Chip

Dan, That's a really nice first aid pouch. The contents are excellent. It is rare that you find one with the original contents, especially those that have not been disturbed. I especially like the wartime dated issue items. The pouch appears to me to be either a private purchase piece (for the Freiwill.Krankenpflege) or a prewar issue example. As you say it is larger than the normal WWI era issue pouches. There were two different sets of issue pouches during the war. Though they looked the same on the outside, the pouches were marked differently and had different contents. The Sanit?tsunteroffizier pouches were marked with an "S", while the Krankentr?ger pouches were marked with a "K". I have a list of the contents for each if you would like me to post it. I have several pairs of these, but none with contents. A year or so ago, a large lot of issue Ersatz medical pouches were found. They were made from paper cloth (Papiergarn). Interestingly, they were made by the maker who seems to have supplied the majority of the leather pouches to the army, Karl Barth. Both the "S" and the "K" type pouches were in the lot. The maker of your pouch is L. Ritgen, a well-known maker of imperial leather items. Being primarily an insignia collector, I love the medical uniform items. I have a large assortment of medical officer's shoulder insignia, collar tabs, as well as related armbands. Here are a few. Chip

Rosenberg, This is a Nazi era dogtag. I'm sure you can get someone to move your thread to the appropriate section. Chip

Jens, It looks like a nice cap. The lining looks more like that of an Portepee NCO, than an officer. Chip

I'm no language expert, but those markings look like Czech to me. Plzen is Pilsen in today's Czech Republic. So these are definitely postwar markings, which makes the paint job postwar. There is nothing WWI about this helmet that I can see, not even the liner. Chip

I can't tell you the exact pattern, but if it is a WWI shell, then it looks like a total postwar retrofit. Repainted, remarked, new liner and chinstrap. I did not see any manufacture marks on the shell, so I cannot say for sure. Perhaps it is a total postwar helmet. All I can say for sure is that it is not a helmet that would have been used in WWI as it is now. Chip

It's not Franz von Str?mer, it's von Franz Str?mer or from Franz Str?mer. The "s./1. Kam." your dear comrad. So Franz has given this as a gift to someone else. I am not sure what the heraldic crest represents. It could be a city crest. Chip

Rick, You are partially correct. While the 1st and 2nd battalions wore the Garde star, the rest of the battalions wore the the line eagle. Chip

Yes, my wife's grandfather was in one of those regiments, the 78th I.R., which got the "Waterloo" Bandau on their Pickelhauben. Chip

Christophe, Wouldn't the Th?ringen officer's take the same brocaid belt as Baden and Oldenburg officers? Chip

Robert, Did your Luftschiffer have much of a wartime service record? It would be interesting to know what field units he served with. I don't think that the police started wearing the Tschako until Weimar times. During the imperial period, most state police forces wore a version of the Pickelhaube. Many pre-1918 military units wore the Tschakko. Among them were the J?gers, Garde Sch?tzen, Luftschiffer, Landsturm infantry, W?rttemburg Mountain Regiment, the Maschinengewehr Abteilungen, See Bataillonen and so on. Chip

Bernhard, I have never quite understood Niedersachsen or Oberbayern. Obviously names from the somewhat distant past when these states were larger. I don't ever recall seeing a map that defined the area that these names refer to. Can you clarify? Chip

Saschaw, Rare indeed, but the obvious question is, why is the cloth on the back and not between the badge and the backing plate, where it belongs? I would say that the triple dated infantry badges would be just as rare. Rick, No additional Junker mark on the "inside" of the crown. I checked my records and I bought this piece at the Stuttgart Sammlerb?rse in April of 1979. The cloth is somewhat moth eaten and you saw the flaking on the tinned backing plate. I have no doubt it is original. Dond, I hope you can see this better. Chip

Robert, Trying to deciper these photos can be a real brain teaser, but always enjoyable. Thanks for posting them. The first two photos are of some very young Luftschiff recruits. Both show them with their instructor. The first photo shows at least three different uniform patterns. The second photo of this group displays their Tschakos with the Garde star on the front. I am wondering why all of the men in the last photo with the instuments do not have the unit numbers on their collars? They all have the Landsturm Gurtband shoulder straps. It is interesting that the only one with the numbers is also the only one wearing a M10/15 tunic. All of the others (with the exception of the one with the Drillich jacket and apron) are wearing the Bluse. Chip

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Field gear is very difficult to judge by just looking at a few photos. Flaws are easily hidden. I have gotten several surprises myself, mostly with original pieces having been altered in some way. Better luck next time. Chip

I agree it will look great once you complete it. This is the 1917 pattern harness, so you really need a canteen dated 1917 or 1918. I am on the other side of this problem (the more difficult side) trying to find a nice 1917 pattern leather harness and stopper for an unissued Gebr. Bing canteen and cover that I have. Chip

Mike, It looks very good to me, but a bit expesive for an example without the canteen. Do you already have the canteen? Chip

Pete, Thanks for showing this piece, a very desirable one to shoulder strap collectors (like me!). This is a M15 pattern introduced in September of 1915 with the universal Bluse. It was also worn with the M10/15 tunics that were still in production. This is a J?ger piece, specifically from the 27.J?ger Bataillon. According to British intelligence, there was also a reserve battalion that was attached to the 202nd Division in 1917. But Hermann Cron only mentions a 27.J?ger Bataillon, which was raised during the war in order to train a group of Finnish volunteers. It only existed from May 1916 to February 1918. Cron's postwar work lists the reserve J?ger battalions only up to number 26 (though a number 31 was created at the end of 1916, it never served in the field). Chip

Nice helmet, but yikes, the prices have gotten far beyond most collector's means. Chip

Mike, Obviously, that strap should be attached. Is it repairable? Chip

I have to agree with Les regarding the Garde Division helmet insignia. It's too perfect. I have three of these helmets that I picked up in the 1970s and early 1980s before it was commonly known what they were. Somewhere, I still have a letter from the 1970s in which Ludwig Baer asks me what this insignia is. None of my helmets has a shield as professionally done as this one. There are at least four more of these helmets in the area, which I believe to be original and which were also gathered in the very early 1980s. They display similar attributes, but with the inevitable smaller variations one would expect. One other thing I might say is that all of my helmets are "Bell L's". I'm not saying that they were the only maker's helmets worn by the division, but it is something that I take into account. I have seen quite a few of these helmets over the years, as the midwest is fertile ground for them. I got two out of the woodwork in Missouri and one from Illinois. One of our local divisions fought against the 1.Garde Division for over a week in late September of 1918. Thousands of prisoners were taken. One of my helmets also has the double shield that Les mentions. Generally, I think that these shields were authorized in the spring of 1918 or earlier. I don't think that the date of this event has been pinned down. When the orders came for camouflaging in the summer of 1918, some of these shields were repainted. The shield on mine was painted over in Feldgrau and then a new shield was applied just a slight bit lower. At this time or later, many of the red company numbers at the rear of the helmets were changed. The numbers were repainted in white or black paint. Two of mine are repainted in white, but you can very easily see the outline of the (usually larger) red number underneath. My third helmet still has the red number "11" on the back. I think that the company numbers were only worn by the infantry units of the division, while the other units (artillery, supply, communications, etc.) had none. Chip

Christian, Just from what I can see, the underlay construction does not look to be a type common to the imperial period. The colored "Faden" look like the green/white M15 Saxon colors, but my best guess at the moment is that these are postwar Saxon police boards. For one thing, the Roman numeral "I" does not relate to anything that I can think of in the imperial Saxon army. Secondly, the green underlay leaves little to choose from. There might be something that I am just not considering, but I will leave that to more clever minds! Chip

Christian, Could we please see the reverse side? Chip

Claudius, I read the word as "Namenszuge", which in this case would translate as monogram or perhaps more precisely, cypher (cipher), that is, the symbol representing the royal name. Most likely the stylized "WR" ringed with a wreath and surmounted by a crown. Chip

Rick, You can download Adobe reader for free and it will open any PDF file. Chip

Dave, They look like issue buttons, so I think Bluse belt support buttons is out (no ramp). The rimless-equals- overcoat button makes sense, but I am not aware of special overcoat buttons for See Bataillon contingents. I think for the time being we will have to wait for some period regulations or photographic evidence. Anybody out there have period photos of See Bataillon members wearing wartime gray overcoats? Chip