Chip

Color Guard

Just a note to tell all that America's newly named national WWI museum opened yesterday to much fanfare. The museum, former called the Liberty Memorial Museum, was constructed just after the war with money raised by the citizens of Kansas City, Missouri. The 1926 dedication was attended by President Calvin Coolage, Black Jack Pershing, Marshall Foch, Admiral Beatty, General Diaz (Italy) and the commanding general of the Belgian army. Over 100,000 people attended. It is the largest memorial to WWI in the country and for many years had a medium size museum in the old open display style. The new museum, twelve years in the making, is state of the art, designed by Ralph Applebaum Associates, the same company that designed the Holocaust Museum. I am attaching some pictures of the memorial and the museum. You must all come and see it some day. It is fantastic and only fifteen minutes from my home. Chip

gjw, Check out this website. http://www.marine-infanterie.de/ . If you don't read German, try this one. http://www.sacktrick.com/igu/germancolonialuniforms/ Chip

Heiko, Let me add my condolences. All real collectors can imaging what you must be going through. It's our worst nightmare. I hope you will soon come to terms with your loss. I'm sure it won't be easy, but we are all pulling for you. Regards, Chip

Jens, I have seen several of these over the years and just thought that they were personal items pouches made by soldiers by cutting down a Zeltbahnzubeh?rbeutel. After thinking about this for some years, I wish I had kept one, as I now think that they may be the pouches for rifle cleaning accoutrements and supplies. Chip

nees bees? Is that something like bee's knees? Chip

Joe, How many of these are known to exist and how would the value compare with other unique, high priced, first class crosses? Chip

Riley, Just for clarification, the Edelwei? pin that Rick has shown you in his period photograph is not the same pin that you have pictured. Though the design is nearly the same, the badge you have shown has additionally the letters "DOAV" in the center on the gold part of the flower. The official military version did not have these letters. Chip

Doc, Nice ring, but nothing official. I don't think there was such a thing as an officially sanctioned ring. Chip

It the pin of a member of the German-Austrian Alpenverein. This was/is a civilian association pin, which I understand was worn by some soldiers to indicate their affiliation with the group. It was never sanctioned for wear with the uniform, however. Chip

Wow, Joe, that cross has got to be one of, if not the most beautiful I have ever seen. I can't stop looking at it! It doesn't get any better than that. Congratulations, Chip

Charles, It is a nice looking tunic, but I am a bit astonished by the seemingly amateurish sewing job that attaches the insignia to the collar. The person who sewed the tabs to the tunic must have been a beginner. Maybe I'm wrong. How does it look to you? Chip

Peter, I can't speak with any certainty about Tom's canvas water carrier, but I can tell you that nearly every WWI army had them. The French issued them as a squad item and the German cavalry issued them to every trooper. I have two German examples, both with maker/issue markings. Chip

Here is another insignia, which I would consider rare, just because it was only worn by a single company and this is the officer's version (not many officer's to a company!). This is the short lived Minenwerfer sleeve patch, which was used in 1915 only and discontinued with authorization of the new M15 MW shoulder straps with unit numbers. Paul Pietsch drew a number of patterns from different units for an article in Zeitschrift f?r Heereskunde (which is reproduced in Kraus). I have never seen an example other than in period photos. Chip

Chris, OK, here is an insanely rare piece of wartime insignia. It's a Feldgrau Scheinwerferzug sleeve patch, which, according to Kraus, was approved in 1917 for all contingents, but only the Saxons are known to have worn it. Kraus has a line drawing of it, in which the patch is shown upsidedown and with minor incorrect details. It was most likely based on the written description. This is the only one I have ever seen or heard about. It has a string through it, which I believe is the string that once secured the paper Probe tag. Chip

Tom, According to a Moritz Ruhl book I have, your shoulder strap button was worn by the Leib-Komp. of the Hess. 115.L.G.I.R. and the Leib-Esk. of the 23.Drag.Rgt. Chip

The second one (crowned "L") is not a rank button. I do like your nice selection Tom. Chip

Guys, What would happen when a soldier came back to a regiment after a wound, for instance, and was assigned to another company? Would he get a new disk at that point? The depot muster rolls were continuous, so one would assume that field unit muster numbers were too. So if a man was killed, his number would not be issued to someone else. This is just a guess, but I think it would have been a nightmare to try to reassign numbers and try to keep track of them. Chip

Tom, Yours is one of the best examples that I have seen. It is nice to see a complete ensemble. I have been trying to put one together from the various parts. Chip

Chris, Are you talking about the one in the museum photo above? It is flat where it faces the carrier's back and rounded on the other side. It also has a round screw cap on the top. The new museum opens next week http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/ and I will ask the curator if I can photograph the water carrier for you, if you like. Chip

Chris, Other than this one, here at the national WWI museum, I have never seen other either. Chip

They're probably full of letters from mommy. Chip

Chris, According to his early war Erkennungmarke, he was in the 1.Komp. Chip

Chris, What is that on the collar of the soldier in post #9? It's the second man from the right. It looks like there might be some insignia on his collar. Chip

jim, I seriously doubt that this kid would go against regulantions and have his cap altered. Maybe a seasoned NCO, who had seen it all and didn't give a crap, but not this kid. It's an official pattern cap. Chip