Mike Dwyer

Dave, I'm probably way off on this, but don't the epaulettes on the Mecklenburg generals coat look kind of small? I notice on all of the other coats the epaulettes come very close to the collar, but on the general's coat there's 5 miles of open territory!!

Another stunning uniform, Bill. Absolutely beautiful! You mentioned the size of the wearer......I remember my dad took me to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York when I was 14 to see the European medieval armor displays. I was very surprised to see that nearly all of the suits of plate armor were made for men who were about 5 feet tall and very slender. The had two suits made for 6 footers and they were rather bulky things that weren't nearly as graceful looking as the other suits.

Bill, An absolutely beautiful uniform! It's very, very sad that the Japanese have become so anti-war/anti-military that they are throwing away their history!

Of course, you are correct! I was in a hurry this morning and didn't really look at his neck cross carefully. The Order of Malta has fleur-de-lis between the arms and the Johanniter Order has eagles, so he is Johanniter. I've never seen the Malta knights with a white cloth cross, but I was just thinking if the Johanniter Order did it in Germany, perhaps the Malta Order did too. I believe I was wrong though.

You'll notice the cross is on his epaulettes and buttons too. He's wearing a uniform from either the Johnitter Order or of the Knights of Malta, depending on whether he was Protestant or Catholic.

Yes, very late, he died on 15 June 1888.

Very nice pictures. I love Skinner's Horse, I think their parade dress was one of the sharpest there was!

Ricky, You may think I'm crazy but I think all those diamonds take away from the beauty of the decoration. I like the one you have much, much better.

Kev, You may be absolutely right since Masons are charged to engage in charitable works it would be very likely that the men running this particular charity could also have been Masons.

Tom, you are correct. The elderly man at the top is, of course, Kaiser Wilhelm I, on the left is Kaiser Friedrich III, on the right, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the babe on the bottom is Crown Prince Wilhelm. If I recall correctly Kaiser Friedrich III's health problem was throat cancer, not his lungs.

Saschaw, That doesn't look like any Masonic medal I've ever seen, but that doesn't meant that it isn't one! Kev, I don't believe your medal is Masonic at all. The inscription translates as: Mutual Aid Association of the Tannery Workers of Chateau Renault

I just noticed something interesting, officer # 6, the major, has no state cockade on his cap.

Ricardo, Absolutely stunning!

Robert, I am terrible at reading the writing so someone else will have to respond to that question. I'm going to make an educated guess here. Based on the very pale state cockade on their caps, and officer number 14 appears to have the Bavarian trim around his collar, I'm guessing that they are from Kgl. Bayer. 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartmann. I have the 1914 ranklist and I don't see any officers by any of the names you've posted on the list in that regiment, but everything could have drastically changed by the time this photo was taken.

Kev, Can't ID the buttons, I'm afraid, but I believe the inscription and portrait refer to Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, lived 1717-1780.

Instead of the regal, Imperial heraldic look, that eagle almost looks likes it's from ancient Egypt!

Very nice, old, Masonic Knights Templar sword!

Very, very nice, Saschaw!

Rick, That's the man! The current Duke of Calabria is the son of the HRH Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Castro, who is the current head of the royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He is one of the people I spoke about in another thread about current heads of non-reigning houses still awarding house orders. The Duke of Castro still awards the Order of Contantinian St. George. Here's a link to the royal house's web site which also includes information about the orders he still heads: http://www.realcasadiborbone.it/uk/presentazione/index.htm

Rick, I've noticed through various postings on the forum that there seems to be a lot of concern with the fact that some of these house orders were awarded AFTER 1918. All of these house orders, technically still exist and the heads of the various houses can still award them if they wish. I don't know if the F?rst von Hohenzollern has awarded any in modern times, but he certainly has the power since it is a house order, not a state order. There are some non-reigning European royal houses that still award their various house orders (i.e. Constantinian St. George [bourbon Two Sicilies], Sts. Maurice and Lazarus [italy], Golden Fleece [Austria], Saint Stephen [Tuscany], and others.) I know some guys who are members of some of these orders. The International Commission on Orders of Chivalry (http://www.icocregister.org/list2004.htm) lists all of these orders as currently existing orders. Some may be awarded only to family members, some may not be awarded at all, but I know some are awarded to outsiders for various reasons.

Pete, The imperial German army had a numbering system that covered all of the regiments (except Bavaria, which was numbered seperately). I could be wrong, but I believe this strap would be for the 27th regiment which was Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Louis Ferdinand von Preu?en (2. Magdeburgisches) Nr.27, not a J?ger-Batallion.

Fantastic photo, Robin! As for the good props department, probably the entire uniform is either a real Leib Hussar uniform, or was made by a tailor that made them for real hussar officers!

Okay, I'm not very knowledgable on the RAO (and a lot of others ) could you please tell what makes this an "old style" RAO?

I recently purchased a new postcard of August Wilhelm Prinz von Pruessen that I bought simply because of the great overcoat he's wearing! Talk about stylish.

Wow, Steve, I'm not usually one for commerorative badges, but that is absolutely beautiful.