Mike Dwyer

Mike,

I'm really sure about five letters! So "Kumme" is not possible!...... Jens

I figuered you were correct, but I thought I'd give it a try just to be safe! I wasn't trying to be difficult, I didn't realize that Erbprinz Bernhard was the chief of Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 10. That all makes sense to me.

The cypher on his shoulder board, as fuzzy as it is, does seem to have a curved "rocker like" bottom which fits perfectly with the bottom portion of the EG cypher of Infantrie-Regiment Nr. 95, and to me at least, doesn't look anything like the bottom portion of the FWR II cypher that Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 10 wore. That is mostly what led me down the wrong path was the appearance of the cypher.

Between you being sure the name is Kummer and Glenn saying Leutnant Kummer received the Sachsen-Meiningen Ehrenmedaille für Verdienste im Kriege I believe his identity has been confirmed! Sorry for clouding the issue. :unsure:

This fellow looks too young to have been in a 1914 Ranglist.

Chip

I'm not sure what you mean, Chip. The Leutnant KUMME in 6. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.95 had a date of rank of 22 March 1914 so he could be pretty young.

Hi gunner,

I read KUMMER.

best regards,

Jens

Jens,

You are much, much, much better at reading this writing than I am, but are you sure about KUMMER? In the 1914 Rangliste there is a Leutnant KUMME in 6. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.95.

I really like this post card for its clear photo and unusual ribbon with the EK2 in the button-hole. It looks like some Saxon ribbons (maybe even Baden), but haven't seen it in a button-hole before.

His cockade suggests Saxon - at least to my untrained eye. Not much help from the shoulder straps; a difficult to see cypher/monogram. Any help here appreciated.

And perhaps most interesting - hoping Hardy can give a good reading - the name at the bottom looks like "Runner" to me... Or is that just fantasy? Could be "Rummer" too - too many humps perhaps.

A side note - this young officer looks like he's 12 years old and already decorated twice!

I'm not the most knowledgable person here, but the Saxon ribbon looks like the ribbon for the Ehrenmedaille für Verdienste im Kriege of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. From what looks like the curved bottom of the cypher on the shoulder straps, I think he might be from 6. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.95 which included troops from both Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Saxe-Meiningen.

Here is the challenge coin I carry around....

She appears to be a police officer of the South Korean National Police Agency. It may be an older photo because the ones on their web site show them wearing white shirts. The badge is exactly the same as the one on their web site which states that badge was adopted in 2001.

According to their web site, her rank is Police Officer. Why the lowest rank has two rank emblems is, to me, a bit odd, but the next highest rank, senior police officer, has three. :unsure:

These are absolutely fantastic, Mervyn! You have some truly great portraits there! :jumping:

I tend to think Kev is right. Although there is some similarities in appearance, I'm fairly certain that is not a German hussar uniform.

Thanks Mike, can I assume your fathers medals were awarded to him and if so what for?

Is there a story you can share with us?

Yes, they were both awarded to him. I'm afraid I can't really remember too much about them, sorry to say. I know he told me all kinds of stories when I was a child, but the details have become fuzzy over time. He was a US Army Infantry officer in both WW2 (2nd Lieutenant) and the Korean War (Captain). I believe he may have earned one medal in WW2 and the other in Korea, but I just can't really remember. He was in the 8th Infantry Division in WW2 and the 25th Infantry Division in Korea. I do recall that sometime after landing in Normady in WW2 his unit was involved in fighting at Brest, France and he had a German grenade blow a hole in his lower leg for which he received the Purple Heart. He was hospitalized in England for a good bit of time. The army was going to medically retire him as a 2nd lieutenant, but luckily his sister was an army nurse stationed in the same hospital and she helped him get a second opinion from another doctor that saved his army career and he finally retired in 1959 with 22 years service.

I wish I knew more to tell you.

Very nice. My father had both.

The two photos certainly appear a lot alike.

The only thing I know about him is he certainly has a wonderful mustache!

:jumping:

Fascinating history Arthur - and links to an important German family. I note that one name includes the word Graf. I always understood that stood for a Duke in German ? Perhaps they have a family link to one ?

You rightly point out that the mystery is whose uniform is he wearing ? Only the buttons might give a hint - but, even on enlargement I can't make out any details ?

Mervyn,

Graf is the German equivalent of Count, a duke is a Herzog.

"Admiral & his Captains on British Man of War"

Well, I glad to see the ship's dog didn't suffer from malnutrition!

Extremely wonderful photos!!!

By any chance did you notice the misprint on the title page? The First Duke of YOR'S Own Skinners Horse instead of Duke of York! :rolleyes:

Unfortunately I don't have any references here at the office, so I can't comment on every medal he's wearing. I'm with Paul that the gold badge is probably a General Adjutant's badge. The huge cross at his neck is the grand cross of the Order of the Red Eagle and goes with the breast star on his chest. He's also wearing the Grand Commander (Großkomtur) collar of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. He has a EK2 on his medal bar and an EK1 on his chest below the Red Eagle star. I think the medal right after the EK2 on his medal bar is the Knight's cross of the Royal Hohenzollern House Order. The rest I'm not sure of at all.

....Thanks for quoting my site, Mike!

You're very welcome, Chris! It's the only place I know of to go to for information on Schutztruppen. :cheers:

Lettgenheim, January 1918 - Kaiser Wilhelm's birthday parade with Oberst von Barsewisch

Sadly, in my opinion, the last birthday parade they had to have.

Mervyn,

Not really applicable to your discussion I guess, but here in the States, under a fairly recent federal law, honorably retired officers can obtain a special permit that allows them to carry a firearm. Many agencies here allow retired officers to retain their badges and photo ID.

WOW! I'm so astounded by the beauty of that piece, I can't think of anything else to say. :beer:

Beautiful, absolutely stunning! :jumping:

It is noticable that the bavarians have the best EK documents, not always but when there are fantastic, multi coloured heavy paper docs ... well, the bavarians take the cake.

I have a per theory... it is because they are catholic.

So... what the hell does that have to do with it?

Simply this... the Bavarian printing companies mass produce high quality confirmation and church related certificates... more so than any of the non catholic parts of germany. There was waaaay more need for decorative high quality documents... and when it came to EK docs, they were already set up for the trade.

Any thoughts on this ? :-)

I honestly don't know, but it sounds very reasonable to me.

For anyone who is intro'd in more details of D N's life and times here's some additional info... but I HIGHLY recommend his autobiographies... he lived a charmed and fascinating life:

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

Dan

Many years ago I read his autobiography "The Moon's a Baloon" and enjoyed it thoroughly, especially the parts about Sandhurst and his time in the HLI.

Thank you Mike!

No, not the same person nor the are they related but they served in the same Regiment. Friedrich Franz von Unruh listed in the 1914 Rangliste was a Hauptmann in 1917.

Interestingly, both Friedrich Franz von Unruh and the above Johannes (Hans) Unruh (no nobility) became writers after the war.

Here is a link to von Unruh: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Franz_von_Unruh

Sorry, I just saw the name and thought perhaps he'd left the v. off in his signature on the photo, but I guess back then no German noble would have done that!

Just as an interesting aside, I served in the US Army and met an officer named Unruh.....I wonder if there is any family connection.

Hardy,

I don't know if it's the same fellow or not, but in the 1914 Rangliste there's a Leutnant von Unruh listed with this regiment. No awards listed. Rank date 1.6.10 D5.