1891 in Augsburg, and Felix Ferdinand, born 4 May 1892 also in Augsburg. Theodor was their grandfather. Gen.d.Art.z.D. Theodor Karl Eduard von Bomhard, was born in Wunsiedel on 12 January 1841. His son Karl Eduard Christoph was born in Munich on 2 April 1866. Karl was a Generalmajor and artillery commander in World War I, and Adolf and Felix were his sons. Karl had a sister, Anna Charlotte, born in Munich on 21 July 1867. Karl also had a half-brother from Theodor's second marriage, Theodor Ernst, who was born in Munich on 20 February 1874. The younger Theodor was in 1.b.FAR and made Oberstleutnant. Regarding Felix's post-World War I service: he was released from the Bavarian Army on 9 March 1920 as a char.Rittm.a.D. He returned to the Wehrmacht in 1935 as an E-Offizier: 1.3.35 Hauptmann (E) 1.9.38 Major (E) 1.9.41 Oberstleutnant 1.12.42 Oberst In addition to the Imperial decorations above (EK1&2, BMV4XKr, BPRLM, MMV2, ÖM3K, VAs), he also received the Edelweiss-Abzeichen in World War I. In the Wehrmacht, he added the Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung 3.Klasse for 12 years' service, the KVK2X on 20 November 1940 and the KVK1X on 20 April 1942. Regards

Ironically, I was just watching a show on cognac production that spent several minutes showing the work of the coopers in some detail. Most of the family names, common in German and English, which come from professions are archaic professions these days. How many people even know what a fletcher is, much less know anyone who actually does it for a living? I suppose the one which bucks this trend is clerk. There are far more people working today as clerks than there are named Clark or Schreiber.

They are patches. They are generally made of plastic, not cloth. Lion101 has shown a number of similar patches in this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/53375-syrian-shoulder-sleeve-patch I also have several similar ones, but I don't have any scans at hand.

They are from Syria. 1. Top: "Nation, Honor, Loyalty" Bottom: "Military Political Academy" 2. Top: "Unity, Liberty, Socialism" Bottom: "Sacrifice, Redemption, Glory" Beneath the eagle: "The Airborne", or "The Paratroopers" 3. Top: "Nation, Honor, Loyalty" Bottom:??? "Ceremonial" something?

No mention. There is some information on his wartime service in the UMich alumni magazine in 1919.

The Journal officiel de la République française gave his rank as sergent pilote in the published Citations à l'ordre de l'armée for the middle three citations above, which include the one for the Médaille Militaire. According to the book Les volontaires américains dans les rangs alliés (1917), Huffer was promoted to sous-lieutenant in May 1917, but I don't see the exact date. Best regards, Dave

The information came from The Lafayette Flying Corps, edited by James Norman Hall & Charles Bernard Nordhoff, associate editor Edgar G. Hamilton (1920), which has bios of the Americans who served in these units. The Médaille Militaire is included in the citations above, as his third citation on 6 March 1917, awarded together with the Croix de Guerre. Here is a summary of Huffer's service record from that text: Regarding the World War I Victory Medal, his service as commander of the 94th Pursuit Squadron overlapped with that unit's credit for the Toul Sector (14 April-29 June 1918), which would have been covered by the DEFENSIVE SECTOR bar. I don't see the First Air Depot, for which he was Assistant Operations Officer from 7 June to 25 July, listed in the battle participation register for World War I, but since it was a depot, I expect it was also covered by the DEFENSIVE SECTOR bar. The 93rd Pursuit Squadron's battle participation credits were: • Toul Sector (11 August-11 September 1918) • St. Mihiel (12–16 September 1918) • Meuse-Argonne (26 September-11 November 1918) So as commander from 25 July to 11 November 1918, he would have been entitled to add the ST. MIHIEL and MEUSE-ARGONNE bars. So these three bars in total. I don't think he would have worn two victory medals, but he should have had two other French commemoratives for World War I, the Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1914–1918 and the Croix du combattant volontaire 1914–1918. I imagine he would also have received the unofficial Médaille commémorative de la bataille de Verdun. Regards, Dave