Chip

The red numbers were used (by decree) up until August of 1914 when the orders came for changing to the green numbers. Later, the numbers were ordered to be removed altogether.

Chip

Kornel,

That is an unusual shape. Also interesting is the half-hearted attempt at a perforation line.

Chip

Personally, I clean the surfaces with a mild liquid soap and when dry, apply a thin coat of vaseline, which I then wipe off. It doesn't do much to remove corrosion, but it does make them look better and protects the surface. I generally avoid examples with a lot of corrosion, but if I could clean them the way Kornel has, I would change my mind about that.

Chip

Probably a "Marburger" Jäger (Jäger Bn,Nr.11). The rolled straps were a security measure. The roll is held in place by a loop on the shoulder.

Chip

Hello,

Does anyone recognize this patch? It is on a field gray backing with the commander's flag and the arabic number "18" beneath. I have had it for years hoping to identify is as imperial, but some suggest to me that it is from the postwar period. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Chip

Interesting that as a Fahnenjunker he was issued a Signalpfeife. I assume that the Trageschlaufen are the belt loops with rings that are worn for attaching the Tornister straps when cartridge pouches are not worn. One wonders why he would not be issued cartridge pouches.

Chip

Charles,

All of my sources say that the buckle was the same as all other Bavarian officers, i.e., gilt.

Chris,

Of course, I meant I've never seen a German issue sewing kit. I've got American, Australian and Canadian WWI examples.

Ed,

It is actually a little known fact that the Austrian army was experimenting with genetics in order to cut down on the expense of trench periscopes.

I've never seen any evidence of an issue sewing kit (aka: housewife). They don't appear in the lists of issued items. With most units having a tailor and a cobbler, my guess is that a soldier would just have them make repairs.

Chip

No wonder you have so many women. At your age, the ratio of men vs women gives you the pick of the litter!

Supposedly, the first semi-automatic rifle ever used in combat.

There was no Saxon "love" regiment.

But you are correct about the Leib Regiment's buckle. That buckle on Ebay.de is misidentified. It's a private purchase piece, as is the belt and I'll bet both are not unit marked. Wishful thinking on the part of the seller.

Chip

Hi Chip!

Don´t forget that many infantry units also had swedish cuffs, according to the simplifying of the uniforms.

Chris,

I think this only holds true for Württemberg infantry. Their regiments wore a mixture of Brandenburg and Swedish cuffs before the war, but standardized on the Swedish cuffs in 1915. I can't think on any Prussian infantry units (other than some Garde & Jäger units) that would have worn Swedish cuffs.

Both appear to be wearing the Kürassier Waffenrock in fieldgray which replaced the fieldgray Koller by an AKO of February 23, 1910.

Chip

I doubt it is RIR.11, as he would not have Swedish cuffs. If you look at the cuff piping shade in comparison to the red piping down the front of the tunic, it definitely looks darker (black). I think he is a pioneer.

Chip

Neat item. What are the size of the cartridge cases 10.5cm?

Chip

Fusslappen were issued starting in 1916, but were not popular, as it took practice to fold the 40cm x 40cm square properly so that the creases did not irritate the foot. According to Kraus they were woolen squares.

Chip

Chris,

I think this was the style of the period and that army issue was based (as often happens) on civilian wear. When it came to underwear, men in the field could wear privately purchased pieces if they wanted. The issue stuff had to be washed now and then. In the field, as you know, you can never have enough clean socks and underwear.

If you like these big caliber guns, you should go to Tony Schnurr's website (Kaiser's Bunker) and see his brass collection. The largest I have is a 21cm, but he has the big mamas. Just the shipping to acquire them was a fortune!

Chip

So Chris, did you get it? Your post was unclear.

Here is another one. Sorry for the red line, its my wonderful Epson...

Marcin,

Super photo! What devastation. It appears the two men with the packs are being escorted by the one with the rifle, as they seem not to have rifles of their own. One is carrying some telephone wire. They must be far enough behind the lines that the last man doesn't feel compelled to wear his helmet.

Chip

Ed,

They have the LIR shoulder straps because they are members of the regiment. They are specialists within the unit as mentioned in my last post. They are not part of the signals establishment per se. Just like the infantry brought MGs, Granatenwerfer, Minenwerfer into their units, each battalion had a phone section manned by it's own troops, wearing the same uniforms at the rest of the regiment.

Chip

I think the dating of the photo is the main key to who these guys were. Starting in May of 1915 four heliograph signal units were assigned to the Alpenkorps. The infantry had carried telephone equipment with them since the beginning of the war and had formed telephone detachments to operate them. Each battalion had such a unit. These detachments also looked after all other signalling for the unit as well (signal flares, sirens, ground signals such as flags and ground cloth signals, etc). I am assuming that this photo shows such a detachment. This information is taken from the translation of Cron's "Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkrieg 1914-1918".

Chip

Nice archive Chris. Hopefully, you will be able to glean some good stories from it for your website.

Chip