Dave Danner

How detailed? This website has each division and its composition: http://www.thedigitalbookshelf.us/ww1_units.htm I'm not sure about a resource for non-divisional units.

As an initial award, the Military Merit Order and Military Merit Cross generally break down as follows: MVK 3rd Class with Swords: Gefreiter, Soldat (Infanterist, Kanonier, Chevauleger, etc.)MVK 3rd Class with Crown and Swords: Sergeant, UnteroffizierMVK 2nd Class with Swords: Feldwebel, Vizefeldwebel MVK 2nd Class with Crown and Swords: OffizierstellvertreterMVK 1st Class with Swords: Feldwebelleutnant MVO 4th Class with Swords: Hauptmann/Rittmeister, Oberleutnant, LeutnantMVO 4th Class with Crown and Swords: MajorMVO 3rd Class with Swords: OberstleutnantMVO 3rd Class with Crown and Swords: OberstMVO Officer's Cross: OberstMVO 2nd Class with Swords: GeneralmajorMVO 2nd Class with Star and Swords: GeneralleutnantMVO 1st Class with Swords: GeneralFor higher grades of the order, the picture is somewhat muddied. Officers generally had a prewar grade of the order without swords, which sometimes affected which grade of the order with swords they received. As one got promoted during the war and had additional acts of bravery or merit, one could work up the grades of the award. Alfons Ritter von Bram, Friedrich Ritter von Haack, Otto Ritter von H?bner, Friedrich Ritter von Kunzmann, Hermann Ritter von Lenz, and Adolf Ritter von Ruith were each awarded four Military Merit Orders with Swords during the war.

Accroding to the information in Jerome's post, Frommel retired in 1896. Here is his 1896 ranklist entry:

There are two specific things wrong: 1. The oaks and eagle on the Prussian long service. That could be someone's embellishment. 2. The Flanders Cross, which would not be authorized on a WW2-era bar. They are sometimes seen, though, but not on an active officer's bar. As for the Red Eagle, there are a small number of naval officers who were commissioned after 1897 who got their RAO4s by 1914, and who don't have anything but an Iron Cross in the 1918 ranklist. So best case scenario: one of these officers who got out after getting the 1939 KVK2X and had a Frackspange made. Not being bound by regulations, he included the Flanders Cross. Then he or someone else improperly embellished the bar with the oaks and eagle. Worst case: someone else went to this effort but got all these details wrong. I don't think there is any way to say for sure either way.

Thank you Stefan

Thanks to everyone for your help!

And one more: for Hauptmann Werner von Heeringen I read : "im Kriegsministerium, Vertreter des Chefs der Abt. f?r __________fragen." Any thoughts on the missing text?

Another one: for Lt. d.R. Albert Grey (very German-sounding name!) It appears to say: "von der Train-Abtl. 19, bei der _____. Fuhrp.kol. 218 der Etappen-Inspektion 11" The missing part looks like "Magaz." Does that make sense with a Fuhrparkkolonne?

Page 57 of Volume 1. Best regards, Dave

I could be completely wrong, but here goes: The text above "F.G.S." reads, appropriately, General Federation of Sports (which would be F.G.S. in French). The text above "R.A.S." reads Arab Republic of Syria (which again would be R.A.S. in French, the second language of Syria). The plaque says something to the effect of "in commemoration of the fourth sports festival" on the first line and "Executive Committee of the General Federation of Sports" on the second line. Not sure about the rest. The year at the bottom is 1975.

Thanks for Stabswache. I still can't figure out the first part. In post #19 for Stabsarzt Dr. M?nnich, I figured it out to be "Sanit?tskomp." In post #20 for Oberlt. Wolfgang von Schierholz, what I wrote as "Fahrpark" should be "Fuhrpark", I think.

This is Lt.d.R. Franz Wald's entry. I think it is "Adjutant der Etappen-Insp. Gent". Can anyone confirm?

The first word I can't make out. The rest is "___ -Stabsarzt im Hauptquartier Sr. Majest?t des Kaisers".

This is for Oberlt. Wolfgang von Schierholz. I think it is "Kommandeur der Res-Fahrpark-Kol. 84, Res. Trainabt. 51". Sound right?

Can't make out the top line at all. This is for Stabsarzt Dr. M?nnich.

A few more: I can't make out the first name on Lt.d.R. Frank's entry here. Any guesses?

Thanks, Uwe!

On the second, maybe "Hauptmeldeamt"?

And one more: Maj. z.D. Karl Maron from Erfurt. It appears to be "Haupt______amt Erfurt". Any ideas?

OK, next one. This is the entry for a Major d.L. Alfred Poirier. It looks like Waffen- u. Munitions____________ Amt in Berlin. The missing part looks like it ends "attungs", but the first few letters ("be-" something?) throw me.

Thanks to all for your assistance. No doubt I will come across more text to decipher. Sometimes the rolls are quite clear and legible, other times the text is not very easy to read.

According to Busche, on mobilization in 1914, Corsep became commander of I. Bataillon/Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71. The entry in the roll immediately above Corsep is for Oberstleutnant Hofmann, the commander of LIR 71. Maybe someone meant to write "desgl." regiment?

Raining on my own parade, I think Fichtbauer might have gotten a Royal Hohenzollern House Order, which would rule him out. There might be a silver lining behind those clouds, though. The only other candidate I can find that fits is Ernst Ritter von M?ller (BMV4XmKr on 5.3.17, WF3bX on 22.1.16). But that assumes that he wore his Military Order of Max Joseph on the buttonhole, rather than on the medal bar. More digging is necessary to rule him in or out, or to see if there is another candidate.

It's from the award rolls of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He was a major named Corsep, so Bataillons-Komm(andeur) would fit. I think in script the "m" with the little line above means "mm", so probably "Komm", not "Kom" as I originally wrote. IR 451 was a Brandenburg regiment. Corsep was a recalled officer, not active in 1914. All the Ehrenrangliste has is his pre-war unit, IR 144 (a Lorraine unit), and his last wartime unit, LIR 387 (a Hannover and Braunschweig regiment). So none of the units show a direct connection to Sondershausen, though he may have been a citizen of the principality.

Can anyone help with the script below? It looks like "Bataillons Kom ___ Rgts". Is that a number?