Mike Dwyer

That is super, super sweet, Chris! I much prefer the "in living color" days to the field gray ones! :D

I could be mistaken, but I believe he's speaking historically. At one time British officer's wore their rank insignia on the collar of their uniforms. I believe it was in the 1850's, but I'm not certain.

I'm afraid I may have jumped to the wrong conclusion concerning the Lord Chancellor's arms. When I was searching for the arms in this post I came across a picture of the arms of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey and one half was the same crown and crossed keys. I presumed they were the arms of his office of Lord Chancellor. I looked again today, and they were his arms when he was archbishop of York! Robin, I believe you are quite correct, the arms with the three stags is a personal coat of arms, not the arms of a diocese. Bishops arms are normally half the arms of their see and half their personal arms. In the painting you found, it only shows the arms with the three stags which would, normally, be the subject's personal arms. However, if they are his personal arms, then the arms of the school you showed are actually his arms while archbishop of York because they consist of the arms of the see and his personal arms. It appears the school just "borrowed" his arms and have used them ever since. Not proper heraldic usage, but it happens all the time.

If what I found is correct, and the crossed keys and crown are also the arms of the Lord Chancellor's Office, I wonder how they also became the arms of the see of York?

I tried and tried to see if I could find John Russell's arms, but no luck. I have a feeling those arms are his personal arms and not the arms of his diocese. I did find an illustration of the arms of the Lord Chancellor, so I know I'm right on that half at least! If it's okay with you, I don't really need the badge. I don't collect Third Reich stuff and I'm sure you could put it to greater use.

Robin, I'm taking a stab at this.............the keys and crown are/were the heraldic emblem of the Lord Chancellor. John Russell, who was the Bishop of Rochester (1476-1480), and then Bishop of Lincoln (1480-1494), was also Lord Chancellor and he died in 1494. He accepted the office of Lord Chancellor from Richard III on 13 May 1483. I'm guessing that these are his arms showing the office of Lord Chancellor and either his personal arms, or his arms as the bishop of Lincoln.

Wonderful, Claudio! That shako, and the Marine Infantry officer's shako, are my two favorites!

Okay, Robin, translate for us ignorant colonials please! :rolleyes:

You mean that's all we were waiting for????? JUST KIDDING!!!! Very, very, very nice, Chris. You've got some beautiful stuff there! :jumping:

The NCO lace on the collar and cuff, without the NCO button, implies he's an Unteroffizier. I tried to enlarge the shoulder strap and I think I can see black/white piping around the edge of the strap indicating a one year volunteer, but I can't be certain.

Very nice! :cheers:

In that particular photo he appears to be a private.

Thanks for the information. It's odd, my 1918 Marine Rangliste doesn't mention the Grosskreuz des Königlich Rumänische Stern von Rumänien at all, unless I just overlooked it. :Cat-Scratch:

According to the 1918 Marine Rangliste Franz Joseph Maria Ludwig Anton Thassilo Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden had the Rote Adlerorden 1.Klasse, Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse, Fürstlich Hohenzollernscher Haus-Orden Ehrenkreuz 1.Klasse, Baden Haus-Orden der Treue. The breast star could be the Haus-Orden der Treue, but it may not be. He married Maria Alix Prinzessen von Sachsen in 1921, so it is possible that he was given the Sächsischen Königreich Hausorden d. Rautenkrone in 1921 when they married. I notice he's wearing the Eisernes Kreuz 1.Klasse in the photo, but it's not listed in the 1918 Rangliste.

Very, very nice! :cheers:

Wonderful, beautiful, fantastic! :jumping:

Scott, As a former US Army MP I have to say I've never seen a badge like that. It's possible that it may have been a locally purchased and used badge, completely unauthorized, of course, but some Provost Marshals did lots of unauthorized things in the old days. For most of their existence, the US Army Military Police Corps didn't use badges (except for CID Agents), they simply used the armband or brassard of black cloth or plastic material with big white MP letters on it. When I was an line MP, 1977-1980, we only wore the armband on the fatigue uniform. We weren't allowed to wear the fatigue uniform for normal law enforcement duties, it was reserved strictly for field duties. On patrol we wore the kahki uniform with short sleeved shirt in the summer, and our dress green uniform in the winter, with the white MP hat. When the kakhis were phased out we wore the new light green shirt with the dress green trousers. We wore a pewter metal badge that hung from our shirt or jacket pocket button that looked like this: I guess MP's still have badges, but I haven't seen one being worn in years. With the new battle dress uniform they've taken to wearing a small panel on the upper arm with MP on it. The last MP I saw wearing a badge was from Ft. Myers, VA and he was at a funeral in Arlington Cemetary and he was wearing the dress blue uniform.

The von Boehn I found in the 1914 Rangliste is only listed in one place, as being a la suite of Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2. Hanseatisches) Nr.76

Are you sure the name on the photo is von Böhn? I tried to play with the shading and contrast and it almost looks to me like it says von Möhn, which doesn't help because I can't find anyone of that name either. I found a Generalmajor von Mohn, but his decorations don't match the photo.

There is only one von Boehn listed in the 1914 Rangliste and he is a General der Infantrie von Boehn. His decorations do not match the ones in this photo. There are no von Böhn's listed that could be the man in this photo.

Hello, Rudi, You have many, many beautiful pieces there! It would be nice if you have close up photos of each item! :cheers:

Timo, He isn't a Major, there's no fringe on his epaulettes. He has to be either a Leutnant, Oberleutnant, or Hauptmann/Rittmeister. He appears to be a Ulan officer. It's hard to tell, but I don't think there is a cypher or number on his epaulette, so he's probably from Garde-Ulan-Regt. 1, 2 or 3. They didn't have any cyphers or numbers on their epaulettes. I think, and I could be wrong, there is only one rank star on his epaulette which would make him an Oberleutnant.

He appears to be a Major. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Those type of Litzen were used by Pioniere and Verkehrstruppen officers, also, I believe, War Ministry and General Staff officers. The plain eppaulettes without numbers, cyphers, or other unit insignia imply he may be Pioneer, War Ministry or General Staff.

Extremely nice, Mervyn! Love it. :jumping:

I've said this on the forum elsewhere in the past, but I remember walking into an antique store in Berlin in 1965 as a teenager and the guy had 10-15 beautiful pickelhauben on the shelf and he only wanted $45.00, and all I had was $15.00!!!!! :banger: