Mike Dwyer

Speaking of arcane, there is a particular North American country which persists in using the Imperial system.

Perhaps we're just hoping the Empire comes back! :rolleyes:

I'm no expert, but for # 12, the cross on his cap device suggests either Greece or Italy.

By Googling an inquiry on "British Army Telcom" I came up with an on-line copy of a book "The Royal Corps of Signals" by Lord Cliff that mentions the Telcom units being formed in July 1944 and being civilians but having their own uniforms.

Yes , Pilgerkreuz von Jerusalem

Perhaps member of the Ritterorden vom Heiligen Grab zu Jerusalem "Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani"?

http://www.oessg-lgimt.it/OESSG/ORG/insegne.htm

http://www.ordenskreuz.com/hlgrab.html

I'm not sure about the armband, but the Jerusalem Cross on his lapel, along with the one on his cravat, could mark him as as a knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The lapel cross is very similar to one that I have, although mine is smaller in size.

From what I've been able to locate rather quickly, the Order of Our Lady of Mercy was originally a military and religious order that had both monks and knights. If I read correctly though, the knights were done away with hundreds of years ago and not it is a strictly religious order. The coat of arms of the relgious order are exactly the same as the center of the cross and breast star.

It sure looks like the same gentleman to me!

This crest is on the cover of a Bavarian 1864 Court and State Handbook!

The basic heraldy is almost ENTIRELY British-- with the addition of the German galloping horse... and the VERY UN

Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense motto.

Whose crest was this? No NAME inside. No "ExLibris" plate... just thgis big bold gold This Book IS M-I-N-E cover art. Way out of my ken.

Rick,

There's no Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense motto on there, although it appears to be a St George of the Order of the Garter hanging from the shield. It says "NUMQUAM RETRORSUM" which is associated with the Duchy of Brunswick, the motto below is SUSCIPERE ET FINIRE. They look kind of weird in that odd round formation, but what you have is the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Hanover.

No, not navy. The Impreial Austiran Navy wore s pretty standard looking dark blue navy uniform. I don't know what he is.

Hi Naxos,

why there is a paradox?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Christians

Regards

Uwe

Hi, Uwe,

I don't know about Naxos, but I think most of us here in the USA think of Nazism as being fairly anti-religion (except for their own form of cult) and the thought of a Christian group being allied with the Nazis just seems bizarre!

Wow, Alex, I own a CDV of Kaiser Wilhelm that appears to have been taken during that same photo shoot! Same mustache style (standard handlebar before he adopted his famous upward model) and the same medals and orders.

Great job on Kaiser Wilhelm, Alex! If I had the time and the talent, I'd scan my entire Imperial postcard collection and colorize them, just for my personal enjoyment.

2) The Kaiser and Emperor Karl are wearing each other's uniforms (note Uhlans wearing Bahnhofswache gorgets at right)

4) The Kaiser is in the car with (I think) King Ludwig III of Bavaria. Might be Wilhelm II of W?rttemberg-- too distant to tell for me.

VERY unusual.

2) Uh, those aren't Ulans, those are Hussars.

3) I'm fairly certain that's King Ludwig III of Bavaria in the car.

Uh......I thought a buckle with a large crown was from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, not Hannover????

Fantastic! Love that mustache!!! :rock on:

Mike,

You would be correct for the peacetime Bavarian Luftschiffer or Telegraphentruppen, but the Bavarian Verkehrstruppen had two tunics, one with Litzen, the so-called Friedensgarnitur and one without Litzen, the Kriegsgarnitur. This would be the field uniform version, without the Litzen. Here is a circa 1912 uniform plate which shows the difference. The Bavarians did not adopt the light gray piping until the spring of 1914.

Chip

Thanks, Chip. I didn't realize they had two field grey uniforms, one with litzen and one without. I'm more into dunkleblau anyway. :speechless1:

Chris,

I would guess he is from the Telegraphentruppen or maybe the Luftschiffertruppen. The ammo pouches are typical of the Verkehrstruppen and the French rifle would also indicate a non-front line contingent. The straps appear to have light colored piping, which would have been light gray for the aforementioned units.

Chip

Chip,

I'm definitely not the expert here, but according to the reference I have Bavarian Telegraphentruppen would be out because they wore double litzen on their collars, and so did the Lufschiffertruppen and Fliegertruppen. The only Bavarians I see with shakos and no collar litzen are Jaeger and Maschinengewehr. Am I missing something?

Chip told me probably not, he has a reserve cross on the Tschako, old gear and I think even a lebel?

Anyone want to have a guess what he could be?

The bazonet cannot even fit the rifle...

Thanks

Chris

Chris,

Well, I was going to say that I believe he's a Bavarian Eisenbahn Regt. trooper. They wore the Swedish style cuffs and the shako instead of a pickelhaube. But they also wore litzen on the collar and this fellow has none. The Bavarian Jaegers did have the Swedish cuffs, no litzen, and the shako, so he could be a Jaeger afterall, or he could also be from the Bavarian Machingun unit, which also wore the shako and had no collar litzen.

:jumping: My favorite Bavarian award after the MVO!!!

Rick,

I assist Naxos.

You know, that we had and stll have thousands of "Sch?tzenvereine" in Germany, with ranks like Major, General and Feldmarschall. And unbelievable many uniform parts.

Please see one example, page 5, Ehrenfunktionen:

http://www.tsv1681.de/Download/Uniformordnung.pdf

Regards

Uwe

You mean like this one? A photo of the current head of the ducal house of Anhalt, Prinz Eduard von Anhalt wearing the uniform of the Anhalt Sch?tzenvereine, along with the grand collar of the Order of Albrecht the Bear (which according t the prince's web site he will be awarding again!) http://www.anhalt-askanien.de/index.php?id=48&L=1

Very nice photos, Chris. I didn't find any of them tasteless, just honest. You look pretty dashing in #8, all dressed up.

Happy birthday, Kaiser Wilhelm! Oh, and Robin too! :cheers:

Hi,

I also think it's a brigadier general ... have a look at this : http://www.esercito.difesa.it/root/Uniform...palline_1gm.asp - the last link on the page deals with general officers.

Cheers,

Hendrik

I don't know now, Hendrik. After looking at the web site you provided I think he's a major. The generals all have a lace background to the rank emblem on their cuffs, the majors and colonels have a cloth background with either a silver or gold border, which fits with what this officer is wearing. I also could be mistaken, but I believe generals had more lace on their hats too.

Brigadier General (1918)

Major General in command of a brigade

Major

I'm fairly certain he's Italian, possibly a brigadier general. I tried to find a website that had historical royal Italian rank insignia and failed.

I hope someone who has no intention of paying "der Club".

I see it's up to 1134 Euros now!

There having been no ruling Georgian royal family for low these hundreds of years, I would be rather dubious about pretensions--

I understand. I don't know much about Georgian royalty, but according to what I read on a royalty forum, this guy is the legit head of a cadet branch of the royal house of Georgia. The last reigning king died, I believe, in 1800. The country had been part of the Russian Empire or Soviet Union since 1810.

There is another Georgian royal, Prince Nuzgar, who claims to be the true head of the royal house since he is a member of a more senior branch of the family. He is directly descended, in the male line, from the last reigning king, George XII. If I understand it correctily, there are only the two branches left. Prince Nuzgar has no sons and his daughter, HRH Princess Anna Bagration-Grunzinsky, and Prince David are to be married, uniting the two surviving branches of the house on February 8 in Tblisi. The other two branches of the royal house died out in 1892 and 1919.

I mainly posted this for your amusement since I know you have feelings for Queen Tamara.