Chip

Nice photos Ulsterman. First time I have noticed these being worn. Chip

Charles, There are a few addition dart colors (Faden - literally "threads") out there that you did not mention. First, the Baden colors, red/yellow appear on certain types of straps. The ones that I have seen were non-official officer's types. The two examples I can remember were a medical doctor's boards and the commander's board of the J?ger Rgt.Nr.3 (Ralf von Rango). I think this was a personal choice, especially in the case of von Rango, who was leading a mixed regiment of Prussians, Bavarians and Badeners. Another type is the blue darts of the Beamten. All Beamten, regardless of their home state, had the blue darts. They are often mistaken for Bavarian darts. It's the state Wappen that is the identifying mark on a Beamten board. The addition of the white darts to those that had previously only had one color (blue/white, black/white, etc.) came with M15 Feldachselst?cke. States with more than one color already remained the same (red/black - W?rttemberg, red/yellow/blue - Mecklenburg). Cockades changed over time, depending on the period. What time frame are you interested in? Chip

vodorosl, There are several sources for the information that you seek. The 1999 two volume set of books from J?rgen Kraus has plates that show both the shoulder strap cyphers and the specialty shoulder strap devices (like the one you have shown and many others). These books are currently unavailable, but are supposed to be reprinted at some point. The regimental cyphers are shown in the "Handbook of the German Army" reprints, the Jan Kube books, Das Deutsche Heer, F?hrer durch Heer und Fl?tte and the various Ruhl uniform plates, some of which have been reprinted and are carried in stock by several militaria dealers. Finally, if you are interested, I can send you scans from any of the aforementioned books. Regards, Chip PS Your ?skulapstab insignia looks to be from the pre-1918 era.

..and number two. The official name is Regiments Erinnerungs Kreuz (REK). There was a nice document for them as well. I think I have a picture of one somewhere.

I have had more in the past. Now down to two. There was recently a bunch of them for sale on Ebay. I saved the pictures. They sold for prices from $40 and up.

Why didn't I think of that! :speechless:

Tom, That's a cool accessory. You rarely see them. But, man, you need to learn how to fold a Zeltbahn! Chip

gekornt = pebbled Chip

All I can say at the moment, based on the reference material that I have, is that the regimental cypher was changed some time between 1899 and 1914. I have an 1899 dated Ruhl book that shows the 100th's cypher as the "AR". I have several references that show it having changed to "FAR" by 1914. Another change was made in that the cypher and crown, which had been made from yellow material (cord and cloth), were changed to white for the Dunkelblau uniform. While there is plenty of information about the Prussian cyphers and their changes in Paul Pietsch's two volume work, there is nothing equivalent that I know of for the Saxon army. I'm sure something exists, but there just has not been a modern reprint. Chip

First, of all. I did not have this example from the K.S.1.(Leib) Gren.Rgt.Nr.100 until this week. It is totally new to me. It is the same as the one that Charles has shown, i.e, both from this regiment. Secondly, I believe there were two different cypher patterns for King Friedrich August of Saxony (as you have observed), just as there was more than one style of royal cypher for the Kaiser. It is possible that the cyphers refer to different King Friedrichs, as the Saxon king crowned in 1905 was the third King Friedrich August (III) of Saxony. As far as I know, the "Saxon 100 Gren-Landwehr Regt. " would have drawn its uniforms from the depot of the line unit and would most likely have been given whatever was on hand. Normally, only the line units wore the cyphers, while the reserve and Landwehr units wore the regimental number on their shoulder straps. There is plenty of period photographic evidence, however, showing that this was not always the case. Chip

:rolleyes:

Cherie, Though you may be able to pin down with some certainty which unit captured or held your grandfather, the basement where he was being held was most likely a temporary site, maybe spur of the moment or maybe an assembly place before prisoners were sent on to established camps. While you might gain a little more background information, looking for this church might be like looking for a needle in a haystack when you don't know where the haystack is. You may just have to settle for "he was held somewhere behind the front in the area of......". Good luck with your search. Chip

Rittmeister, I doubt that it is infantry. The collar looks too dark. It appears to be black piped in red (Verkehrstruppen, Artillery, etc.) The M1866 boards don't give much information either. Chip

Charles, This a well-known (and very cool) photo. I have a copy of it myself. Not much to the sleeve insignia. I believe the insignia was applied to the sleeve in pieces, that is, it was not on a patch.

Charles, You know I do. Chip

Charles, The Hoch u. Deutschmeister regiment and the Edelwei?korps badges are some of the most desirable and thus most expensive. In the last decade there has been a great influx of Italian collectors into WWI Austro-Hungarian collecting (for obvious reasons) and with the value of the Euro, most of the nicer badges have skyrocketed in value. This used to be a very affordable area to collect in, but like everything else, it has gotten out of reach for the average collector. I am fortunate to have started collecting cap badges in the 1980s when the average price was about $15.00. Today, I would venture to say that the average is about $45.00 or more. Chip

Here's a silver colored example. I don't have a gold one. Chip

Wow! I have seen so many Ebay items discussed on so many forums and have never witnessed such a reaction. With all the threats and intimidations, one would have to to guess that where there is smoke there is fire. :unsure:

Perhaps that badge was just added later to update the plate? Oh, it's under the glazing, well, never mind. Chip

Charles, Normally, you can just look up the unit to see if it makes sense. Like on this Train strap. Can it be infantry, no, there were no blue piped infantry units with the number "1". Cavalry, no. Artillery, no. Etc. It's a process of eliminationl. It works 99% of the time. Occasionally, there are two unit possibilities, but this is the exception rather than the rule. So for instance, can you tell me what unit the yellow piped strap on the right represents? Chip

Charles, Yes, the piping on the M07 shoulder boards of the Train Batl. was blue, Hellblau actually. Here is an example from my collection. Not the pale blue you see on some private purchase Train tunics, but this is it. Chip

Charles, The Eisenbahn units were part of the Verkehrstruppen and for the most part wore the uniform of the Garde-Pioniere (with their own shoulder boards. The Train (as in supply train) included a multitude of formations, including horse depots, bakery columns and originally, part of the medical establishment. Light blue was color of the piping until the fall of 1915 when the new darker blue color, "Kaliblau" was adopted. Bavarian Train troops wore the medical style cap with blue band and red piping. The troops for the munitions columns were supplied by the Train establishment, but wore the uniforms of their associated unit. Chip

Charles, You know better than that. :shame:

The top photo looks to me to be a navy man. The bridal on the epaulettes is typical of certain ranks of the navy. The uniform in the second photo is somewhat perplexing. What interests me is the plain collar. He must be some sort of official, as Rick has said. Are any of those medals down the front of his tunic, non-German? Chip

Alex, This strap above is the correct shoulder strap for the Saxon LIR100. The Saxon Garde-Reiter Schulterklappen in this pattern had two rows of piping, an inner blue piping and an outer white piping. Here is what it looks like (not my photo). Chip