VtwinVince

Thanks for posting this, Heiko, that certainly is an unusual uniform.

Nice spange, the sort of thing I'm always looking for.....

Thanks, Heiko, very useful information. If anyone has a photo of the Elefantenorden being worn, I'd love to see it.

Gentlemen, if you'll bear with my ignorance, I have a couple of questions. First, I recently acquired a nice Kolonial Denkmuenze, or Elefantenorden, from Heiko. Can someone explain to me the requirements for award of this piece, and when it was awarded? Second, are the ribbons for the Koeniggraetz Cross and Treuen Kriegern Cross the same? Many thanks for your help.

Great goblet, Les, I love these things. It corresponds closely to the one I have, however, mine does not have the pronounced seam on the inside. Mine was also rusting, as my uncle had been using it for years as a pencil holder!

An incredible display, and quite remarkable that it survived intact. Most of my family material was lost in the last war.

Very nice items indeed. I particularly like the old-fashioned titling on the document: Hochfuerstliche Durchlaucht.

Brian, I guess you can't describe Opa as a "base wallah", can you?

Wow, congratulations on an excellent acquisition. I'm still pursuing the proverbial "needle in a haystack", hoping to find the Pokal awarded to my uncle, Hauptmann Dr. Albrecht Ochs, in October 1940 for victories during the BoB.

Bwahahahaha, thank you gentlemen, for injecting a little levity into an otherwise dull day.

Ich gratuliere zu dieser Familiengruppe, richtig Ausgezeichnet.

John, my uncle was credited with his victory for January 3, 1918, along with his observer, and they received the cups on January 22nd. Yes, I'm fortunate to have the original Urkunde, and it is the only original I have of all my uncle's decorations, which were many. I've read elsewhere that the late Bechers were given only for more than one victory, so I don't know what this does to that theory.

Herr Topp was always a true gentleman, ready to give assistance to collectors and historians alike. Whoever stole his memorabilia is a miserable creton.

Very interesting subject, thanks for posting these. BTW my grandmother's brother, Prof. Dr. Ludwig Finscher, is a current recipient of the Pour le Merite fuer Kunst und Wissenschaft and is the world's leading expert on the Viennese baroque (music), which is timely considering that this is Mozart Year.

Thanks for this truly fascinating thread, John, I can't get enough of these things. I once heard that a book was written called The Ehrenbechers: Where are they Now? or something to that effect. I wonder if anyone has a copy of this? It's funny that your source states that the regular Becher was awarded for five victories, as I know for certain that my uncle got his for his first, and he received the goblet only three weeks after the claim was made. How did you happen to find out about your Becher coming up for auction? Certainly seems like an incredible stroke of good luck. BTW my dad was living as a refugee near Koblenz after the war, and his neighbour was Freiherr Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels.

Those are great. The subject of semi- or non-official items such as these is fascinating and a whole area of study unto itself.

Thanks for the tip, Ralph, but I got one from eMedals for a decent price, and I didn't need the case as it's going on a "looted" spange.

Thanks for the help, gentlemen, looks like I might resurrect that spange sooner than expected...

I'm still looking for a third class, ohne Schwerter, for my great-grandfather's spange. Any help of course appreciated.

The notion that Austria was "dragged" into the Third Reich is ludicrous. The vast majority of Austrians were avid supporters of the Anschluss in 1938, and supplied many of the top Nazis, including of course AH. After the war the Austrian government cleverly warped history by insisting that Austria had been "invaded" and "occupied" by the Germans and was a victim of Nazi aggression. This of course made them exempt from the stigma of Nazism which has plagued Germany since the war. One only needs to look at the footage of Hitler speaking at the Heldenplatz in 1938 to know that this is utter rubbish.

Brian, I don't want to be nosey, but if your father was a US pilot, how did you end up with the von Etzel surname?

Les and Brian, you are both right that there were exceptions to the rule, and I don't deny that many allied soldiers were not motivated by revenge. But I think it's time to dispel the notion that allied troops were somehow involved in a "crusade" in Europe, ridding it of evil and being welcomed by the liberated. Let's face it, being German after May 8, 1945 was not a good thing, whether in the east or west. It was open season on anyone or anything German because, after all, they had inflicted Hitler on the world.

Interesting thread, Brian, thanks for posting it. You remind me of the stories my maternal grandmother used to tell me about the winter of 1945-46, when she was reduced to hawking the family's jewels and decorations in order to avoid starvation. This was after the US army "liberated" the area they were living in, Lower Saxony, booted them out of their home, ransacked and appropriated all their property and refused to give them any food. To the victors the spoils, as they say...

Fantastic video of Red 7, the only thing missing is the Hakenkreuz on the fin. The conversation the mechanics are having is interesting, talking about what performance is necessary for what weight. I've always thought the DB601 and successors were one of the great engines ever produced.

Okay, now I'm just wildly flailing, but the ribbons look way too fresh to me, and the 938 mark on the HHO seems strange.