Dave Danner

Not that I know of. I just found some information while researching the families "von der Groeben" and "Graf von der Groeben".

An old thread, but I have some additional information on Hptm. von der Groeben. Friedrich Otto Albrecht von der Groeben was born on 27. September 1870. He was promoted Major on 28.11.14 (Pp) and commanded Res.-Jäg.-Btl. 7. Other known wartime decorations: Preußen: Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse - 15.9.14 Preußen: Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse - 7.10.14 Bayern: Militärverdienstorden mit der Krone und mit Schwertern - 21.12.17 Schaumburg-Lippe: Kreuz für treue Dienste - 12.11.14 Lippe: Kriegsverdienstkreuz - 26.3.16

The order in the lower picture on the white background looks like a Grand Cross set, so it should be pricier. It is also a rather rare decoration - the Hungarian Order of Merit was the more common award during the war, even for Germans. The "Dekoration" is the wreath around the cross. It is the "war decoration", used to distinguish wartime awards from peacetime ones.

Some additional bits of information: 30.01.09 - Left command of III.See-Btl. and attached to III.Stamm-See-Btl. 04.08.09 - Released from navy service and assigned to the staff of IR 32, I believe with effect from 1. Sept. 1909 02.09.09 - Award of Prussian Crown Order III. Class gazetted in the Militär-Wochenblatt 17.09.09 - Named a battalion commander in IR 32 16.11.10 - Transferred to the staff of IR 28 20.04.11 - Award of the Commander's Cross II. Class of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order (Komturkreuz II. Klasse des Herzoglich Sachsen-Ernestinischen Haus-Ordens) gazetted in the Militär-Wochenblatt 17.01.12 - Retired 15.01.16 - Award of the Bavarian Military Merit Order III. Class with Crown and Swords (Militär-Verdienstorden III. Kl. mit der Krone und mit Schwertern) 21.11.16 - Award of Prussian Crown Order II. Class with Swords gazetted in the Militär-Wochenblatt He also received the Officer's Cross of the Netherlands House Order of Oranje at some point. It is listed in the 1910 rank list, but not 1909. I don't see an entry in the Militär-Wochenblatt, so he might have been awarded it before leaving navy service.

Otto Karl Adolph Schmidt was born on 12 September 1874. Some additional information: zur Disposition gestellt: 27.12.1919 ausgeschieden: 31.3.1920 char. als Oberstleutnant: 21.01.1921 Regards,

I just came across an almost-match, but he only had a Wehrmacht DA2. The search continues...

Rauthe was also an author. Here is his entry from the 1913 edition of the Lexikon der deutschen Dichter und Prosaisten vom Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart, by Franz Brümmer, And here is the entry for Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 14 from the Bibliographie der deutschen Regiments- und Bataillons-Geschichten, by Paul Morris Hirsch (1905), showing that Rauthe authored both 1890s versions of the regiment's history:

I think you have him. Rauthe retired on 21 April 1911, transferring to the civil service, and last appears in the 1910 rank list. He received the KO3 on 25 May 1911. He was reactivated in World War I and promoted to Oberstleutnant z.D. on 18 June 1915. At the time, he was Kommandant of immob. Etappen-Kommandantur I Altona, so that could account for the Hamburg Hanseatenkreuz. I can't find a listing for a BMV3X, but if he got it, you could be right that the KO4 and BMV4X are replacements.

The Biechl in 11./b.RIR 2 was Franz Xaver Biechl. He was born on 10. Nov. 1881. Entered service 24 Oct. 1903 in 16.IR and transferred to RIR 2 on 2 August 1914 01.10.04 - Gefreiter 01.08.05 - Unteroffizier (Kapitulant) 24.04.09 - Sergeant 24.10.12 - Vizefeldwebel 07.08.14 - Feldwebel 09.09.15 - Offizier-Stellvertreter Decorations were the Prinz-Regent Luitpold-Medaille, Military Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords, Military Merit Cross 2nd Class with Crown and Swords, Bavarian Dienstauszeichnung 1. Klasse, and Iron Cross 2nd Class. He was wounded at least once, but there appears to be water damage to the Kriegsstamrolle, and that part of the page is hard to read. Dave

Otto Wöhler 1894-1987 Oberst - 1.1.38 Generalmajor - 1.1.42 (RDA 1.4.41) Generalleutnant - 1.10.42 General der Infanterie - 1.6.43 Komm. Gen., I.Armeekorps - 1.4.43-14.8.43 Oberbefehlshaber, 8. Armee - 15.8.43-28.12.44 Oberbefehlshaber, Heeresgruppe Süd - 28.12.44-6.4.45 From an officer evaluation (Beurteilung):

Johannes Frießner 1892-1971 Oberst - 1.3.38 Generalmajor - 14.8.40 Generalleutnant - 16.10.42 General der Infanterie - 1.4.43 Generaloberst - 23.7.44 Kdr., 102. Infanterie-Division - 1.5.42-20.1.43 mit d. Führung d. XXIII. Armeekorps beauftragt - 20.1.43-1.4.43 Kdr. Gen., XXIII. Armeekorps - 1.4.43-31.1.44 mit d. Führung d. Armeegruppe Frießner beauftragt - 2.2.44-22.2.44 mit d. Führung d. Armee-Abteilung Narwa beauftragt - 23.2.44-20.4.44 Kdr., Armee-Abteilung Narwa - 20.4.44-3.7.44 Oberbefehlshaber, Heeresgruppe Nord - 3.7.44-25.7.44 Oberbefehlshaber, Heeresgruppe Südukraine - 25.7.44-23.9.44 Oberbefehlshaber, Heeresgruppe Süd - 23.9.44-23.12.44 RK: 23 July 1943 DKiG: 09 June 1943 From an endorsement to the evaluation of Generalleutnant Karl Burckhardt: From a (not very positive) evaluation of Generalleutnant Karl Burdach

From the annex to the evaluation of Generalleutnant Karl Burckhardt, then listed as missing in action, later confirmed captured by the Soviets. Here he includes the "-Pico".

Busch, Ernst * 6. Juli 1885 in Essen-Steele, † 17. Juli 1945 in Aldershot, England General der Infanterie - 1.2.1938 Generaloberst - 19.7.1940 Generalfeldmarschall - 1.2.1943 Kdr. der 23. Division - 15.10.1935-4.2.1938 Komm.Gen. des VIII. Armeekorps - 4.2.1938-23.10.1939 Oberbefehlshaber der 16. Armee - 23.10.1939-4.11.1943 mit der Führung der Heeresgruppe Mitte beauftragt - 28.10.1943-6.5.1944 Oberbefehlshaber der Heeresgruppe Mitte - 6.5.1944-28.6.1944 Oberbefehlshaber Nordwest - 20.3.1945-1.5.1945 Oberbefehlshaber Nord - 1.5.1945-7.5.1945 Ritter des Ordens "Pour le Mérite" (PLM) - 8.10.1918 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (RK) - 26.5.1940 Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (EL) - 21.8.1943 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Busch_(Offizier) https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/B/BuschE.htm Signature and photo from the Personal-Nachweis in Busch's Personalakte:

1944-dated signature of Manstein endorsing an officer evaluation (Beurteilung) of a subordinate.

Reverses of gold, silver and bronze: Also, as you may have noticed, I took pictures of these all with the same ribbon. I think all but one of my Medalii Barbatie si Credinta came without ribbons. I am pretty sure I have all six - gold, silver and bronze from both wars - but as I said, I don't have my collection at hand.

What is your timeframe? Maj. August Karl Julius Louis von Raven, in 1914 a Major on the staff of IR 163 and according to the Ehrenrangliste later commander of IR 49, was a battalion commander in IR 362 at the end of 1916. He may have later been regimental commander.

Here are a bronze and gold Medalia "Bărbăţie şi Credinţă" side by side for size/suspension/font/etc/ comparison. I honestly don't remember which was which, but one is the WW1 version and one the WW2. I am several hundred miles from my collection, so I can't get better images.

The picture below is from the Wehrmacht personnel file of char.Maj.z.V. Joachim von Baer. He was born in 1877 and served in Baden's Leib-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 109 from 1897 to 1907. He was recalled in August 1914 and served in some Landsturm postings and as a Bahnhofskommandant (OLt.a.D. 10.9.14, Hptm.a.D. 3.11.15, char.Maj.a.D. 6.4.21 for those keeping track). He was recalled to service in January 1938 and became a char.Maj.z.V. on 15.6.38. As you can see, the file lists his awards as the EK2, the Knight 2nd Class with Swords of the Order of the Zähringen Lion, the Honor Cross for Combatants and the Hungarian WW1 Commemorative Medal. But as you can also see, his ribbon bar has 5 ribbons. I am thinking the unidentified ribbon is the 1902 Baden Regierungs-Jubiläumsmedaille, since he was an active officer in LGR 109 in 1902. Any guesses as to why it was not listed under "Auszeichnungen"? Also, it is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the order might be EK2-BZ3bX-FKE-UngKEM-BadRJM[?]. If this is the BadRJM, is it out of order after a foreign award? Thanks and regards

I also like Berts Sammlerecke. I have found some nice Austrian and German stuff through Liverpool Medals, but until and unless the GBP weakens more against the dollar, I am probably only window-shopping there (that actually applies to the Eurozone as well).

AK is the Saxon abbreviation for the Albrechtskreuz, the silver cross associated with the Albrechtsorden. Here are Saxony's own abbreviations for its decorations:

Otto Fretter-Pico Kdr., Artillerie-Regiment 297 (6.2.1940-7.3.1942) Artillerie-Kommandeur 102 (Arko 102) (7.3.1942-20.12.1942) mit d. Führung d. 57. Infanterie-Division beauftragt (20.2.1943-1.5.1943) Kdr. Gen., 57. Infanterie-Division (1.5.1943-18.9.1943) Kdr. Gen., 148. Reserve-Division (25.9.1943-18.9.1944) Kdr. Gen., 148. Infanterie-Division (18.9.1944-28.4.1945) From his Personal-Nachweis in his Wehrmacht Personalakte:

Maximilian Fretter-Pico Kdr. Gen., 97. leichte Infanterie-Division (15.4.1941-27.12.1941) mit d. Führung d. XXX. Armeekorps beauftragt (27.12.1941-23.12.1942) Kdr. Gen., XXX. Armeekorps (23.12.1942-18.7.1944) Kdr. Armee-Abteilung Fretter-Pico (23.12.42-3.2.43) mit d. Führung d. 6. Armee beauftragt (18.7.1944-22.12.1944) Oberbefehlshaber, Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico (17.9.1944-23.12.1944) Kdr. Gen., Stellv. Gen.-Kdo. IX. Armeekorps u. Befehlshaber Wehrkreis IX (30.3.45-22.4.45) From his Personal-Nachweis in his Wehrmacht Personalakte: OLD IMAGE REPLACED WITH BETTER VERSION

No one owns the documents. They are part of the Captured German Military Records collection at the U.S. National Archives. They are official German government documents held by a U.S. government agency, and not copyright-able under U.S. or German law. The photographs of the documents, of course, are the copyright of the person who took the photo, but since that person is me, I am pretty sure that's not an issue.

It is nice to see some coverage of Jamaica, but to me it is a little sad that among 153 people recognized in Jamaica's 2011 National Honours and Awards ceremony on National Heroes Day, the only one who gets mentioned in the US media is the late reggae singer. I guess he's the only one the US editors thought would be recognized. There were six awards of the Order of Jamaica, 26 awards of the Order of Distinction in the grade of Commander (CD), and 26 awards of the Order of Distinction in the grade of Officer (OD). There were two awards of the Badge of Honour for Gallantry (BGH), 17 of the Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service, and 23 of the Badge of Honour for Long and Faithful Service. The BGHs were for lifesaving or attempted lifesaving. The Medal of Honour for Gallantry went to three Jamaica Defence Force soldiers, one posthumously. The Medal of Honour for Meritorious Service went to 19 Jamaica Defence Force members, 15 Jamaica Constabulary Force members, nine Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) members and seven Jamaica Fire Brigade members. The Medals of Honour for Gallantry were to Lance Corporal Marvin McLennon, Private Damion Brown and Private Maurice Green. Pvt. Green's was posthumous. These were for an operation against gunmen of a drug gang in the Tivoli Gardens housing project in Kingston in May 2010.

I think it is more likely that they were made at the same time, or that the shorter one came later. It looks like the St. Michael is an error. Someone mistakenly or incorrectly used that ribbon instead of the Oldenburg one. A (mainly) civilian St. Michael makes little sense between what appears to be the Hesse Tapferkeistmedaille and the Hamburg Hanseatenkreuz, while an Oldenburg Friedrich-August Kreuz makes more sense. The shorter ribbon bar then appears to leave off the peacetime commemorative medals (Prussian Centenary and Baden Jubilee) and keep only the decorations (the Prussian long service cross was considered a decoration). I assume the last ribbon is the Rettungsmedaille am Bande. I can't speak to whether it is fake, as you'd need better pictures of the threads and needle and need to check the ribbons. The St. Michael error could have been made by a tailor in 1935 or a faker in 1995, for all I know.