Mike Dwyer

Kev, It's definitely not US Army! I'd say it's European.

I'm sure there are those here who can answer this much better than I, but I seem to recall that wearing foreign medals is authorized so long as you apply for permission and it is granted. I do know that when I served on a major infantry base years ago I used to see soldiers all the time wearing foreign parachutist's badges and lots of German Bundeswehr marksmanship lanyards.

Someone has made a mistake, the Garde du Corps was a heavy cavalry regiment. I may be wrong, but I think he's Garde infantry.

I know that when I enlisted in the army in 1977 I was told I had to enlist for a 3 year term. Perhaps that's just what the recruiting sergeant told me, but that's what I was told. When I went through basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina we had a guy in my company who was from the Soviet Union, but had been living in the states for a few years. His brother was serving in the Soviet army at that time, which we all though was kind of interesting. After basic training when I went to the Military Police School for advanced training we had a guy in our company from Northern Ireland. His father had come to the US, served in the US Army, Sean was born in the US while his father was serving, and then the family moved back to Northern Ireland when his father was discharged. He has US citizenship though because he was born here, but he was raised most of his life in Northern Ireland and graduated from university there. He told me he had two dreams; either to serve in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (his grandfather had been in the old Royal Irish Constabulary) or the US Army. His mother refused to let him serve in the RUC because of the troubles at that time.

Thanks, Hardy. I wasn't even thinking of the 11th company, I was thinking that was a date, 11 Something 1910.

Thanks, Glenn and Rick! Can anyone tell what the inscription says? It looks like 5th prize and a date 11 Something and I thought it was 1916, but perhaps it's 1910.

I saw this prize stein on a dealers site that has the Royal Bavarian arms on it and the annotation 20. Infanterie-Regt. Prinz Rupprecht, but all of my limited data shows this regiment as being titled 20. Infanterie-Regt. Prinz Franz. Did the title change at some time?

Absolutely amazing! One of the best reads I've ever had on this forum.

Yes. I'm not sure what rank it denotes, but that is a breast star for The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Well, if we're posting photos of it being worn, I can add a little something.................. Adolf II F?rst zu Schaumburg-Lippe when he was just the Erbprinz

....

The naval officer on the right is Grossadmiral Anton Haus, commander in chief of the Imperial and Royal Austrian Navy 1913-1917.

Man, that choked me up about as bad as anything I've seen lately!

I believe you might find that this still goes on today in some former ruling houses, or at least problems arise from family members who do not follow the house law. I remember reading recently that the current head of the royal house of Prussia, Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preussen, was involved in a lawsuit filed by his uncle, Friedrich Wilhelm Prinz von Preussen. The previous head of the royal house, Louis Ferdinand Prinz von Preussen, Georg Friedrich's grandfather, named George Friedrich his heir (Georg Friedrich's father was killed in a Bundeswehr training accident when he was a baby) because of Friedrich Wilhelm's several marriages outside the house law. Friedrich Wilhelm seemed to feel that the headship of the family should pass strictly by primogeniture and he should have control of the family's money and his marriages shouldn't matter in this day and time. There's also an ongoing family dispute on who is the "real" head of the House of Romanov, all based on whether a certain marriage was valid under the house law. Some people say Prince Nicholas Romanovich Romanov is the head of the house, others say Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna is the head. I guess you have to keep up with all this, just in case those pesky citizens might ask you to come sit on the throne again!

Wow! That's a great collection. On post #2 I believe that dragoon is from the same regiment as this recent post on Kaiser's Bunker http://www.kaisersbunker.com/dunkelblau/helmets/dbh67.htm (look at the group photo at the very bottom of the page).

So, getting back to the point Rick mentioned, if this coat went out around 1910 and Martini made general in 1912, would it be his? Could it be he bought it ahead of time, feeling confident he'd make general? Could it be he bought a used coat from a friend? Could it be his tailor wasn't up to date and made him a coat in the older style? It's very hard to read, but it looks to me like the label in the coat does say Martini.

Yes, Rick, you're right, I didn't notice that, but that is an older model general's coat with the buttons all the way down the front. I don't know when they quit making them like that.

If you'll wait just a bit GlennJ or Rick Research might come by and they can tell you just about everything you would ever want to know about Generalleutnant Martini. Sometimes I think GlennJ has some of these guys medical records he gets so detailed with his information!

Looking at the Ehren Rangliste Heeres 1914 1918, in the list of inactive Generalleutnants I managed to locate a Generalleutnant Martini who died 10.8.22. I'm afraid that's all I can offer.

Hi, Mike, Yes, the colored front piece (the correct name of it escapes me at the moment) was worn for parades and gala occasions.

Sandro, Fantastic, as always! I'm glad I didn't have to serve in that regiment! I tend to always drop something on myself while eating and I'd hate to be at a formal dinner and drop soup or gravy down that nice bright white front!!! Here's a postcard I have of Prinz Alfons and I believe he's wearing that uniform (or at least one of the same regiment).

Once again you've got some amazing stuff, Sandro!

Thanks, saschaw, I would very much agree with you! I'm a little confused though. Did the 3rd class come in only one finish, or was it also in bronze, silver, and gilt?

Kev, I don't have a scan of the one full size MVK I own, but I do have this lovely mini-bar that has one on it.

Really beautiful, Kev! Maybe someday I can afford one myself!