Chip

Final sale price...$770.00!!!! Truely an amazing, never seen before photo, but yikes! What a tidy sum for Herr Faust. I am sure he is grinning from ear to ear!

Chip

I suppose that this is a civilian pilot's badge? Notice that the "TC" on the cartouche of the badge is the same as that at the top of the document and the picture of the badge on the document. No military motifs on the document either. Very interesting.

Chip

Tom,

I think David is correct about what your bag is. My question is about the 10cm M14 marking. Wasn't that an Austrian gun? I have a brass cartridge case marked "10,0cm M14" with Austrian acceptance stamps.

Chip

OK,

Here's something that should be extremely common. Issued to every soldier to see field service and yet this one that turned up on ebay this past year, is the first Salzbeutel that I have seen in over 40 years of collecting imperial German. Anybody else got one?

Chip

Les,

If the tunics came with this lot, I would love to see them.

Rick,

What is the difference between an Austrian and a Hungarian tunic? I did not think that there was any, save for the Hungarian crown being used on their branch collar devices.

Chip

David,

Contemporary intelligence, which was not declassified until 1947! This particular copy is ink stamped on the cover "Intelligence Section A, General Staff, A.E.F.", though the work is British. By 1918 this single volume had grown to two volumes, one covering sectors and the other units.

Regarding foot artillery units, I also have a compilation of information that was put together by Major Hans-Rudolf von Stein for eventual publication in "Zeitschrift f?r Heereskunde". He and Major Kling were doing a series on the German army in the world war. They got through the infantry and about half of the information, when the publication lost interest (according to von Stein) and never printed the rest. I made a copy of the manuscript back in the 1980s. After his death, some years ago, I have no idea what happened to the original manuscript (or his world class collection for that matter). The only units that are not covered are the Train troops, which the Major thought no one would ever be able to accurately chronical.

Chip

Chris,

In the "Foot Artillery Index to The German Forces in the Field. Revised, December, 1916" the 396.Battery is listed as being in the Vosges Sector: the Plaine-the Thur. No date of identification or caliber of gun is given for this unit. In the February 1918 edition of the same publication, it is listed in the Alsace sector. Not much, but perhaps some verification.

Chip

Chris,

I vote for RFAR circa 1915. I say that because of the Reichsrevolver and the Bavarian wartime style cuffs on the tunic. Dave is right about the Bavarian artillery sword (slot in the handle for the Faustriemen). Good eye Dave!

Chip

Dave,

That's a nice set. I have similar examples, but nothing that came as a set.

Chip

Chris is correct, but there is no indication (at least from the uniform) that this soldier was ever in the volunteer automobile corps. Those members provided their personal vehicle for the army's use. Of course, he could have been in this group earlier, there is just no way of knowing from these photos. The fact that he is an officer might be an indication.

Chip

Heiko,

I don't see anything in the photos to indicate that he was anything other than a Lt. in the Kraftfahrkorps (Verkehrstruppen). All the uniform parts say officer to me.

Chip

Goats, monkeys, men dressing like women, women dressing like men, Gawd, no wonder they lost the war! I'm freaked.

Landsknechte,

OK, but even if they are anesthesiologists, why are there three per patient?

Rick,

I find that photo with the mules very disturbing. I can't decide what is more titilating, the breast on the soldier or the monkey riding "buddy" style.

Chip

What a hospital! They even bring a juggling team into your room for entertainment! No in-room TVs at the time.

Chip

Regardless, it will no doubt sell for a goodly amount. I have one tunic with this title (79th IR) and one loose one. While they are by no means rare, they are highly collectible, as the only official cuffband of the period. I would still like to find one on a field gray tunic!

What do you want to bet that that sheep's name is Minna?!

Chip

Simon,

A later war Bavarian overcoat should not have any lion buttons on it. In 1916, when the new Einheitsmantel was adopted, the buttons were changed to a universal crown button, which was worn on the overcoats of all contingents. Your lion buttons would not be the original ones and most likely were added later, either during the period or more recently. My 1917 dated example has no lion buttons as per regulations.

Regards,

Chip

David,

Volume one is subtitled, "Field Equipment - Optical Instruments - Body Armor - Mine and Chemical Warfare - Communications Equipment - Weapons - Cloth Headgear." It has lots of photos, primarily from three large private collections, as well as period photos. It is basically the same format as the last few Schiffer books (lots of nice pictures with a modicum of text). I would say that in many ways it is similar to J?rgen Kraus' new book, but it suffers from the same lack of completeness. There are many more things that could and maybe should have been shown. I do think it will be popular amongst our crowd, as it shows not only the common, but the rare as well.

Volume two is "in the can" so to speak and in production. Volume three is still being written and assembled.

Chip

Kenneth,

Get a copy of the translation of Cron's postwar retrospective on the German army in the war. The title is "Imperial German Army 1914-1918, Organization, Structure, Orders-of-Battle". Printed by Helion & Co. in 2002. I got my copy from Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, the other source I used, "Index to The German Forces in the Field, October 1917" has never been reprinted (to my knowledge). I do think that "The German Forces in the Field" (the companion book) has been reprinted, but the name of the printer escapes me at the moment.

Chip

For those of you out there that enjoy field gear and equipment items, Johan Somers new book, "Imperial German Field Uniforms and Equipment 1907-1918, Vol.1" is just out. I received my copy and it is very interesting. This is a bit of a plug, since I made a few contributions to the effort. 384 pages of reading and gawking pleasure. It's a Schiffer publication.

Chip

Seeing that first photo makes me realize where all those size 53 helmets have come from!

Chip

Kenneth,

Sounds like you have the M1915 Gasschutzmaske, aka "Gummimaske". The late date on the filter cannister is no big deal, as all the screw-in filters were interchangable and if your mask remained in service it would have had the filter changed from time to time. Otherwise, it could have easily been put on by a collector too.

Armierungs Batl.108/3 was a labor battalion that would have a number of chores, including digging trenches or breastworks, repairing roads, even providing agricultural help. These battalions could have quite a few companies, though the most commonly they had four. The 108th was identified as being on the Western Front in 1917.

Chip

Those are the 1908 pattern peaked service cap for enlisted men. Very scarce with the visor still intact and difficult to find these days. I have only seen a handful in 40 years. Discontinued in October of 1918, they were primarily issued to support troops (engineers, Train troops, Sanit?ter and Krankentr?ger, etc. I have two of them that have had the visors and chinstraps removed and then were just sewn back up.

The three compartment cloth gas mask pouch first came out in 1915 to carry the mask (no filter attached), and two spare filters in their factory sealed tin cans. In 1916, when the Bereitsschaftsb?chse (issue carrying can) was introduced, the old bags were modified by taking out one cloth partition, thus creating two compartments, one for the mask and filter in the carrying can and the second for the spare filter. Newly made cloth gas mask pouches (Segeltuchtasche 16) were made with two compartments. This one in the photo could be either, as it is not possilbe to tell which it is from the outside. The earlier pouches were made from a thinner canvas similar to Zeltbahn cloth. The later pattern was made from a heavier, tougher canvas.

Chip

Robert,

Nice photo. Such a small room. I think much of this type of work was farmed out to the "cottage industry". You see quite a few stamps and labels that indicate this. The big manufacturers would make the bulk materials and maybe do some cutting and then the finish work would be subcontracted. For instance, I have a sandbag made from papercloth and it has a bundle label on it. These labels were printed by the government (in this case the "Kgl.Ingenieur-Komitee Berlin") and then filled out by the shop or individual who completed it. The label says, "Angefertigt von der Hausarbeiterin:......." and "Heimarbeit=Ausgabestelle........".

Chip

Rick,

I see what you mean. In this picture Gonnermann is wearing the 1908 version. You were looking at the 1916 Friedensuniform, which was a new design for this regiment. Confusing ain't it.

Chip