Mark C

Wow. Thanks!

What happened to entries for Jewish recipients who either emigrated before 1939 or arrested in Germany after 1939?

You know, on E-Bay you can always see photos of Bulgarian military from the late 19th-century through WWI, but never any Romanians. Why might that be?

MC

My one Romanian possession: My link

Thanks for these great pictures. I dearly wish I could see rear views of the tunics and coats to see the trim and skirt pocket details. Maybe next time?

The tunic is a musician's - couldn't be an officer.

Thanks again.

MC

Model of the "BRANDVAHTA" early ship of the Romanian Navy.

Tunic of a Sub-Lieutenant of Artilery of Moldova 1848 / 1849

Eppulates are for a Major Moldova 1848.

Kevin in Deva.

This is probably not new information for you, but I came across it in the 1973 No. 4 issue of the East German soldier magazine Armee Rundschau. Wish there was more.

From what I have read it was no shock to Germany and A-H (or anyone else) when Italy bowed out in 1914. And it was said that Italy was rated one of the Great Powers only out of courtesy.

Regards,

MarkC

Maryland

I think it is "home" because the line over the "m" in home matches the line over the "m" in "Hamburg." A Cyrillic handwriter would place such a line over a Cyrillic small case "T", which happens to be the same shape as a Latin small case "m."

I think the first part of the ship's name in "To the captain of the ----" is "Johan"

The writer is not British, but Russian. The line over the "m" in "home" is something Russians do to distinguish similar Cyrillic letters. De Witte is a common enough name in the Russian officer corps.

Gosh, doesn't anyone notice that it's not "24 Dec (23 Dec) 1904 Discharge 1904/2," it's "24 Dec (23 Dec) 1904 Diego Suarez 1904/2." That's the island in the Indian Ocean, written in plain English (Latin) letters.

And correct, the printed heading just means "memo."

Thanks. I like the white summer uniform. Someday, could you post a photo of the back of the guards uniform, so I may see the braid pattern on the back?

Thanks again,

MarkC

Maryland

I'm not sure that the officers' caps with visors are called forage caps. Anyways, the white cover on such a cap is in my recollection associated with post-Boer War. The officers may be in dark blue and not the red of the enlisted men.

Hope this helps,

MarkC

Maryland

Bandsman, mounted unit - probably Belgium, but might be Netherlands or some other place.

Note the baggy pants with leather reinforcement - very French style for the 1870s-1890s. The saber is for mounted troops (cavalry or horse artillery).

Regards,

MarkC

Maryland

And, as the tinting on the photo just hints at, the center of the medal is a gorgeous ruby-red. [it looks almost black in Lawrence's photo, at least on my monitor]. One of those medals it's almost worth buying just for the look! I'd suggest that the award makes it more likely he's naval than merchant marine, but just guessing. Is there a date on the photo?

Peter

Nope, no date.

From an auction site. Taken in Yokohama. Any suggestions as to the country, and if the man is naval or merchant marine? What is the medal?

There were many pop culture fads in 1950s America, and one was the appearance of the Confederate battle flag motif (erroneously called the stars and bars) throughout not just the South, but the rest of the US as well. Besides this example from the federalized 31st Division of the National Guard during the Korean War, the 29th Division from Virginia/Pennsylvania was reported to have festooned its vehicles and other property with Confederate flag images. Federal Army authorities frowned on this sort of thing, but what put a terminal end to it was the appropriation of the symbol by racists, rendering it almost as tainted as the swastika.

I recommend John Coski's book "The Confederate Battle Flag" (Belknap Press, 2005) as an objective and detailed look at the flag's use and acquired meanings from the Civil War to the present day.

Mark C.

Maryland

Being auctioned off on a prominent site as an "antique" photo of a real soldier. Can you say "Hollywood"? Anyone see any reason at all to think it's genuine?

Mark C.

Maryland

There is no question that Rommel was the best all round General of WWII. You've only got to look at the brilliant rear guard action in North Africa that he carried out with extremely limited resources as his supply lines from France/Italy had been cut by the allies.

I wonder how many men would have turned out for his funeral had the man with 'Small man's Syndrome' had not had him take his own life through outrageous threats to his family.

What rear-guard action? Each time Rommel retreated he ran as fast as he could for - I dunno -- a couple hundred miles?. Lucky for him his pursuers couldn't run that fast also. What I would give him marks for is recognizing that there's a time to advance, and a time to run.

Mark

Maryland

I might go along with a pre-war photo with an updated topical caption. Are those trees on the left evergreens? Seems more like northern Great Britain than Flanders. Commercial postcard images of your enemy were not unusual - the source could be press agencies or commercial outfits in the neutral countries. And everyone likes a - to himself - an exotic subject. I've seen a number of continental cards purporting to show Indian troops that are obviously taken pre-war in India.

Regards,

Mark

Maryland

Great site. The best organized web database of photos I've seen - you can bring up photos from a particular war, a specific branch of service, etc. And the scan quality matches the original photos - nothing lost.

Thanks!

Here's the Google Books link, thanks to the copy held by Harvard University -

http://books.google.com/books?id=O0lAAAAAYAAJ&dq=Ehrenspiegel&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s

And whenever I want to handle something old, I pick up a rock. Most of them are a few hundred million years old.

Latest issue of the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research has (I believe the first of two parts) an article on the rough methods used by army and police in the Arab revolt of the late 1930s. Sometimes Tommy couldn't quite believe he was being told to go into a house and smash everything in it.

Mark Conrad

I wanted to share some interesting photograps.

Thank you. This is, of course, Fort Clayton on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal Zone. This is a minimally detailed scan. Next time could the dpi be increased?

Wonderful! A work of art in synergistic research, with intrinsic mystery.

Thanks!

Hello can anybody help with this unit sometime after WWI. Are the cheverons on the right arms fencing awards? They appear to be in two different colours are these different levels of this award and what do these represent ? thanks Mark

I don't see anything on their right arms. On their left arms are what may be long service chevrons, if the Bulgarian army was following tsarist Russian practice. Gold and silver.

Regards,

Mark C.