Dave Danner

In the two lists above, about 20% of the named officers are Bavarian, definitely out of proportion to Bavaria's size in the Reich. All but one of the officers in a rank higher than Leutnant is also a Bavarian. That accords with what Ulsterman notes.

A few more: Major z.D. Max Hollerbaum - 2. Lst.Inf.Btl. Passau, d. 26.09.1915 (Maj. Hollerbaum was also a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War) Oberlt. Oskar Herz - 1./bay. RIR 23, d. 16.07.1918 Oberlt. Heinrich Kohn - 4./bay. RIR 12, d. 26.09.1918 Oberlt. Hermann Stettiner - d. 11.1918 Lt. Dr. Bertram Ascher - 5./IR 146, d. 18.08.1915 Lt. Leopold Auerbacher - 3.MG/RIR 121, d. 24.03.1918 Lt. Fritz Baer - 1./MG-Scharfsch.-Abt. 11, d. 25.03.1918 Lt. Arthur Baerlein - Stab I./bay. RFAR 1, d. 28.10.1917 Lt. David Bauernfreund - 3./RIR 227, d. 11.08.1918 Lt. Max Bendix - 12./RIR 53, d. 30.04.1917 Lt. Walter Berent - 2.MG./RIR 82, d. 11.10.1918 Lt. Julius Bloch - 1./IR 144, d. 22.07.1917 Lt. Heinz Bogusch - 3./IR 43, d. 03.11.1917 Lt. Fritz Bonheim - 12./RIR 76, d. 30.09.1915 Lt. Julius David - 5./FAR 70, d. 22.10.1916 Lt. Kurt Elias - 15./IR 92, d. 25.06.1915 Lt. Alfred B. Elkan - 8./FAR 7, d. 08.10.1918 Lt. Berthold Elsas - 12./LIR 120, d. 29.03.1916 Lt. Max Engel - 4./IR 129, d. 23.10.1918 Lt. Alfred Falk - FFA A292, d. 30.01.1917 Lt. Friedrich Fuchs - 11./IR 362, d. 10.05.1917 Lt. Julius Fuld - 7./RIR 30, d. 02.08.1917 Lt. Julius Fürst - 2.MG/IR 189, d. 28.03.1918 Lt. Paul Martin Gans - 7./IR 76, d. 08.05.1919 Lt. Walter Erich Gans - 9./IR 67, d. 02.03.1915 Lt. Ewald Glaser - 9./IR 157, d. 08.08.1918 Lt. Julius Goldfinger - 9./LIR 29, d. 16.10.1915 Lt. Martin Goldschmidt - 6./FAR 20, d. 19.04.1918 Lt. Fritz Grabowski - 1./Gd.Gren.R 3, d. 14.09.1916 Lt. Ernst Grunewald - 9./IR 60, d. 19.08.1917 Lt. Fritz Guggenheimer - 3./bay. RIR 18, d. 25.07.1918 Lt. Josef Gumperts - 1./IR 53, d. 08.01.1916 Lt. Rudolf Gumprich - Minenwerf.Kp./JägR 11, d. 15.09.1918 Lt. Artur Gutenberg - 5./LIR 116, d. 25.09.1915 Lt Dr. Hans Gutmann - 1./RIR 242, d. 05.07.1916 Lt. Dr. Joseph Gutmann - 7./bay. RIR 5, d. 05.09.1914 Lt. Waldemar Heidegger - 6./RIR 67, d. 07.04.1915 Lt. Emil Heilbronner - 1./bay. RIR 15, d. 15.07.1918 Lt. Hellmut Hellwitz - 5./IR 112, d. 25.05.1915 Lt. Siegfried Henle - 1./IR 76, d. 26.04.1915 Lt. Otto Herz - 12./RIR 122, d. 29.12.1917 Lt. Dr. Alfred Herz - 6./RIR 68, d. 23.02.1915 Lt. Dr. jur. Paul Herzberg - 3./FAR 183, d. 23.10.1918 Lt. Erich Hesselberger - Bal.Abw.Kan.Zug 117, d. 27.03.1916 Lt. Friedrich Heymann - 11./RIR 78, d. 26.04.1918 Lt. Heinrich Hirsch - 2.MG/IR 408, d. 02.10.1918 Lt. Emil Höchster - 6./6.bay.IR, d. 12.10.1917 Lt. Max Holzinger - bay. FFA 290b, d. 11.09.1917 Lt. Hermann Horn - 2./Fußar.Btl 75, d. 03.09.1918 Lt. Dr. Alfred Jacobsohn - 12./RIR 67, d. 24.10.1916 Lt. Adolf, Dr. Jacobsohn - 5./RIR 226, d. 17.03.1918 Lt. Ernst Joseph - Mun.Kol.B./Fußar.Btl. 157, d. 13.03.1918 Lt. Robert Kahn - 3./Brig.Ers.Btl. 30, d. 19.06.1915 Lt. Ernst Kassel - 10./IR 162, d. 11.04.1918 Lt. Alfred Katzenstein - 7./bay. RIR 17, d. 28.11.1916 Lt. Hermann Kern - 3./FüsR122, d. 30.06.1918 Lt. Hans Kimmelstiel - 9./RIR 59, d. 13.01.1919 Lt. Hans Koch - 6./bay. RIR 18, d. 15.07.1917 Lt. Ernst Kohlberg - 10./IR 364, d. 30.10.1917 Lt. Franz Koppel - 10./IR 150, d. 21.03.1918 Lt. Ernst Krakenberger - 2.MG/14.bay.IR, d. 20.09.1917 Lt. Hermann Kramer - 12./IR 336, d. 09.06.1918 Lt. Alexander Landmann - 6./bay. RIR 5, d. 26.04.1918 Lt. Erich Landsberger - 7./IR 50, d. 13.04.1918 Lt. Julius Leeser - MG./RIR 21, d. 05.08.1915 Lt. Marcel Lövy - 3./IR 99, d. 22.08.1917 Lt. Dr. Isai Lewin - 5./IR 113, d. 25.09.1915 Lt. Richard Lißberger - 6./bay. EIR 1, d. 22.10.1918 Lt. Dr. Willy Loewenthal - HusR 7, d. 27.12.1918 Lt. Walter Löwenstein - 7./IR 44, d. 24.09.1918 Lt. Robert Marburg - Ballon Zug 1, d. 12.10.1918 Lt. Gerhard Maschke - 2./Kav.Schütz.R. 87, d. 01.07.1918 Lt. Fritz Mayer - 2./bay.RIR 17, d. 19.07.1916 Lt. Franz Meyer - 4./bay. FußAR 4, d. 09.03.1917 Lt. Hermann Meyer - 6./FAR 44, d. 13.11.1918 Lt. Fritz Friedrich Meyer - Fußar.Bttr. 478, d. 05.05.1917 Lt Viktor Moritz - 6./bay. RIR 5, d. 22.10.1915 Lt. Fritz Müller - 8./RIR 202, d. 29.08.1918 Lt. Ernst Adolf Müller - 6.bay. Kampfgeschwader, Kampfstaffel 36, d. 10.11.1916 Lt. Erich Nathan - 2.MG/IR 53, d. 03.12.1918 Lt. Fritz Oppenheim - 7./IR 181, d. 19.09.1918 Lt. Hugo Reyersbach - 12./RIR 29, d. 29.07.1917 Lt. Fritz Rosenheimer - 9./FAR 221, d. 17.10.1918 Lt. Dr. Franz Rosin - FFA A253, d. 03.06.1917 Lt. Julius Roßmann - 4./7.bay.IR, d. 24.03.1918 Lt. Max Rotschild - 7./22.bay.IR, d. 26.09.1916 Lt. Hugo Ruhstadt - 1./IR 458, d. 24.04.1917 Lt. Hermann Samuel - 9./14.bay.IR, d. 27.11.1914 Lt. Paul Scheyen - 2./Fußar.Btl. 23, d. 25.06.1916 Lt. Ernst Schöneberg - 12./IR 461, d. 15.06.1918 Lt. Arthur Simon - 5.Ers.M.G.-Kp. /XIII. A.K., d. 31.10.1918 Lt. Hermann Simon - 5./FAR 266, d. 23.10.1917 Lt. Friedrich Sommer - 3./IR 66, d. 13.09.1918 Lt. Max Stein - d. 16.08.1917 Lt. Heinrich Steiner - 8./FAR 238, d. 25.04.1918 Lt. Dr. Max Theodor - 2./Fußar.Btl. 114, d. 22.10.1918 Lt. Heinz Wachsmann - 3.MG/RIR 71, d. 14.06.1917 Lt. Viktor Weil - 5./FüsR 40, d. 28.02.1916 Lt. Andreas Wolf - 2.MG/RIR 237, d. 27.08.1918 Lt. Fritz Wolff - 12./RIR 69, d. 06.05.1917

Approximately 100,000 German Jews served in the Imperial German Army and Navy in the war, and about 85,000 were Frontsoldaten. About 12,000 were killed. The Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten was founded in February 1919 by Hauptmann Leo Löwenstein. Löwenstein was a reserve officer and physicist, so he doesn't show up in the Ehrenrangliste, but he was an Oberleutnant d.R. with IR 15 in 1914. The Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten eventually had over 40,000 members. It published a Gedenkbuch of the fallen German Jewish soldiers in the war. It was banned by the Nazis in the late 1930s. Löwenstein ended up in Theresienstadt, but survived the war. I'm not sure what percentage of those veterans were officers. Given their tendency to be more well-educated and urban, there might have been a fair number of Jewish reserve officers, but the active officer corps was heavily biased toward the German aristocracy. So if the two factors might have balanced out, the percentage of Jewish officers to Jewish soldiers might have been similar to that of the army as a whole. Among a sampling of German Jewish officers who fell during the war and are included in the Gedenkbuch are: Lt. Hans Abrahamsohn - 9./IR 426, d. 29.06.1918 Lt. Ernst Adler - Flieg.Ers.Abt. 238; Res.DragR 4, d. 25.04.1918 Lt. Max Aron - 10./IR 363, d. 27.08.1918 Lt. Heinrich Auerbach - 4./RIR 440, d. 23.08.1917 Lt. Dr. Fritz Berend, 10./IR 92, d. 29.09.1915 Lt. Otto Bergmann - 4./IR 65, d. 10.08.1917 Lt. Bruno Berneis - FFA 17, d. 08.08.1916 Lt. Fritz Bernhardt - Nachr. Zug/2.bay.IR, d. 28.09.1918 Lt. Rudolf Bernheimer - 4./bay. RIR 19, d. 19.02.1915 Lt Dr. Heinrich Fritz Bettsak - FFA A209, d. 11.09.1917 Lt. Ludwig Binswanger - Gr.Staffel Stab 5, d. 12.07.1918 Lt. Friedrich Brummel - 9./IR 43, d. 15.03.1917 Lt. Adolf Caro - 4./RIR 80, d. 22.06.1915 Lt. Martin Citron - 3./RIR 228, d. 02.09.1915 Lt. Friedrich Fritz Cohen - 11./RIR 212, d. 20.07.1918 Lt. Otto Cohn - 1./Fußar.Btl. 78, d. 06.04.1918 Lt. Carl Dresdner - 2.Ers.Btl./IR 163, d. 13.10.1918 Lt. Dr. Carl Elsas - 7./FAR 281, d. 30.03.1918 Lt. Hermann Engel - MG-Scharfsch.Abt. 28, d. 01.10.1918 Lt. Dr. Alfred Geiger - 4./RFAR 6, d. 09.10.1918 Lt. Alfred Gerstel - 3./FAR 403, d. 18.07.1918 Lt. Fritz Gerstl - 8./3.bay.IR, d. 15.04.1918 Lt. Alfons Glaser - 10./13.bay.IR, d. 25.08.1914 Oberlt. Dr. Emil Goldschmidt - 4./18.bay.IR, d. 31.03.1918 Lt. Kurt Gottlob - 2/2.Gd. RIR, d. 23.08.1917 Lt. Otto Grosser - 9./GIR 6, d. 31.05.1918 Lt. Dr. Fritz Walter Hantke - 2./1.bay.IR, d. 09.06.1916 Lt. Georg Hartmann - 6./LIR 72, d. 19.05.1915 Lt. Wilhelm Heimann - 11./RIR 99, d. 14.04.1917 Lt. Felix Heymann - 5./RIR 52, d. 28.07.1916 Lt. Aron Hirschmann - 8./22.bay.IR, d. 23.07.1918 Lt. Erich Hofmann - 9./RIR 252, d. 25.10.1918 Lt. Julius Wilhelm Holz - 3.MG./IR 99, d. 13.06.1918 Lt. Alfons Jakob - Stab Art.Kdr. 197, d. 17.10.1918 Lt. Edmund Joelsohn - 5./IR 446, d. 01.09.1918 Lt. Friedrich Kamp - 12./IR 25, d. 05.01.1915 Lt. Alfred Kahn - 1./RIR 203, d. 15.08.1918 Lt. Walter König - d. 08. 1915 Lt. Max Emanuel Koch - Stab/209.Inf.Brig.; DR 6, d. 09.03.1918 Lt. Walter Kronfeld - d. 16.07.1916 Lt. Oskar Kullmann - 7./bay. RFußarR 2, d. 07.06.1917 Lt. Bruno Levi - 8./RIR 120, d. 02.04.1916 Lt. Gustav Lewin - 1./IR 477, d. 10.10.1917 Lt. Hans Lewin - 1.MG/bay.RIR 5, d. 23.08.1918 Lt. Helmuth Lilienfeld - 2. MG/IR 70, d. 10.04.1918 Lt. Hans Lindenberg - 12./12.bay.IR, d. 05.09.1914 Lt. Hans Lobethal - 6./IR 82, d. 30.09.1918 Lt. Ernst May - MG-Abt. 9, d. 26.09.1915 Lt. Fritz Mecklenburg - Kampfgeschw. 1 der OHL Staffel 1, d. 21.09.1917 Hptm. Georg Meyer - 4./bay. RFAR 10, d. 15.12.1916 Lt. Walter Meyer - 10./LIR 15, d. 10.10.1918 Lt. Otto Mond - 3./RIR 52, d. 05.04.1918 Lt. Hans Ulrich Mosse - 10./13.bay.IR, d. 03.08.1916 Lt. Herbert Wilhelm Müller - 6./RFAR 10, d. 05.10.1916 Lt. Alfred Oppenheim - 3./RIR 29, d. 16.04.1917 Lt. Hermann Pelzer - MG/RIR 94, d. 07.10.1917 Lt. Leo Perl - 8./RIR 271, d. 29.07.1915 Lt. Kurt Pfingst - 10./RIR 12, d. 04.01.1917 Oberlt. Dr. Hans Philipp - MG/bay. RIR 7, d. 09.05.1915 Lt. Simon Pinczower - Flieg.Ers.Abt. 11, d. 15.05.1918 Lt. Oswald Röhl - Flieg.Ers.Abt. 1, d. 26.09.1918 Lt. Erich Roth - 8./RIR 130, d. 27.05.1918 Lt. Heinrich Samuelson - 9./IR 79, d. 02.07.1915 Lt. Moritz Friedrich Schäffer - 2./IR 51, d. 08.06.1917 Lt. Karl Scheuer - 7./FAR 92, d. 10.06.1918 Lt. Erwin Schlesinger - 6./IR 457, d. 04.10.1918 Lt. Adolf Max Schottlaender - 2./RIR 88, d. 15.08.1916 Lt. Ernst Schrag - 3.MG/RIR 94, d. 05.10.1917 Lt. Dr. Moritz Schüler - 9./bay. RIR 10, d. 04.11.1914 Lt. Heinrich Schwarzwald - 1.MG/LIR 6, d. 26.03.1917 Lt. Gottfried Sender - 9./RIR 24, d. 13.06.1915 Lt. Walter Sieburth - Min.Werf./IR 43, d. 28.03.1918 Lt. Otto Spanjer-Herford - 12./IR 58, d. 09.08.1918 Lt. Ludwig Stern - 1. Ldst.Inf.Ers.Btl. Landau, d. 01.12.1914 Lt. Georg Sternberg - 4./RFAR 36, d. 27.09.1917 Lt. Alfred Story - 11./RIR 269, d. 02.05.1915 Lt. Max Straus - Luftschiff-Abt. 37; Fesselballonzug 98, d. 13.12.1918 Lt. Martin Strelitz - 11./bay. LIR 7, d. 23.09.1914 Lt. Bernhard Trier - 1.Ers.Abt./FAR 61, d. 23.09.1915 Lt. Rudolf Weill - 3./LdwFAR 8, d. 09.06.1918 Lt. Walter Weiß - Div. Brückentrain 98, d. 24.09.1918 Lt. Ernst Werner - Mag. Fuhrparkkol. 486, d. 08.08.1917 Lt. Max Zeller - 10./bay. RIR 5, d. 24.06.1915

The two unknowns in post #50 are Police Merit Medals. They came in gold, silver and bronze. The unknowns in posts #53 and #58 are Police Honor Medals. These too came in gold, silver and bronze. The unknown in post #56 is a People's Self Defense Medal, 2nd Class, for the People's Self Defense Force. In post #57, the first ribbon is for an Air Gallantry Cross.

As noted above, only five of the German states had a specific award for bravery that ranked ahead of virtually everything else ("virtually" because I suppose the Order of the Black Eagle, for instance, outranked the Pour le M?rite). These were the four kingdoms - Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, W?rttemberg - and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Prussia: for officers, the Orden "Pour le M?rite"; for enlisted men, the Milit?r-Verdienstkreuz.Bavaria: for officers, the Milit?r-Max-Joseph-Orden; for enlisted men, the Goldene Milit?r-Verdienst-Medaille, AKA Goldene Tapferkeitsmedaille.Saxony: for officers, the Milit?r St. Heinrich-Orden; for enlisted men, the Goldene Milit?r-St. Heinrichs-Medaille.W?rttemberg: for officers, the Milit?r-Verdienstorden; for enlisted men, the Goldene Milit?rverdienstmedaille.Baden: for officers, the Milit?rischer Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden; for enlisted men, the Verdienstmedaille des Milit?rischen Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstordens, AKA Karl-Friedrich-Milit?r-Verdienstmedaille.The other states did not have equivalents for this. As I mentioned, they generally relied on their house orders and/or Iron Cross equivalents. But it is in many cases unclear what the hierarchy was, unlike in the cases above.Hesse: before the establishment of the pinback Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen in 1917, Hesse essentially had only one bravery award, the General Honor Decoration "For Bravery", for both officers and enlisted men. The Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen became the higher award, but for all intents and purposes, it was closer to an Iron Cross 1st Class than to a Pour le M?rite or Milit?r-Verdienstkreuz. Theoretically, a grade of the Orden Philipps des Gro?m?tigen with Swords might have been an alternative higher award. Wartime awards of that decoration are certainly rare, but since the archives in Darmstadt were destroyed in World War II no one knows how many were awarded or to whom. So even if there were a dozen or 50 or 150 enlisted recipients of the Silver Cross with Swords of the order, without the lists, we wouldn't know if this was a higher award for bravery or a merit award for older Felwebelleutnants, Zahlmeisters, and the like.Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz: both grand duchies had an Iron Cross-equivalent - a two-class award, one on ribbon and one pinback, awarded without regard to rank. In both cases, the pinback cross - Mecklenburg-Schwerin's Milit?rverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse and Mecklenburg-Strelitz's Kreuz 1. Klasse f?r Auszeichnung im Kriege, "Tapfer und Treu" - would probably qualify as the highest enlisted award. But as with the Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen, these were essentially Iron Cross 1st Class equivalents. Theoretically, the merit crosses of the Hausorden der Wendischen Krone might qualify as a higher award, but there doesn't seem to be much evidence for them as military awards during the war, much less as bravery awards.Oldenburg: another grand duchy with an Iron Cross equivalent, the Friedrich August-Kreuz. The 1st Class would be the higher purely military award, but again basically an Iron Cross 1st Class equivalent. In Oldenburg's case, there were wartime awards to enlisted personnel of the various grades of the Ehrenkreuz with swords of the Haus- und Verdienstorden von Herzog Peter Friedrich Ludwig (as well as grades of the order to officers), but whether these would be considered higher or alternative awards to the Friedrich August-Kreuz 1. Klasse I don't know. I also don't know if they were awarded to frontline types for bravery or to rear area types for merit.Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: last of the grand duchies. Saxe-Weimar's main award for enlisted personnel was the General Honor Decoration with Clasp and Swords (Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen mit Bandschnalle und Schwertern. This came in gold, silver and bronze, but the grade was based on rank, not degree of bravery. The pinback Wilhelm-Ernst Kriegskreuz would be the higher award, for both enlisted men and officers (for whom the White Falcon was the basic award).It would take some more time to go through the other states (except the three Hanseatic cities, which are easy because they only had one award), but the logic above generally applies to most. However, in all these cases there is one other fact that must be kept in mind: only the Bavarian and Saxon armies were separate. All of the other states, including W?rttemberg (XIII. Armeekorps) and Baden (XIV. Armeekorps), had their armies as part of the Prussian Army. Therefore, the highest enlisted decoration in all of these states was in fact Prussia's Milit?r-Verdienstkreuz. I have previously published a thread here on Baden recipients of both the Milit?r-Verdienstkreuz and the Karl-Friedrich-Milit?r-Verdienstmedaille. There were other Badeners who received only the former. I don't have the MVK list handy, but I do recall that there were also Meiningers from IR 32, Mecklenburgers from GR 89 and FR 90, Oldenburgers from IR 91, Braunschweigers from IR 92, Hessians from IR 116, etc.

As far as I know, they are the only two recipients of both the medal and the order. Sch?pflin was a Musketier in the 4. badisches Infanterie-Regiment when he was decorated in 1871 and was commissioned in 1872. I think for the most part the smaller states really didn't have anything that corresponded to the special decorations that Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, W?rttemberg and Baden did, both for officers and enlisted men. In these states officers and enlisted were usually similarly situated. There was a basic award, often the state's house order (with rank determining which class one received) or an Iron Cross-type award, with a second award (whether called 1st class or not) being the higher award one might aspire to. But even in these cases, there was overlap. In Saxe-Altenburg, for instance, the basic enlisted award was the Bravery Medal. For repeated acts of bravery, a private or corporal might receive the Silver Merit Medal with swords of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order (of course, he also would be eligible for the Iron Cross). But in 1918, the duchy established the pinback Duke Ernst Medal 1st Class with Swords. This was for both officers and enlisted essentially the highest award. But of the 32 enlisted recipients of the Duke Ernst Medal 1st Class with Swords, only about 10 or so received a grade of the Ernestine House Order (Merit Cross, Gold or Silver Merit Medals). So theoretically, if the war had continued and they had continued to distinguish themselves, the duchy had another honor to bestow. Another thing to take into account is that for many of these states, another high honor to bestow on an enlisted man was a commission, welcoming him into the ranks of officers and gentlemen and the social privileges that meant in a class-based society. This would of course also open the door to officers' decorations.

Here is a story worth reading and a reminder of the human beings behind these pieces of cloth and metal. http://www.isthatlegal.org/archives/2007/0..._leos_meda.html

I didn't list all of them because the others were covered on the website. I just hadn't covered Bavaria, Prussia and Saxony yet. By the way, Baden medals trivia: what do the aviator Hermann Pfeifer and Albert Sch?pflin, commander of the 45. Reserve-Division, have in common?

I am not sure what "regulations" you refer to. Latvia and Estonia are sovereign nations. There is no international law banning the swastika, and while we may disagree with Latvia's or Estonia's choice on whether and what symbols to banish from the public square, they aren't violating any regulations. And how exactly is that an endorsement of fascism? As a product of the Anglo-American liberal tradition, I find it somewhat Orwellian to prove one's democratic fealty by banning expression. As for the Latvian SS, it is easy to dismiss them as scum. I suppose all German soldiers (not just SS, since they all served the same system) were scum too, as were all Soviet soldiers since they too served an evil system that destroyed millions of lives. Of course, if you choose to draw a distinction between the SS and ordinary German soldiers, you should keep in mind that Latvians who wished to fight the Soviets weren't given that choice - like many ethnic legions, the Latvian Legion was incorporated into the Waffen SS. That doesn't make them Nazis. I imagine some were, and I imagine some just didn't care one way or another, which to some extent is almost as bad. As for your last comment, I have no idea what a "plonker" is but from the context it sounds like an insult. For what it's worth, Theodor is a native of Bulgaria, someone who grew up in a communist dictatorship. I imagine you encounter enough people like that so you probably know where they're usually coming from. As I recall, I generally disagree with Theodor on most political issues, but (a) WAF has put a lot more effort into stamping out political rants over the past few years (though they always flare up, as politics is part of human nature), and (b) this was a three year old thread and I have no idea if his views are the same today, so I wouldn't go so far as to assume what was said then would be said today. Still, it does appear that he was trying to draw a distinction between purely military awards like the EK and Infantry Assault Badge, which incorporated the swastika in their design because it was the state symbol of the Nazi era, and political awards, i.e., those that symbolized Nazism per se like a Party badge. Not sure if "wonderful" is a word I would use, but I take his point, even if I don't fully agree (in the case of the Latvians, the Latvian government certainly knew what message the Russian government would take from the event, and that was as much a part of the message as honoring their fallen soldiers). When you see an old Red Army vet wearing an Order of the Red Banner and an Order of the Great Patriotic War with their hammer and sickle, do you assume he is some Commie scum pining for the Gulag, famines and Katyn Wood? By the way, here is a 1999 photo of Gen. Adolf Ehrnrooth and here is a 2004 photo of his order pillow at his state funeral, both from the Finnish military website (warning: really big pictures!!). The Iron Cross on his medal bar has a swastika on it. Of course, most Finnish decorations have a swastika on them, but not the particular Nazi-style one rotated 45 degrees. Does the fact that Finnish veterans wore their un-denazified German decorations and the Finnish government gives them state funerals without censoring the swastika mean that fascism is alive and well in that non-former Communist state?

The man on the right is Lt. Col. Harri Rent. I posted a thread on this almost three years ago on WAF, which is about when the photos date from. There are links to an article and some larger images: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ead.php?t=43530

Selam Polri means "police diver". Polri is the short-form acronym for Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia. Pelopor means "scout". The badge incorporates the Polri coat of arms, so it is police as well. The jump wings also incorporate the Polri coat of arms. Bri-Mob is the Brigade Mobile Polri, or the Police Mobile Brigade: http://www.brimob.polri.go.id/

Klietmann says 8,299, which is the same number as in the Ehrenbuch der Inhaber der S?chs. Goldenen Milit?r-St. Heinrichs-Medaille. Erhard Roth's list of recipients published in 1998 only has 7,972 names, though.

Because I haven't yet added text descriptions for a few of the states, some additional information: Prussia: Prussia's highest enlisted decoration was the Military Merit Cross (Milit?r-Verdienstkreuz), referred to as the "Pour le M?rite for NCOs and enlisted men". It is often referred to as the Golden Military Merit Cross to distinguish it from the Military Decoration 1st Class (Milit?r-Ehrenzeichen 1. Klasse), another decoration for enlisted soldiers which was identical except for being silver. The Golden Military Merit Cross was founded on February 27, 1864. There were 16 awards in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, 17 awards to Russians in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, 4 to Russians in 1902-04, 5 to Prussians in colonial conflicts between 1895 and 1906, and 1773 in World War I. Also worth mentioning is the Member's Cross with Swords (Kreuz der Inhaber mit Schwertern) of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. Although technically not the highest ranking enlisted award of Prussia, it was a much rarer honor in World War I. Only 16 were awarded. A disproportionate number of these were to aviators, which probably reflected the fact that enlisted aviators were racking up the kills that were earning their officer counterparts the Knight's Cross of the Hohenzollern House Order. Saxony: The highest enlisted decoration was the Golden Medal of the Military Order of St. Henry (Goldene Medaille des Milit?r St. Heinrich-Ordens). It was founded on March 17, 1796. There were about 250 total awards for the Napoleonic Wars, the Wars of Unification of Germany and the colonial wars. There were 150 awards of the Golden St. Henry Medal in World War I. This works out to one for every 7,296 Saxon soldiers. The first recipient was Sergeant Konrad Niemz of 5. Batterie/Fu?artillerie-Regiment Nr. 19. His was earned on February 18, 1915 (although awarded on June 18, 1915) after a fight at a sugar factory complex where his unit was trying to set up an observation post. He was later commissioned and served in the Reichswehr until 1921, and earned the EK1 and EK2, the Silver St. Henry Medal (22 Dec. 1914), the Friedrich August Medal in Silver, the Wound Badge and the Saxon Long Service Cross 1st Class for NCOs. The last award was to Vizefeldwebel d.R. and Offizierstellvertreter Max Ludwig of 6. Kompanie/Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 102 on November 6, 1918. According to his regimental commander's account, Ludwig was leading his platoon in a counterattack and was shot through the right forearm. Unable to fire his pistol, he continued leading his men forward and throwing grenades with his left hand. He inflicted untold casualties on the enemy and took 11 prisoners, and despite weakness from blood loss, stayed with his platoon in pursuit of the retreating enemy. Bavaria: Bavaria's highest enlisted decoration was the Golden Military Merit Medal (Goldene Milit?r-Verdienst-Medaille), commonly (and after March 2, 1918 officially) referred to as the Golden Bravery Medal (Goldene Tapferkeitsmedaille). It was founded on October 30, 1794. Sources differ on the number awarded in World War I. My list of recipients from Die Bayern im Gro?en Krieg, published by the Bavarian War Archives, has 1003 names.

Assuming the wear on the ribbons is even, but the wear on the medals is as inconsistent as Rick L. notes, the medals were likely remounted on a ribbon bar from which other medals had been removed. Note that the FKE appears to have a hook, but some of the others look sewn on. Also, note the wear a little higher on ribbons #2 and #6. This could be from the crowns of a Hohenzollern Knight's Cross and a Saxe-Meiningen Cross for Merit in War, a combination which would make more sense than the Crown Order and Medal for Merit in War. Assuming medals were swapped out, an Albrechtsorden Knight 1st Class, more consistent with the Red Eagle, might have been replaced with the 2nd Class.

10 were awarded. The Home of Heroes website lists foreign Navy Cross citations here, but only has citations for two of the Soviets. The names and ranks below are listed as they are on that site, because I think that's how they were set forth in Navy orders. However, I have annotated them with correct names and added links where available to bios (albeit in Russian). Seven of the 10 appear to be Heroes of the Soviet Union. Avdeev, M.V. Lieutenant Colonel - Mikhail Vasilyevich Avdeev (Михаил Васильевич Авдеев) was a Soviet Naval aviator with 17 kills. He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on June 14, 1942 (No. 858).Basisty, N.E., Vice Admiral - Mikola Efremovich Basisty (Микола Єфремович Басистий, 1898-1971) was a Ukrainian naval officer who commanded surface warfare units in the Black Sea. He was commander of the Black Sea Fleet from 1948 to 1951 and deputy commander of the Soviet Navy from 1951 to 1956.Fisanovich, I. I. Captain Second Rank - Izrail Ilyich Fisanovich (Израиль Ильич Фисанович) was a Soviet Jew and commander of the submarine M-172 of the Northern Fleet. He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on April 17, 1942 (No. 658).Greshilove. M.V.G. Captain-Lieutenant - a typo in either the Navy's list or the Home of Heroes list. This should be Mikhail Vasil'evich Greshilov (Михаил Васильевич Грешилов). He commanded the submarines M-35 and Shch-215. He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on May 16, 1944 (No. 2912).Gurin, A.I. Captain Second Rank - Anton Iosifovich Gurin (Антон Иосифович Гурин), another naval aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union (July 8, 1945, No. 7595).Guskov, E.V. Captain Second Rank - Е.В. Гуськов. Apparently a commander of torpedo boats and torpedo boat units, though I can't find much other than references in passing in articles about various combat actions.Kucherov, S. G. Rear Admiral - Stepan Grigor'evich Kucherov (Степан Григорьевич Кучеров). Awarded the Navy Cross "for extraordinary heroism in action as commander, of the Soviet White Sea Flotilla." Later Chief of the Naval Staff. Most post-war positions were academic. Two Orders of Lenin, 3 Red Banners, 1 Patriotic War, 1 Nakhimov 1st Class, 1 Ushakov 1st Class.Kurzenkov, S. G. Captain Northern Fleet - Sergei Georgiyevich Kurzenkov (Сергей Георгиевич Курзенков), another aviator (12 kills). He was awarded the HSU on July 24, 1943 (No. 1044).Tatarenko, D. M. Captain - Dmitrii Mitrofanovich Tatarenko (Дмитрий Митрофанович Татаренко), yet another naval aviator (at least 16 kills, but possibly more). The website says he was awarded the HSU on July 24, 1943, but it also says number 855. That seems inconsistent with some of the other numbers and dates here, so if someone has another source, maybe he or she could check? The picture on the link, by the way, has a good shot of the Navy Cross.Travkin, I. V. Captain-Lieutenant - Ivan Vasil'evich Travkin (Иван Васильевич Травкин), commander of the submarines Shch-303 in 1942-43 and K-52 in 1944-45. Awarded the HSU on April 20, 1945 (No. 5089).

That makes some sense (in the sense that it doesn't make much sense). In some cases, there are multiple versions on Google books of the same books, scanned by different libraries. Some are downloadable, some are not. I had included alternate links in several places because sometimes one library misscanned some pages, so you could look at the version from the other library for those pages. But if it is also the case that alternate links are useful because some libraries allow broader dissemination of the books, then I would encourage searching through books.google.com for these other versions to see if they are available where you are. Also, here are the links to Google books in various European googles: Germany: http://www.google.de/books? Netherlands: http://www.google.nl/books? France: http://www.google.fr/books? Spain: http://www.google.es/books? They might offer alternative copyright restrictions that books.google.com in the US.

Google Books, being U.S.-based, appears to default to U.S. copyright laws. Under U.S. laws, all of these works are in the public domain because their copyright expired or they never were copyrightable. The ranklists, seniority lists, state handbooks, and the like, for what it's worth, are also not under copyright in Germany, their country of origin. Under ? 5 of the Gesetz ?ber Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Law of Copyright and Related Protections), they are official works and not protected by copyright. Not that this helps get around Google's defaults.

Based on this thread - http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16692 - it appears some European countries are blocked by Google. As noted in the thread, I think there is a way to change your computer settings so you don't read as "in Poland" or "in Romania" or wherever is blocked, but I am not sure how. One can also use a proxy, but I am not sure how those work either. I am not too tech-savvy; my VCR still blinks 12:00.

I think there is a way. I remember when eBay was blocking some sites, someone described how to change your settings so you didn't read as in Europe or the US. I can't remember exactly how it was done, though.

This is the direct link under "Download PDF" for that Husaren-Regiment Nr. 1 link: http://books.google.com/books/pdf/Geschich...t0ZPc-v78xmgyb8

The Milit?r-Schematismus are only available online, as is the history of Uhlan Regiment Nr. 3. For all of the others, when I click on the link, I see two options: "Read this book" and "Download PDF". They are not partial extracts, but the complete books (except the Prussian state handbook in another thread). This is what the top of the screen looks like, with the two buttons on the left side of the summary. Is yours different?

Here is the 1896 edition, which appears to be one volume: Bekleidungs-Vorschrift f?r Offiziere und Sanit?tsoffiziere des K?niglich Preussischen Heeres. It is 188 pages in length and 5.4 mB in size. Here is the 1895 edition, in two volumes: Bekleidungs-Vorschrift f?r Offiziere und Sanit?tsoffiziere des K?niglich Preussischen Heeres, Erster Theil: Anzugbestimmungen - 50 pages, 1.52 mB Bekleidungs-Vorschrift f?r Offiziere und Sanit?tsoffiziere des K?niglich Preussischen Heeres, Zweiter Theil: Beschreibung und Abzeichen des Anzuges - 122 pages, 4.8 mB I couldn't find enough uniform books to make a full thread of research resources as for the other online book threads, but hopefully these few books will be of use to uniform collectors.

This is part of a series of links to books digitized and available on Google Books which I have collected. I hope the books will be useful or interesting to you (and ideally both ). Most of the books here are downloadable, but a few can only be read online. All of the books I have identified here, however, are fully available (there are many more books which appear to have been digitized but are not available for either reading or downloading). This series of books relate to biographical resources on the armed forces of the United States. They are registers of officers of the services of the United States for the periods indicated. The books cover several periods, and some would be of use to the Civil War researcher who may also be interested in the works found in this thread. The last book on the list below covers civilian officials of the U.S. government as well as military. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution (1914) - 685 pages, 43.2 mBHistorical Register of the United States Army: From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to September 29, 1889 (1890) - 928 pages, 58.1 mBHistorical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army: From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903 (1903) - 1094 pages, 62.3 mBGeneral Register of the United States Navy and Marine Corps: Arranged in Alphabetical Order, for One Hundred Years (1782 to 1882) (1882) - 993 pages, 33.0 mBRegister of the Commissioned, Warrant and Volunteer Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Others to January 1, 1863 (1863) - 32.9 mBRegister of the Commissioned, Warrant and Volunteer Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Others to January 1, 1865 (1865) - 46.3 mBOfficial Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army for the Years 1861, '62, '63, '64, '65: Part IV: West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky (1865) - 282 pages, 10.7 mBOfficial Army Register for 1853 (1853)Official Army Register for 1864 (1864)Official Army Register for 1865 (1865)Official Army Register for January 1880 (1880)Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military and Naval, in the Service of the United States on the Thirtieth of September 1873 (1874)