Dave Danner

I came across this photo on the Hungarian Army website. For all I know, it's a famous photo and Glenn or the like can ID everybody with ease. But let's play ID the generals anyway! The original caption read "A n?met ?s az osztr?k?magyar hadsereg tisztjei a tizenkettedik isonz?i csata el?tt", or "German and Austro-Hungarian military officers at the 12th Battle of Isonzo". To start things off, I assume the dapper young gentleman in the front is Emperor Karl. I think somewhere in there is then-Colonel General Svetozar Boroevic von Bojna, since he's mentioned in the article, but I don't really know what he looks like.

I have a table breaking down the recipients of the various classes here: http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/reuss.htm I don't have images of any class with swords except the 3rd, but each of the 4 main classes without swords is shown (no Officer's Cross). I also don't have an image of the Golden Merit Medal with Crown and Swords. Also note that several are on the original statute ribbon, which was amaranth, which was replaced by the yellow/red/black war ribbon in 1915. Brian's forefather's medal bar, which he's shown elsewhere, has a prewar award on this ribbon. I also need to update the general information on this page (and others). I have that IR 96 was the principalities' main regular unit, but I need more on other Reuss units. I know RIR 32 was heavily made up of Reuss men; I think RIR 252 might be as well, but someone with a regimental list could maybe confirm? I also don't know which LIR would be Reuss', since there does not appear to have been an LIR 96.

Here is the Princely Reuss Honor Cross, 3rd Class with Swords. Note that the 3rd Class is more commonly seen than the 4th Class. This is because the 3rd was the class usually awarded to junior officers. The 4th was mainly for certain senior NCO and warrant-officer types.

I forgot to note that except for Saxony these were the numbers from the 1905 census. Saxony's is as noted from 1907. Most of these states had relatively robust population growth in the next decade, except for, among others, the two Mecklenburg grand duchies, which were stagnant backwaters environmentally, economically and politically. A number of factors will also skew award numbers. Among these was the fact that maritime states like Oldenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the three Hanseatic cities had proportionately higher representation in the Navy, so their awards to naval personnel. To illustrate this, here are the numbers of awards of certain EK equivalents to Kapitäne zur See of the Navy: Prussia - Iron Cross, 2nd Class: 111 (109 also had the 1st Class) Oldenburg - Friedrich August Cross 2nd Class: 49 (45 also had the 1st Class) Hamburg - Hanseatic Cross: 30 Bavaria - Military Merit Order: 24 Bremen - Hanseatic Cross: 14 Saxony: Albert Order w/Swords: 11 Lübeck - Hanseatic Cross: 10 Württemberg - Friedrich Order w/Swords: 7 (also 3 Crown Orders w/Swords) Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Military Merit Cross: 7 (also 1 1st Class) Braunschweig - War Merit Cross: 6 Baden - Zähringen Lion w/Swords: 5 Saxe-Weimar: White Falcon w/Swords: 4 Hessen - General Honor Decoration for Bravery: 3 Anhalt - Friedrich Cross: 2 (one of whom also had the Albert the Bear w/Swords) Saxon Duchies - Saxe-Ernestine House Order w/Swords: 2 Schaumburg-Lippe - Cross for Loyal Service: 2 By the way, this sample was 113 officers, which makes you wonder what the deal was with the only two captains in the German navy who didn't get the Iron Cross. One of these two, though, had a rather uncommon award: the Red Eagle 3rd Class with Swords and white/orange Bow. I was going to tabulate through lower ranks and see if the trends were similar, but that might take some time and I suppose someone might already have done this. Also, since the 1918 Navy rank list came out early in the year, it's possible some state might have shot ahead of the pack later by giving out a lot more naval awards. For instance, when the list came out, Fürst Heinrich XXVII of Reuß might have noticed that he had only awarded the Princely Honor Cross with Swords to a grand total of four regular navy officers - Korvettenkapitän Alexander Werth, Kapitänleutnant Ernst Kellermann, Kapitänleutnant Hugo Schmidt and Kapitänleutnant Fürst Heinrich XXXVII of Reuß. Fürst Heinrich XXXVII, by the way, was a fairly well-decorated naval officer, with the EK1 & 2, Mecklenburg-Schwerin MVK 1 & 2, Mecklenburg-Strelitz Cross for Distinction in War, Braunschweig War Merit Cross and Reuß Honor Cross 4th Class with Swords to go with his various higher house awards. He was also luckier than his brother, Heinrich XXXVIII, who was wounded in action near Verdun (at Samogneux) on 21 March 1918 and died the next day, one of four Reuß princes killed in the war (another died at Stalingrad in 1942).

Proportionate to the population of the two principalities, I'm not sure their awards are that rare. Here are the member states of the empire in order of population: Preu?en - 37,278,820 Bayern - 6,524,372 Sachsen - 4,582,000 (1907) W?rttemberg - 2,300,000 Baden - 2,010,728 Hessen - 1,210,000 Hamburg - 875,090 Mecklenburg-Schwerin - 625,045 Braunschweig - 485,655 Oldenburg - 438,195 Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach - 387,892 Anhalt - 328,007 Sachsen-Meiningen - 268,916 Bremen - 263,426 Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha - 242,292 Reu?-Greiz & Reu?-Gera - 215,160 (70,590 + 144,570) Sachsen-Altenburg - 206,508 Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt & Schwarzburg-Sondershausen - 182,007 (96,830 + 85,177) Lippe-Detmold - 145,610 L?beck - 105,857 Mecklenburg-Strelitz - 103,451 Schaumburg-Lippe - 44,992 Waldeck - 59,135 Taking into account population, for the most part the most commonly seen awards are from the largest states. The silver Merit Medal with swords is certainly far more commonly seen than, for example, the Silver Merit Medal with Swords Clasp from Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, which is the equivalent medal from the next largest state. Sachsen-Altenburg's Bravery Medal and the two Schwarzburgs' Silver Medal for Merit in War are more commonly seen, but also are less popular because of their lower quality manufacture.

Janko Vukovic de Podkapelski was killed when the Italians sank the Viribus Unitis, which had become the flagship of the provisional Yugoslav navy. Many of these, such as von Prica, Catinelli Edler von Obradich-Bevilacqua, and Mallinarich von Silbergrund und Kollinensieg, were Croatian or Slovenian nobles. They would not have had a place in Nazi Germany. The Pauspertls Vladyk von Drachenthal were Bohemian nobility. A number of Croatian and Slovenian junior officers ended up in the navy of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later Yugoslavia. Some were later officers in the Croatian Navy.

Three: golden merit medal with crown, golden merit medal and silver merit medal.

The bar isn't traceable because it isn't an officer's bar. Also, by the lack of a long-service medal (Baden switched from clasps to medals for long service in 1913), I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he served a stint in the late 1890s with GR 110, qualifying for the Centenary Medal, and then got out, and was recalled in World War I. In that case he might not have served with GR 110 in the war, but with a reserve, Landwehr or Ersatz unit, or possibly in the rear in a support position. He didn't get an Iron Cross, so he might be just one of thousands of anonymous soldiers who did their duty. The prewar history of GR 110 is reproduced here, at the site of a reenactor/historical preservation group dedicated to the regiment: 2. Bad. Grenadier-Rgt. Kaiser Wilhelm I. No. 110 During the war, the regiment was part of the 55. Infanterie-Brigade of the 28. Infanterie-Division. David Gregory has a summary of the division's structure and its Gefechtskalendar here: http://www.zeltbahn.net/wehrpass/28id.htm GR 110 had the second-largest number of MKFVO recipients with 13, one less that LGR 109's 14. The regimental commander at the outbreak of the war was Otto Freiherr von Diepenbroick-Gr?ter, but he became commander of the 58. Infanterie-Brigade on 7 October 1914, when the XIV (badisches) Armeekorps was redeployed from Alsace-Lorraine to Arras. He was awarded the Pour le Merite on 13 June 1918 as commander of the 10. Infanterie-Division. I'm not sure who immediately succeeded him, but in 1917 at Verdun GR 110 was commanded by Heinrich Wambold, whose ribbon bars Stogie-Rick owns or owned. Maybe he still has?

One of these gentlemen is Gustav-Adolf von Zangen. I suppose the other one is too, but for some reason they look different to me. The reason I am in this forum as opposed to a WW2 one is the little roundish badge on his pocket.

It helps not to think of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as more than a "Grand" Duchy in anything but name. It was not only the smallest of the grand duchies, it was smaller than every duchy and several principalities, including Lippe-Detmold.

http://www.news.mod.uk/news_headline_story...ewsItem_id=3745 Army Battle Honours awarded for Operation Telic Published Friday 11th November 2005 Her Majesty The Queen has approved a Battle Honour and Theatre Honour to be awarded to units in the British Army for their contribution to operations in Iraq during 2003. Commenting on the Honours, Armed Forces Minister, Adam Ingram, said: "These Honours represent an historic and traditional means of recognising the immense efforts British soldiers have made in bringing democracy to Iraq. Our soldiers and their families can be very proud of the role they have performed and the sacrifices they have made to guarantee a brighter future for the people of Iraq." In June 2005 Her Majesty The Queen approved the award of a Theatre Honour 'IRAQ 2003' and the Battle Honour 'AL BASRAH' for units of the British Army. Subsequently, individual Regiments and Corps applied to the Army Honours and Distinctions Committee for the award of these Honours. Following receipt of the Committee's recommendations, the Executive Committee of the Army Board has obtained The Queen's permission to award the following honours: Regiments and Corps to be awarded the Theatre Honour 'IRAQ 2003' are: The Life Guards, The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, The Royal Yeomanry, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys), The Queen's Royal Lancers, Royal Tank Regiment, Irish Guards (already awarded), The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, The Light Infantry, The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment), The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps The following Regiments and Corps are to be awarded the Battle Honour 'AL BASRAH': The Life Guards, The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys), The Queen's Royal Lancers, Royal Tank Regiment, Irish Guards (already awarded), The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, The Light Infantry, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), The Parachute Regiment, Army Air Corps HM The Queen gave early approval, in June 2005, for the Irish Guards to be awarded the Theatre Honour 'IRAQ 2003' and the Battle Honour 'AL BASRAH'. This early award allowed the Irish Guards to Troop their colour, with their new Theatre Honour emblazoned upon it, at The Queen's Birthday Parade.

Chris, You may have already done this, but have you talked with David Gregory? His rather extensive Milit?rpass and Soldbuch collection probably covers a fair number of EK award dates. http://www.zeltbahn.net/wehrpass/index.htm

As can be seen from the extract Rick posted, the "units" are the ones nominating the soldier, not necessarily the unit of assignment. Note for example the Reserve Lazarett Neustrelitz. Those NCOs, Fusiliers, Grenadiers, Musketiers, Kanoniers, etc. were more likely patients, not staff. The ones from various training areas may also involve people getting their awards processed during a little time in the rear before returning to the front.

To add: the shahaada is the Muslim statement of faith. The word comes from the verb shahida, meaning to witness or bear witness. The text on the badge basically states la ilah illa Allah wa Muhammad rasuul Allah, or "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God."

I only met Tony once, and had only a short opportunity to discuss a wide variety of topics, but everything Rick and others say rings true. RIP

Other than adding the Flemish "Eendracht maakt macht", the orders are unchanged, but manufacturing variations show up over a century and among different jewelers/makers. The War Cross for WW1 and the one for WW2 have different ribbons and different ciphers on the reverse. WW1 has the cipher for King Albert, and the WW2 version has that of King Leopold III. The palms also have ciphers. For the Korean War, the WW2 version of the War Cros was used, but after 1952, the cipher on the palm was changed. Originally, it was two Ls, the second one reversed, with the III in between, but after 1952 it was changed to a cursive L. I would recommend to you Hendrik Meersschaert's web site for more information: http://users.skynet.be/hendrik/index.html

Generally, the Order of Leopold II was given for long service as well as merit, similar to the Prussian Red Eagle and Crown Orders in peacetime. The Knight's Badge shown above is bilingual, so post-World War Two. Here is a French-only version, as awarded from 1900 to 1950: Here is an assortment of World War One medals - the Yser Medal, the Frontline Service Cross, the Commemorative Medal of the Campaign 1914-1918 and the World War I Victory Medal: The second one, the Frontline Service Cross, is also called the Fire Cross (Croix de Feu / Vuurkruis) and to me is one of the more striking Belgian medals. Last is a War Cross (Croix de Guerre / Oorlogskruis). This is the World War One version, similar to Laurence's in the other thread:

To clarify, the Saxon is the one on the right with trifolds. Besides the St. Henry, ZVO and EK, he has the Saxon Erinnerungskreuz 1866 and the KDM 1870/71. As for the precedence, Saxons and Bavarians generally put their own military decorations ahead of Prussia's. I note, though, that he also put a Saxon campaign award ahead of the EK. As for the other one, how is this von Marchtaler related to Gen. von Marchtaler, the W?rttemberg Minister of War in WW1?

Not only three sovereigns, but a 40-year span of history: Victoria on the QSA, named to Corporal E.W. Tabb, 2nd Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry George V on the BWM, named to Serjeant E.W. Tabb, still Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry George VI on the Defence Medal, probably for Home Guard service by Mr. Tabb.

In trying to reconcile information from various sources, I have a minor mystery that hopefully some with more and better resources (especially ones with names like Rick and Glenn J) can possibly clear up. The website pourlemerite.org's list of plM recipients is full of typos. In looking through the list. I noted one name: This name probably should be Osiander, as Oslander is not a German name, but there are three Osianders in the Ehren-Rangliste des Heeres. The Baden MKFVO list includes a Wilhelm Osiander, who received his MKFVO as a Major on 24 March 1917. However, Daniel's list of his other awards includes wartime and post-war awards, but not the plM: EK, HOH3X, DA25, China, Centenar, BZ3bXmE, BZ3bmE, BadJubi 1903, SA3aX, FEK, HSH3b, Schles.Adler. This Osiander was a field artillery officer, the commander of FAR 15, and after the war apparently led the Freiw.Feldartillerie-Rgt. Osiander in the so-called "Division von Lettow des Garde-Kavallerie-Sch?tzen-Korps" of the Freikorps. There was one other Osiander, also a Badener, who was a Major in 1918 who might have been the plM recipient. He was a transport officer, so normally you wouldn't expect him to be the one with the decorations, but having served in German South-West Africa in 1905-07, he already had pre-war the KO4X and BZ3bX. My instinct is that it is the former, the field artillery officer, who is the plM recipient. Can anyone confirm and/or provide any additional details?

For Bremen's Hanseatenkreuz, the Navy's use of BremH is probably preferable, to avoid confusion with other "B" states (not that you're going to see it too often, but BH is the "standard" abbreviation for the Bavarian Order of St. Hubertus). For Lippe-Detmold, the Milit?rverdienstmedaille is usually LMV. The Kriegsehrenmedaille, being more a civilian award, doesn't show up in ranklists, so you don't see an abbreviation. LKEM probably works. Also, keep in mind that for certain awards, especially the principle military decorations, the "standard" abbreviations are not commonly used. You tend to see plM, MMJO, MSHO and MKFVO (or just MKFO) for the top military awards of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Baden, respectively. Many commonly refer to the Baden Order of the Z?hringen Lion as ZLO. The Ricks' list also notes the common use of SEHO for the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order, rather than HSH or HSEH.

Given that there is no obvious connection between both Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, could there possibly be a maritime connection? An army observer attached to a shore unit might narrow the field a little. Of course, if we don't know who this guy was in WW1, we know what he was doing in WW2. Professional arsonist, working under the cover of the Allied air offensive. Or do you think it is mere coincidence that the archival award records are missing for Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Saxe-Weimar.

The list is here: http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/MKFVO.htm I will add the higher grades tomorrow.

Some typos and discrepancies: Allmann → should be UllmannAppenzelle → I believe should be AppenzellerBeck Erich → Erich von BeckBeck Leopold → Leopold von BeckBoth Ludwig Bergs are "von Berg"Blockner → GlocknerBogt → Vogt (also, probably not the Vogt in IR 28, who was a Major and was KIA in 1914; there were three other Vogts who were actually in Baden regiments)Brandehrens → BraunbehrensBr?hl-Schneider → Br?hl-SchreinerDierling → VierlingEichhorn → EschbornFelsche → FelschFenne → JenneFritsche → FritschFust → JustGrandenberger von Moisy L. → Gandenberger von Moisy, LudwigG?lery Ravensburg, Frhr → G?ler von Ravensburg, Eberhard FreiherrGr?we, Edler von → Graeve, Wilhelm Edler vonHerzberg → Hertzberg, Kurt Graf vonHoser → HoferHolz → Holtz (also, I think this may be Viktor)Jumricht → HumrichtKitzling → Ki?lingLauterschl?ger → Lauteschl?ger, Georg Bal.ErnstLeienk?gel → LeinenkugelLeiningen, Durch, F?rst zu → Emich Eduard Carl F?rst zu LeiningenLilienhoff-Zmomitzki, von → Xaver von Lilienhoff-ZwowitzkiLivonius Georg → von Livonius (also, I'm not sure Georg is the right von Livonius)Lorne, von St Ange O. → de Lorne de St. Ange, Oskar (later changed his name to von Lorne von St. Ange)Marschak von Bachtenbrock → Marschalck von BachtenbrockOstander → OsianderPreuschen, von → Ludwig Freiherr von Preuschen von und zu LiebensteinRaderhoff → Daniel's list has Naderhoff, but I can't find either name.Richard → Richarz,Schvenebeck → Hermann von SchoenebeckSchmeickert → SchweickertS?ler von Ravensburg, Frhr → G?ler von Ravensburg, Egon FreiherrSteiglehyer, Frhr Paul → Paul Karl Franz Gustav SteiglehnerI should have an annotated list up tomorrow, though of course it remains a work in progress.

It's not the "Silver Merit Cross of the Order" in the same way German orders had associated merit crosses and merit medals. The silver cross was the 6th class of the order. A 6th Class without Crown is an odd award for a German lieutenant. He may have gotten the Bulgarian award as a Fahnenjunker.