Dave Danner

Nice picture! I know of at least 5 officers with the ÖM3K. Any idea who the one on the far right is? As far as I know, there is no regimental history, so I doubt there is a complete list of officers anywhere.

An article from the Nachrichtenblatt of the RIR 239 veterans' association. Some might find it interesting.

The only ones I know of who received the MMV1 with the regiment are: Berlin, Paul, Lt.d.L.; MMV2 als Lt.d.L., 2.LdstIB Schwerin Beyer, Karl, Hptm.[d.?]; MMV2 als OLt.[d.?], 2.LdstIB Schwerin Grohmann, _____, Lt.[d.?]; MMV2 als Offz.Stellv., 2.LdstIB Schwerin Meßwarb, Ludwig, Lt.d.L.; MMV2 als Lt.d.L., 2.LdstIB Schwerin Reisner,_____, Lt.d.L.; MMV2 als Lt.d.L., 2.LdstIB Schwerin Schult, _____, Lt.d.L.; MMV2 als Lt.d.L., 2.LdstIB Schwerin Wendenburg, Franz, Maj.d.R.a.D., zul. HR 14; MMV2 als Maj.d.R.a.D., 2.LdstIB Schwerin The Mecklenburg-Schwerin Regierungsblatt often did not show whether someone was active, retired, Reserve or Landwehr.

Yes, it is from his HPA file. The quality is not great, since the files are on microfilm and these are digital photos I took on the microfilm reader. Here are the other pictures I took.

Nice photo! I can add: Hellwig, Walter Georg, *11.9.1890 in Geestemünde Dienstlaufbahn: 25.9.11 als F. in das IR 71 eingetreten, 19.6.12 Fähnr., 16.6.13 Lt. (Pat. 17.6.11), 10.9.15 z. IR 95 versetzt, 18.8.16 OLt., beim Stabe d. Feldrekr.Dep. 38.ID u. Stabe d. 38.ID, Ord.Offz. IR 95, Btls.Fhr., usw., 8.10.18-31.12.19 in engl. Gfgsch., 6.1.20 als char. Hptm.a.D. ausgeschieden, 7.1.20 als Pol.OLt. i.d. Schupo Erfurt eingetreten, 1.4.20 Pol.Hptm., 10.3.31 Pol.Maj., 15.10.35 als Maj. (RDA 1.8.33) u. Kdr. II./IR 75 ins Heer übergeführt, 1.3.36 Oberstlt., 12.10.37 Kdr. III./IR 75 (laut Stellenbesetzung), 1.3.38 zu den E-Offiziere übergeführt, 1.6.38 Kdr. WBK Heilbronn, 1.3.40 Oberst, 27.5.40-25.7.40 Kdr. Inf.Ers.Rgt. 260, 26.7.40-1.5.41 Kdr. WBK Heilbronn, 2.5.41-31.8.42 Kdr. Inf.Ers.Rgt. 78, 1.6.41 zu d. aktiv. Truppenoffiziere übergeführt, 16.7.42 Fhr.Res. OKH, ab 1.9.42 wieder Kdr. WBK Heilbronn. Auszeichnungen: Eisernes Kreuz 2.Kl. (30.9.14), Fürstl. Schwarzburgisches Ehrenkreuz 3.Kl. mit Schwertern (27.3.15), Hzgl. Sachsen-Ernestischen Hausorden, Ritterkreuz 2.Kl. mit Schwertern (24.5.16), Eisernes Kreuz 1.Kl. (1.11.17), Herzog Carl Eduard Medaille 2.Kl. mit Schwertern u. Datumsband (23.4.18 mit Datum 21.3.18), Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (20.12.34), Wehrmacht (Heer) Dienstauszeichnung 4. bis 1.Kl. (2.10.36), Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2.Kl. mit Schwertern (20.11.40), Kriegsverdienstkreuz 1.Kl. mit Schwertern (24.12.42). Here is the last evaluation in his file:

Since it is a Bavarian official, the red ribbon is likely for the Prinzregent-Luitpold-Medaille.

3 Monate Gefängnis, weil er sich am 1.7.17 zusammen mit dem Landsturm Rekruten Haimich von seinem Truppenteil unerlaubt entfernte hat und ihm bis zum 6.2.17 ferngeblieben ist. §§64,66 M. St. G. L. B. Verhängt am 28.7.17 durch den Brigade Kommadeur General Major von Heinitz(?) It is Ldst.Rekr. Heinrich. The commander of the stellv.15.IB was Werner v. Heynitz. The statutes are sections 64 and 66 of the M.St.G.B. (Militärstrafgesetzbuch), Unerlaubte Entfernung.

It does seem like he should have had a previously awarded EK2 mounted, and a newly awarded MVK on the buttonhole. As you suggested, he probably did hook the MVK to the EK2 ribbon mount, and just pinned the EK2 behind the buttonhole ribbon, because it looked nicer on the court mount.

No Tirol Landesdenkmünze is listed in Winter's HPA file. The following can also be eliminated based on other awards: • Bader - WHDA2, Anschluß; no Tirol Landesdenkmünze listed • Borst - WHDA2; no Tirol Landesdenkmünze listed • Gebert - had KVK2X, did not have SpEK2; no Tirol Landesdenkmünze listed • Halder - not in Tirol, according to his mitgemachte Gefechte • Hübner - KVK2X, Anschluß; no Tirol Landesdenkmünze listed • Kreppel - retired 30.4.24, returned to active duty 1.6.34; WHDA4, UKEM • Preu - Ost, WHDA2 • Schmitt - BLM3.J, SchlesA1&2 I have nothing on the following: • Götz - no file in the Archives • Herold - no file in the Archives • Höfle - no file in the Archives • Löweneck - no file in the Archives • Waldenfels - file not reviewed yet Also bear in mind that the WHDA1 may also reflect police service, or civil servant time in a qualifying military role (Angestellter in Reichsdienst gem. § 56 W.V.G.). Dave

I am not sure why some have text and others not, but the two pairs are different qualifications. "Komando" is a commando qualification. "Hava indirme" ("air landing") is a parachutist qualification.

It's probably Julius from the Kriegsschule in Hannover and RIR 92. RIR 74 was a Hannoverian/Oldenburg regiment and was in the same brigade as RIR 92 for the first two years of the war. Otto was still in IR 162 as recently as November 1917, when he received the Schwarzburg Ehrenkreuz. Dave

Thanks Bernhard and Uwe. "Zähen" does make more sense. Poor handwriting, although it does match the "z" in "zerschossenen". Dave

Another: "Hat an den letzten Schlachten an der Aisne teilgenommen und mit der im feindlichen Feuer arbeitenden Munitions-Kolonne jede Nacht Munition in die Feuerstellung gefahren und hierbei im starken feindlichen Sperrfeuer bei schlechten und zerschossenen ______ ein vorbildliches Beispiel von Unerschrockenheit und jähen Pflichtbewußtseins gegeben." It looks like the missing word might be "Wegen" (routes), although the first letter is more like a V than a W.

Thanks, Andy!

Another one. I am not sure of one word and I may have messed up some others. I have: "Durch rastlose Arbeit hat Major Helmecke und sein Adjutant Feldwebel-Leutnant Philipp dazu beigetragen, daß die dem Armierungsbataillon 100 übertragenen Arbeiten ___gemäß und schnell ausgeführt wurden. Beide haben sich um das Wohl der im Bataillon vorhandenen zahlreichen Anhaltiner (etwa 200 Mann) ganz besonders verdient gemacht."

That makes sense. They probably mis-identified the photo.

Thanks! The picture is part of a gallery on Ancestry and is supposed to be Theodor Merten. However, he was a Lt.d.R. in Saxon LIR 103, and I don't think the other pictures in the gallery look quite like the same person. Are there specific ways to identify an Einjährig-Freiwilliger's uniform?

Some of the ribbons have been played around with. Swords moved to ribbons that should not have them, for example.

Hi all, Can anyone identify the uniform here? I am at sea when it comes to uniform questions.

A little over 100 Military Merit Crosses 2nd Class were awarded to members of the regiment before Mecklenburg-Schwerin stopped gazetting the award in mid-1917. Probably a bunch more afterwards.

Chris, for future reference, in Deutsche Schrift, the "y" often is shown with an umlaut, probably to distinguish it from "z".

The Oberleutnant looks like it may be Schulze, but that is little better than an educated guess.

The one part I don't understand is which uniform you wore, when you served in multiple regiments. It would seem like it should be the regiment you retired from or the one you spent the most time in, but I have seen cases all over the place. The regiment you felt the most affinity toward? Did you need permission from the regiment, and there was risk of getting turned down? In Andreas' document above, we see Fritz Erich with the uniform of IR 44. Erich served 1870-78 in 4.GRzF, 1878-1890 in IR 44, 1890-97 in IR 132, and 1897-1901 in FR 36. Erich served the most time in IR 44, but he was commissioned in the more prestigious 4.GRzF, and went to war with that regiment, earning the EK2 as a Portepee-Fähnrich.

The officer who signed the document on behalf of the company commander appears to be Lt. Hermann Dyckhoff, who died in French captivity on 10 Sept. 1914 as an Oberleutnant in Fliegerabteilung Nr. 6. By the way, for those who don't know how German names work, the underlining on Julius means that was the name he went by, or Rufname. When one had multiple given names, the Rufname was often the first name, as is usual in English, but could also be the second or a later name. For example, Generalmajor Hermann Delius was Eduard Karl Johannes Hermann Delius. In printed sources, the Rufname was often shown with extra space between the letters, such as: "Delius, Eduard Karl Johannes H e r m a n n" This often causes problems with scans of older books, because the OCR software sometimes does not recognize the name due to the extra space.

Jean-Paul, If you click on the image, there should be a place in the lower corner which says "full size", on which you can click to get it. Otherwise, try this after gmic.co.uk (I am not sure if this is a persistent URL, and if I put the whole URL in, it automatically inserts the image): uploads/monthly_2016_01/56900126bd76e_EKSchutztrDOA2.9.16.jpg.94bb3baf0ce853d7810ed2eba63fb746.jpg