Dave Danner

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, 15.11.07-21.7.44. SIgnature on the officer evaluation report for Hptm.(W) Friedrich Henkel.

Rudolf Everhard Friedemann Mackensen von Astfeld, born 1.7.1884 in Straßburg in Elsaß (Strasbourg). Entered service on 31.10.03 as a Fahnenjunker in Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 3. Served in World War I with JB 3 and as a MG-Offizier with IR 375, Armeeabteilung Scheffer, LIR 17, 85.Ldw.Div., Geb.-MG-Abt. 213, Ers.-Geb.-MG-Abt. 3, and MS-Scharfsch.-Kdo. West Tongern. Retired on 16.1.20 as a char. Major. Returned to duty on 1.6.35 as a Maj.(E) (with effect from 1.3.35 and an RDA of 1.6.32). Kdr. WBK Wuppertal from 1.4.36 to 3.3.39, then Kdr. WBK Goslar from 1.4.39 to 15.1.45. Oberstleutnant on 1.3.39 (23), Oberst on 1.2.42 (56).

A little bit more: his last officer evaluation report mentions that he had leukemia. Also, his older sister, Maria Elisabeth (Else) Epstein, née Beling, was a politician in the German Democratic Party (DDP) and married to Dr. Wilhelm Epstein, a Jewish scientist and like her a Frankfurt Stadtverordneter. Dr. Epstein died or was killed in 1941, and she was in Ravensbrück concentration camp from 1942 to 1943. After the war, she was one of the founders of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Ludwig Heinrich Beling, born 21.11.1883 in Frankfurt am Main. Entered service on 28.7.02 as a Fahnenjunker in 4. Badisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 66. Served in World War I in FAR 66 and RFAR 57 (Kdr. II./RFAR 57 from 8.6.17 to 28.12.18). Retired as a char. Maj. in 1920. Returned to duty in 1934 and retired again on 31.1.36, only to be called back on 1.6.36 as Kdr. WBK Kreuznach. Oberstleutnant on 1.3.39 (13) and Oberst on 1.2.42 (50). Transferred to the Führerreserve on 1.10.44 and retired yet again on 31.12.44.

I believe you are correct. There appear to be two Bührings - both armaments NCOs turned Rechnungsführer with the Verdienstkreuz in Silber and in Gold. The problem is, no Staatskalendar or Regierungsblatt seems to have both. One dissapears, the other appears, then the first reappears. Oberfeuerwerker Bühring was named to replace Rechnungsführer Siefke as Rechnungsführer der Artillerie on 30.11.1863. As Zahlmeister, he is was awarded the Verdienstkreuz in Silber on 1.6.1871. He was transferred from the Artillerie to JB 14 on 6.7.1872. He received the Verdienstkreuz in Gold on 19.3.1887. Bühring II is a Zeugfeldwebel a.D., but no idea when "i.D." He gets the Verdienstmedaille in Silber on 20.2.1883, character as Rechnungsführer on 29.9.1884, Verdienstkreuz in Silber on 19.3.1889, Verdienstkreuz in Gold on 19.3.1895, and character as Rechnungsrat on 17.9.1905. So here is the problem: which one is the Bühring in the Staatskalendar? In the 1878 Staatskalendar, Zahlmeister Bühring of JB 14 is shown with the MVK2, PrMEZ/AEz, Baden Gedächtnismedaille, 1866 Cross and 1870/71 KDM, and Mecklenburg DA. The Bühring in 1905 has the same awards, except the MVK2 is now an MVK1, the 1866 Cross isn't listed, and the KO4, MSGMFFIII, and MVM2 are added. So, either (1) Georg Bühring is the one in the 1905 Staatskalendar and did get the MVM2 at some point, or (2) Bühring II not only followed Georg Bühring in getting the MVK1 and Rechnungsführer/Rechnungsrat characterization, but also followed him in serving in 1849, 1866, 1870/71 and getting the KO4, PrMEZ/AEz, and the Baden medal. Or the editors of the Staatskalendar somehow managed to mix the two of them up. Two different people with the same name and almost identical careers? Color me confused.

From what I have: Bühring received the Charakter as a Rechnungsführer on 29.9.1884. He was given the Charakter as a Rechnungsrat on 17.9.1905. He was awarded the Verdienstkreuz in Silber on 19.3.1889 as a Rechnungsführer a.D. Based on his entry in the 1905 Staatskalendar, he later received the Verdienstkreuz in Gold, but I don't have a date. He was awarded the Verdienstmedaille in Silber on 20.2.1883 as a Zeugfeldwebel a.D. Since that is before the Verdienstkreuz, shouldn't that be on the medal bar? Besides the Verdienstkreuz in Gold, the 1905 Staatskalendar also shows the Gedächtnismedaille für Friedrich Franz III. For some reason, the Staatskalendar entries all say Prussian Militärehrenzeichen rather than Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen. The 1866 Erinnerungskreuz is not included in the 1905 list, but it does show up in earlier ones. Here is the 1905 Staatskalendar entry, where he is shown as a member of the supervisory committee of the NCO Widow's Fund. He is not in the 1906 Staatskalendar. These entries are: Verdienstkreuz in Gold Verdienstmedaille in Silber Gedächtnismedaille Friedrich Franz III Militär-Dienstauszeichnung 1. Klasse für Unteroffiziere Prussian Kronenorden 4. Klasse Prussian Militärehrenzeichen (typo for the AEz ?) Baden Gedächtnismedaille für 1849 Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71 Regards, Dave

His full name was Hans Maximilian Wendel Freiherr von Bilfinger. He was born on 8 May 1886 in Stuttgart, the son of Hermann Freiherr von BIlfinger, the diensttuender Generaladjutant to the King of Württemberg. He was Kommandeur WBK Mannheim I from 1 April 1936 to 29 November 1942. After a brief period in the Führerreserve, he became Kommandant of Stalag V-A on 1 February 1943. He was back in the Führerreserve from December 1944.

Also, the crown is an integral part for all grades above Knight's Cross (Grand Cross, Commander 1st and 2nd Class, and Officer's Cross). It is only the Knight 1st Class where there is a version with and without crown. I think there is a special class (Sonderstufe) of the Grand Cross where the breast star is in gilt and has a silver crown, but I am not overly familiar with higher grade awards like this. So as a Saxon officer would move up the ranks, he could get: Knight 2nd Class (SA3b / AR2) as a Leutnant/Oberleutnant Knight 1st Class (SA3a / AR1) as a Hauptmann/Rittmeister or Major Crown to the Knight 1st Class (SA3aKr / AR1mK) as a Hauptmann/Rittmeister or Major who already had the Knight 1st Class Officer's Cross (SA3 / AO) as an Oberstleutnant or Oberst Commander 2nd Class (SA2b / AC2) as an Oberst or Generalmajor Commander 1st Class (SA2a / AC1) as a Generalleutnant Grand Cross (SA1 / AG ) as a Generalleutnant or General [the first abbreviation is the standard Prussian/German abbreviation; the 2nd is the Saxon abbreviation found in Saxon rank lists and on cases for Saxon awards] Saxons often skipped the Crown to the Knight 1st Class and/or the Officer's Cross, and sometimes went straight from the Knight 1st Class to the Commander 2nd Class. This is because they often received the Merit Order instead. This is similar to a Prussian alternating between the Red Eagle and the Crown Order, but Prussia seemed more regular than Saxony in this. For example, Otto von Tettenborn received his Knight 1st Class on 21.4.02 as a Major, the Crown to the Knight 1st Class on 16.3.03 while still a Major, the Officer's Cross on 23.5.08 as an Oberst, the Commander 2nd Class on 24.5.11 while still an Oberst (he was promoted to Generalmajor on 23.9.11), the Commander 1st Class with Crown and Swords on 15.9.15 as a Generalleutnant, and the Grand Cross with Swords on 2.8.17 while still a Generalleutnant (char. Gen.d.Inf. on 11.2.18). He received the Knight 1st Class of the Merit Order on 23.5.05 as an Oberstleutnant, the Commander 2nd Class of the Merit Order on 13.9.12, and the Commander 1st Class with Swords of the Merit Order on 4.8.16. Adolf von Carlowitz received the SA3a on 20.4.01 as a Major, the SA3aKr on 11.9.03 as a Major, the SA3 on 24.5.07 as an Oberst, the SA2b on 24.5.10 as an Oberst, the SA2a on 15.1.14 as a Generalleutnant, and the SA1X on 11.5.17 as a General der Infanterie. He received the SV3a on 6.8.04 as an Oberstleutnant, the SV2b on 23.5.12 as a Generalmajor, and the SV2aX on 2.2.15 as a Generalleutnant.

Military Police (الشرطة العسكرية)

#2 appears to be the Hesse General Honor Decoration "For Bravery". #4 appears to be the Sachsen-Altenburg Herzog Ernst Medaille?

I would have to agree with Paul, though maybe he could be narrowed down. One more non-Prussian award might have helped. Based on the combination of bars, I would say he was most likely in Husaren-Regiment Nr. 8 in the Franco-Prussian War. The first five bars fit certain units of the VII.Armeekorps, mainly in the 13.Division, including HR 8. The "AN DER LISAINE" normally went to Badeners. HR 8 doesn't have a campaign credit for the Lisaine, but it was the only unit in the 13.Division which seems to have been close to the area. A 13.Division affiliation would also fit the last ribbon, as the Westphalian-based division included troops from both Lippe principalities. I quickly looked at HR 8, but I could not find any matches. Most officers in the 1871 rank list with the EK2 also had a Schaumburg-Lippe Military Merit Medal or a Bavarian Military Merit Order. Of those that did not, none appear in the Deutsche Ordens-Almanach with the combination above. Which could mean (1) he wasn't in HR 8, (2) he was already out of HR 8, (3) he was dead before 1909 and doesn't appear in the DOA. Regarding VII.AK units: - HR 8 has all five campaigns/battles - HR 15, FR 39, IR 55, IR 74 and JB 7 don't have Noisseville - IR 13, IR 15 and FR 73 don't have Spichern or Noisseville - IR 53 doesn't have Spichern - IR 77 and FAR 7 have all five, but were in Langres at the time of the Battle on the Lisaine, on the other side of the Haute-Saône Departement. HR 8 was also in the general area, but as a cavalry unit ranged further east, so it could have reached the Lisaine. Regards, Dave

Hans-Joachim was his given name. Actually, his full name was Hans-Joachim Wilhelm Ernst von Mellenthin. For some reason, even though double first names are really common in Germany, many sources drop one. Even the navy ranklists just use Hans, so maybe he often went by the shorter name. Oddly, for such a common name, he was the only Hans in the entire von Mellenthin family at the time, so maybe he didn't think he needed to use the "-Joachim". His brother Kurt-Herbert Martin Hermann von Mellenthin is called Kurt-Herbert in the Ehrenrangliste, but just Kurt in the 1918 Rangliste.

The Friedrich-Orden before the other Württemberg ribbon would usually indicate a Silver Bravery Medal to a Fähnrich or the like, and then the WF3bX as a Leutnant or Lt.d.R.. But all those other awards, especially the Iron Crown, scream "general staff officer". That seems a little implausible.

Size of the state is not the same as importance of the state. Hamburg was the 7th largest state in the Empire, larger than all but the four kingdoms and two of the grand duchies. Bremen was the 13th laregst. Lübeck, while small, was still larger than Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Waldeck, and Schaumburg-Lippe. Lübeck was also larger than each of the Schwarzburg principalities, although they are usually counted together. The Iron Cross always comes first because Prussian regulations placed it first, and Prussian regulations covered every state except Bavaria and Saxony. And Bavarian and Saxon regulations placed the Iron Cross first after their own war decorations. After that, other state awards came in different orders, often by the choice of the wearer. They were ordered by date of award, by type of award (orders, then crosses, then medals, for example), and by the status of the state which awarded them. I think this is what you mean by importance, that is, kingdoms, then grand duchies, then duchies, then principalities, and then Hanseatic cities.

The first recipient, Sgt. Casper Westphalen Mathiesen: And a close-up: Note: click for larger images. The automatic image resizing doesn't seem to tell you when an image can be clicked on.

The Schwarzburg rolls are being prepared for publication. I have to return to Germany soon to gather some missing information. If you are correct about Rudolstadt, you have a very rare bar. There were only 33 awards of the SEK4X. Awards by year: 1915 - 15 1916 - 8 1917 - 4 1918 - 6 By rank: Feldwebelleutnant - 16 Offizier-Stellvertreter - 11 Oberdeckoffizier - 3 other - 3 (1 Feldhilfsarzt, 1 Feldhilfsveterinär, 1 Feldmagazin-Inspektor) They came from a large number of different units. Only 6 were in IR 96. Five were in 2. Landsturm-Infanterie-Bataillon Gera XI/25. The other 22 were from 22 different units/commands.

He likely wouldn't have "done" anything. It was rank-based. Almost every recipient of the SEK4X was a Feldwebelleutnant or Offizier-Stellvertreter, or a Navy equivalent. For what it's worth, swords were often unofficially worn with the Silver Medal for Merit in War, possibly for a Frontkämpfer to distinguish his award from a rear echelon guy. For example:

I think they are: 1st bar: EK2, WVKX, FKE, SchlesA2, RAO4 (or Medal of the RAO), PrAEz, Wehrmacht DA25, Wehrmacht DA12, Prussian DA25 2nd bar: EK2, KVK2X, WVKX, FKE, SchlesA2, Wehrmacht DA25, Wehrmacht DA12, Prussian DA25, RAO4, PrAEz, UKEM, BKEM The Silesian Eagle should rank ahead of long service medals, and both bars reflect this. It was improper to wear the Prussian Dienstauszeichnung with the double Wehrmacht Dienstauszeichnungen, but this happened anyway, especially among d.R. or z.V. officers. The two ribbons at 5/6 in the first bar and 9/10 in the second ought not be foreign awards, since they come before the long service awards in the first bar, and as a Beamter he would have been in line for Prussian civil decorations like the Red Eagle Order, Medal of the Red Eagle Order, Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, and Verdienstkreuz. As peacetime awards of a former German state, they properly come after the long service awards, and the second bar reflects this. As you can see, the last ribbon in the first bar stayed ahead of those two when they moved. This makes me think that it must be another long service, rather than a foreign award or another state award. Given the Württemberg connection, it is possible, but I don't think likely, that the ribbon is for the Medal of the Friedrich Order, awarded before World War I (and before the two Prussian awards). If so, he might have simply placed his Prussian awards ahead of the long service awards out of Prussian pride, and left the peacetime Württemberg award last. But on the second bar, he followed Wehrmacht regulations, and placed the Prussian awards after the long service awards, and in order of date of award.

I believe they are given to foreign graduates of US Army schools. Here, for example, is the current Chief of the Defense Staff of Estonia Colonel Peeter Hoppe. I knew him when he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning in the late 1990s.

Here is the ribbon bar of Ali Saibou, President of Niger from 1987-1993. His first ribbon is the National Order of Niger (Ordre national du Niger), and the second ribbon is the same as Salou Djibo's 4th one. It looks like the device may be a palm. The rest, starting with the West German Bundesverdienstkreuz in third place (grade: Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern), are foreign awards. The first two on the second row may be the French Legion of Honor and National Order of Merit. Not sure about the third. The first one on the third row is the National Order of Mali. Next might be the National Order of Benin, but I'm not sure. The third one looks like the National Order of Vietnam, but that would make no sense, so it is probably another African order. The single yellow ribbon on the third row appears to be the Order of Cameroonian Merit (Ordre du Mérite Camerounais).

Here is the picture from which I cropped the ribbon bar.

The two medals on Gen. Djibo and the Captain's first one appear to be commemorative or service medals, the Niger equivalent of a General Service Medal. Here is a close-up of Djibo's ribbon bar. As you can see, the 2nd and 3rd ribbons have devices: RCI and ROC. Those would appear to be for the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the (Democratic) Republic of the Congo. They match the UN medals - for UNOCI and MONUC - immediately below each.

Very nice collection! Here is a larger version of your picture of Salou Djibo:

The Colonial Decoration (Kolonialauszeichnung), known as the Lion Order, an unoffical award of the Deutsche Kolonialkriegerbund. The combination might be possible for a Saxon NCO and Schutztruppe veteran. In that case the 5th ribbon wouldn't be another Iron Cross, but a Militär-Ehrenzeichen 1st or 2nd Class awarded before World War I. The second ribbon is the Saxon Honor Cross with Swords, which was generally awarded to Saxon NCOs who had 20 years of service or who already had the Silver Friedrich August Medal (3rd ribbon). That does fit with the Saxon long service in 6th place. However, the order of precedence is wrong. The Austrian World War I Commemorative Medal should not be in 4th place, before the other German decorations and the German Honor Cross for Combatants. If anywhere, it should be last. I'm not very knowledgeable on construction, sewing and the like, so I can't say whether the errors are period or if someone just put together a bar with more than a little, but maybe not enough, knowledge. Maybe someone with more knowledge in this area could add his two cents.

F. & B.L. is Funcke & Brüninghaus, Lüdenscheid. Your's looks like it is zinc or steel, which is not common (most were bronze), but they are not very rare.