Chip

Once again, it looks like we have a similar interest. The proficiency badges were around years ago. I should have tried to complete the set, but even then there were certain examples (MG, truck driver and some others) that you just never saw. I ended up with two. Now, if you can find a good one, they are too expensive. Italians with lots of Euros are buying them and anything else from the Austro-Hungarian army.

Brian, They make reproductions of these, but I am not sure how accessible they are. Real examples are very scarce and ridiculously expensive. I have the small cap and collar insignia for MG troops, but the proficiency badge is a tough one. Chip

Actually, the former color of the cloth (which is now mostly eaten away) was carmine, so perhaps he was an Apoteker.

I think a police Wachtmeister, circa 1900. Here's what the whole board looks like.

Prewar pioneers would have had a red backing. The black was added to the red in 1915, but black velvet would normally indicate something like a retired officer. That would also explain the lack of any unit number or Namenszug. Other possibilities for a M07/10 would be a Zeugsoffizier, or a Festungsbauoffizier, though the later would have had a device. The velvet is the key and I would say Zeugsoffizier would be the best match, either for the M07/10 or M15 Friedensuniform. Chip

It's not embroidered, but here is another huge Prussian Wappen. Chip

Here is what the Maschinengewehr Sch?tzenauszeichnung looks like. Chip

Chris, With the 45.Res.Div. in the October 1917 British document "Index to the German Forces in the Field". Chip

While it looks fine from the outside, I've got to scratch my head about what is going on inside. This "sweat diamond" is typical of later caps, not imperial and the font style of the printing is also typical of postwar and later periods. It's hard for me to see clearly, but I think the cockades are also the thicker (the silver rings) 3rd Reich variety. This may be a "Traditions" cap. Chip

Chris, Nice information, as always. My grandfather participated in the offensive and may well have run into the 77.Res.Division as he was in the U.S. 89th division. I have a M15 shoulder strap from the 257.R.I.R. Chip

Any guessing would be just that...pure speculation. This will require the right source material. I might have it, but it will take a lot of looking. Maybe I can do it after my Urlaub. Chip

Here's one of my unusual ones. I had never before seen a J?ger unit described this way. "J?ger Rgt. 8. z. F." I suppose it was to differentiate it from the J?ger Rgt. zu Pferde. Chip

Any chance of getting some close-ups of the disks? Chip

dante, Very nice examples! So similar and yet every one is a different color. I have about 50 Erkennungsmarken, but not one of these private purchase carriers. Chip

My guess is that it is a member stickpin from the same association as the medal in your picture. The medal ribbon usually has a diagonal sword device and the colors are the same. Chip

Hardy, I think the oddities in this photo are due to it being a postwar image. The missing national cockade, the Bavarian cockade along with a Prussian belt buckle, the odd cuff design, the lack of the Kragenpatten, all lead me to this conclusion. Chip

Chris, IR102 and RIR242 were both Saxon units. All these guys are wearing the Prussian cockade and some have Brandenburg cuffs. It's not likely any of them is your guy. Maybe some friends? Chip

Those ?berzug numbers look like applied, die-cut cloth. Here is a green version. Reinforced on the back with a glued-on, thick paper.

Brian, The first commander of the regiment, Obstlt. von Wright was killed on August 23, 1914. The regiment's staff and the I, III battalions were at Hildesheim and the II battalion at Hameln. The regiment lost 81 officers and approximately 3,000 NCOs and enlisted men. This link will take you to the wartime order of battle for the division in 1916. http://www.1914-18.info/erster-weltkrieg.p...on&start=50 Chip

Hardy, You are correct. Those are practice grenades, which of course, means this is a training photo. Chip

Chris, Hansen was a manufacturer of EKs. Fairly unique ones. Chip

Les, Your links are not working. Chip

It is a beauty and if it sold for the current bid (23 Euro) I could afford it. Chip

Yep, an Italian infantry regimental ring. My pocket handbook on the Italian army circa May 1915 (the same month Italy entered the war) shows infantry regiments only numbered up to 94, so I guess that this is either a wartime or postwar ring (if the number is actually 158). Chip

2.Posensches Feldartillery Regt.Nr.56 garrisoned at Lissa, V.A.K. Chip