Dave Danner

None of the Max Joseph knights in my list with enlisted awards match. Could be an early Silver/Golden Bravery Medal recipient who was commissioned during the war.

The Humanitarian Service Medal was authorized for Operations Provide Comfort, Provide Comfort II, and Provide Comfort III between 5 April 1991 and 31 July 1993.

I'm not sure of the complete OOB, since the situation was fluid, but I think Monty's largest command was during the Battle of the Bulge, when he commanded his own 21st Army Group as well as American forces on the north side of the German salient, much to Bradley's chagrin. There he had most of four field armies (1st Canadian, 2nd British, 9th US, 1st US) under his command. I don't know the total number of divisions, but there were also a lot of separate brigades in the Anglo-Canadian force structure. From June 6th 1944, though, Monty was the/a principal ground commander reporting directly to the overall theater commander in Western Europe, so in that sense he was Haig's equivalent.

I am not a fan of Montgomery, so my opinions might be biased. As Peter notes, Monty's caution and preference for building overwhelming superiority before acting were hallmarks of his style. But once he had this advantage, he tended to spend it on unimaginative tactical plans which essentially involved direct assaults on the enemy defensive lines. His thinking seemed utterly conventional by World War I standards. Still, I don't think most Allied commanders by mid- to late-war failed to appreciate the problems they faced. They just lacked the means to overcome them. It was more of a technical issue than a leadership one. I think the main problem with the rolling barrage was that the fires had to be preplanned in great detail, and the estimates very conservative, to avoid shelling you own troops. So as the advancing infantry struggled through the twisted terrain, they watched the artillery fire roll forward further away from them, and from the Germans coming out of their dugouts. The solutions here were more technical - especially tactical radios to allow the infantry to coordinate fire with the artillery during the battle as they advanced beyond their wired communications, rather than relying on preplanned fires - and were not sufficiently advanced by war's end. Tanks, too, were a technical solution to this problem, allowing fire support weapons to move forward with the infantry over terrain rendered impassable to horse-drawn artillery. Of course, tanks were also seen as a replacement for the horse for the cavalry, allowing them also to cross terrain the horse could not, and get into the enemy rear. This artillery/infantry vs. cavalry rivalry would affect tank development into World War II. So whoever was in command, I think the problem still remained, that with sufficient force you could breach the enemy lines, but the Allies still lacked the means to exploit the breach.

I have three in boxes. All are marked "8455-926-1664" and "D.S.A. 100-69-C-2506", and like yours have "11/69" or "11-69" penciled on them. My understanding was that November 1969 was when they were made. Contra the article, though, these only have two numbers for the year and not year and month. I suppose by 1969 they stopped putting the month in the code because it was a waste to change the printing on the boxes every month, and just penciled in the month. On the HLP one, the 4411 is probably HLP's product code, and they must have omitted the date code after the "100-".

I think I am more of a research prairie dog. I pop up occasionally out of my hole, look around for a bit, and then head back down. From the Kriegsstammrolle of GR 110: Emil Georg Engert *6.11.1895 in Unterschwarzbach, Eberbach, Baden Zivilberuf: Kaufmann in Unterschwarzbach 1.5.15 Ersatz-Rekrut im 1.Rekruten-Depot, II.Ersatz-Bataillon, Inf.-Regt. Nr. 111 Rastatt 1.6.15 in die 3.Ersatz-Komp., II.Ers.Btl., IR 111 Rastatt versetzt 2.8.15 in das Gren.-Regt. Nr. 110 und ins Feld versetzt 3.8.15 in die 6.Komp., GR 110 versetzt 14.12.15 infolge fieberhafter Erkrankung z. Feldlazarett 2, XIV.Armeekorps 16.12.15 z. Kriegs-Lazarett Sedan-Asfeld 6.2.16 z. Genesungsheim Lanois [sp?], Etappen-Inspektion 3 4.3.16 zu die 6.Komp. zurückversetzt 24.8.16 überzähl.Gefreiter 21.10.16-30.10.16 Heimatsurlaub 16.8.17 gefallen (Abwehrschlacht vor Verdun b./[Ornes]), G.G./K.u.Br. [Gewehr- oder Granat-Geschoß/Kopf und Brust] 19.8.17 beerdigt auf dem Soldatenfriedhof Mangiennes Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse am 26.2.17 The Stammrolle entries were attested to by his Kompanie-Führer, Leutnant d.R. Theodor Hoefer (1893-1976). Heufer was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of Baden's Militär-Karl-Friedrich Verdienstorden.

He was a sea cadet in the crew of 1893. These cadet classes put out a yearbook, usually on the 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. anniversary, called a Crew Chronik, which often has pictures and biographies of the crew members. I don't see one for 1893 among those digitized and available on Ancestry.com, but there might be a physical copy out there somewhere.

Thanks Andreas, So probably a recipient of the Merit Medal, mis-identified in his file as the Military Merit Medal.

Hi, I don't have at hand my reference to Militär-Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden and -Medaille recipients. Can anyone tell me if there is a Hans Baudach among the medal recipients? His personnel file had "BsM 13.9.15" in his list of awards, but they often confuse the BsM and the BsV, the silver Merit Medal on the ribbon of the MKFVM. Thanks, Dave

Probably more likely that both were named after Ernst August I, König von Hannover. There were lots of people from Hannoverian and Braunschweig families with Ernst August in their names.

Ernst Franz August, born 20 January 1870 in Berlin. He was the son of Militäreffekten-Fabrikant and Sgt. Julius Wiehr. He received his Dr.phil. on 17 December 1892 from the University of Berlin and in 1894 entered the Prussian higher school service. His dissertation was on "Die Strategie des Kronprinzen von Schweden, Hagelberg und Dennewitz. Napoleon und Bernadotte im Herbstfeldzug 1813". It was translated into Swedish and published in Sweden in 1985 as "Napoleon och Bernadotte under Höstfälttåget 1813". That's probably why he got the Vasaorden. He was a one-year volunteer in 2.Garde-Regiment zu Fuß from 1.10.1889 to 30.9.1890. Wiehr was lightly wounded in mid-1915 while serving in 2.Komp./Res.-Inf.-Regt. Nr. 270. Regards, Dave

It looks like he added the Iron Cross improperly to the end. The Jubilee Medal ranked after the EK2 and ahead of other Bavarian decorations, so it is properly first on his peacetime medal bar. The Prussian Crown Order probably should not come ahead of the Bavarian LD1, but an officer of the Beurlaubtenstand was perhaps less dutiful in these matters. He might have worn the Bavarian MVO as a buttonhole award. And simply found it easier, if a bit insulting to the King of Prussia, to stick the EK2 on the end than at the front. Not sure about the SLK, which was awarded at the same time as the Bavarian and Prussian decorations, or the HH, which came later. It does not appear to be a Frackspange, but maybe he just wore it that way after sticking the EK2 on the end.

Hi Jeff, Wartime awards: EK2 (19.4.15) Bavarian Militärverdienstorden 4.Kl. mit der Krone und Schwertern (13.3.15) Schaumburg-Lippe Kreuz für Treue Dienste (30.3.15) Hamburg Hanseatenkreuz (1.3.17) Besides the Spanish and Swedish awards, prewar ones were the Prussian Crown Order 4th Class, the Bavarian Landwehr-Dienstauszeichnung 1.Klasse, and the Jubilee Medal of the Bavarian Army.

I'm sure there are other units, especially support units. I was just looking today at the file of a doctor who was assigned as Kriegslazarettdirektor of Kriegslazarettabteilung Nr, 300 in the Expeditionskorps "Pascha II", and then to the Deutsche Etappen-Inspektion Syrien.

Nirenberg is more of a Jewish name. There are 600 hits on the name with that spelling in Yad Vashem's database of Shoah victims. But there are only 12 hits for Nierenberg. These appear to be mostly Galician and Hungarian Jews. There are only two Nierenbergs (no Nirenbergs) in the Bavarian Army Kriegsstammrollen, both Protestant. They were also brothers. Of the nine Nierenbergs (no Nirenbergs) in the WW1 casualty lists, five were from the same general area in what is now Sachsen-Anhalt. Two were from Zerbst in Anhalt, one from Gehrden, Kreis Jerichow I, which was just over the border from Zerbst, one from Aken, Kreis Calbe, which is just south of Zerbst and west of Dessau, and one from Pösigk, Kreis Bitterfeld, which was in a Prussian exclave located within Cöthen in Anhalt. Dessau today has five Nierenbergs in the telephone book. Anhalt had a tiny Jewish population (less than one half of one percent) and was over 95% Protestant, so the odds are these guys were Protestant as well.

I assume you wrote REK (Reuss) twice in error, since you mentioned the HOH3X? Not double Reuss ribbons? The contingent of both principalities was the I. and II. battalions of IR 96. However, more Reuss citizens served in other units during the war. Besides the active regiment, there was RIR 32, raised in Gera, and LIR 71, whose III.Btl. was raised in Gera. As well, there were the Landsturm battalions and the various war-raised units from Thuringia such as RIR 224, IR 371 and IR 389. And others who went to non-infantry regiments in the XI.Armeekorps area, such as PB 11, FAR 19 and FAR 55. Also, the reigning prince of Reuss Younger Line (who was also regent of Reuss Elder Line) was Chef of JB 4 and a la suite the Leib-Garde-Husaren-Regiment, so there might have been awards to those units.

I don't have a reference. I just tracked the Saxon reserve or Landwehr officers whose civilian jobs I knew, and with few exceptions, the ones living and working in Prussia were controlled out of Leipzig. On the other side, Prussian reserve and Landwehr officers living in Saxony appear most often under Landwehrbezirk Halle a/S.

Re whether to go through with the Prince of Wales: if you want to have a carrier, you do have to have at least two. One carrier cannot be at the ready year-round. France has had this problem with the Charles de Gaulle not being available at times where it might have been of use. Even six-month deployments would be taxing, so one really needs three. One on station, one preparing for deployment, and one recovering from deployment. The US carrier fleet was built to 15 carriers during the Reagan Administration precisely to have 5 carriers at sea at any one time (at the time, two in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic and one in the Med). We have fewer carriers now, but the end of the Cold War also changed the threat environment, so, for example, keeping two carriers in the Atlantic was no longer seen as necessary.

Occasionally, over the past few days, I catch BBC World from Berlin. Gaza, Ukraine, Ebola and Commonwealth Games dominate the coverage, but there was a segment on World War I repeated a few times. It's apparently a documentary made up of recorded interviews which must have been conducted years ago when the interviewees were still alive, but someone has now put together in one place. Mostly Brits and Germans, but also some French. The segment I heard was about reactions to the outbreak of the war. I believe they said the full version was available on the Beeb's website.

There are a lot of Brunswick and Oldenburg connections, as they were in the same corps area. Among infantry units, IR 368, IR 411, IR 465 and REIR 4 all were formed from X.AK units from Hannover, Brunswick and Oldenburg. I don't know about cavalry, artillery or other units, but there were probably some. Also someone assigned to corps or stellvetretende corps HQ. Schaumburg-Lippe was in the VII.Korpsbezirk in Westphalia. I don't know of any units that were mixed with them and X.AK units. You could have another connection, like birth/citizenship, though.

One of mine there, too - 11th Infantry.

Hi all, I posted this years ago, but I only had a small scan at the time. I thought I'd post it again, although I don't know how big it will come out. The forum automatically shrinks attachments and I have no idea how and to what extent it does. The picture is undated, but it is titled "Der 70. Geburtstag des Feldherrn", so that places it around April 1935. To me, it is notable that it is one of the only times I have ever seen Ludendorff with a smile on his face. I can't tell who everyone is, but here is what I think so far, from left to right: 1. Mathilde Ludendorff 2. Erich Ludendorff 3. Werner Freiherr von Fritsch 4. appears to be Franz Halder 5. ?? 6. Werner von Blomberg 7. ?? Luftwaffe general 8. ?? civilian The Luftwaffe officer is Bavarian and appears to be a Generalleutnant. On the medal bar, he has the EK2, Bavarian Military Merit Order, Honor Cross for Combatants, Bavarian Jubilee or PRLM with Crown, and Bavarian DA. Due to the crown, he probably served in the 1. Feldartillerie-Regiment. I'd appreciate your thoughts and any help with the unidentified people. Dave

That Fritz was listed as born in Bremen, though the earliest casualty lists often messed that up, putting the home station rather than the birthplace. But I doubt it is him. From what I can tell, many or most of those 22.5.15 Lts.d.R. were from the October 1913 and April 1914 Einjährig-Freiwilliger classes, who were still on active duty at the time of mobilization. They were already Unteroffiziere or at least Gefreite by November 1914. There was a Friedrich Haverkamp in the Bremer Adressbuch. He was a gardener before and after the war, so I ruled him out as the Leutnant Fritz, but he could be the Musketier Fritz. There was a Private Fritz Haverkamp, from Augusta, Missouri, who died of pneumonia on 10 September 1918 while serving with C Company, 349th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division. In his case, I am going to go with coincidence.

He does not appear in the 1914, 1915, 1919 or 1925 Adressbücher for Bremen and Vegesack. So his Kontrollbezirk may have been Bremen, but I don't know where he actually lived. I can't find an Adressbuch for Bremerhaven, so I can't check that. So, no help on figuring out his civilian job. I will be in Bremen next month. Maybe I can get a copy of his award recommendation.

A Lt.d.R. Fritz Haverkamp appears twice in the Verlustlisten. He appears in Prussian Verlustliste Nr. 780 of 10 March 1917 as "leicht verwundet" and Prussian Verlustliste Nr. 1014 of 14 December 1917 as "schwer verwundet". He was born on 29 March 1893 in Lienen, Elsfleth, Großherzogtum Oldenburg. I assume that's your guy? A native of Oldenburg, and as Andy noted, originally commissioned into Infanterie-Regiment Bremen, so that would fit the awards. Only two wounds in the casualty lists, but if he lost a leg on that second one, that would get him the Verwundetenabzeichen in mattweiß, right?