Chip

"I'm just glad to be a Happy Time Traveller who got what I did when I did..."

A big AMEN to that brother. Thank goodness that I started 40 years ago. Today, I am down to collecting postcards and a shoulder board here and there. I'm afraid to tell my kids what this stuff is worth today (I want to stick around a few more years!).

Chip

Bob,

When you find the correct medal and you have no further use for the REK, I will be happy to buy it from you.

Good eye, Chip. Looks like a medal was incorrectly replaced somewhere along the time line from then to now...

Chip

Not to shift the spotlight away from your T&T cross (which is very nice), but would that be the correct ribbon for the REK (Treu dem Regiment cross)? It is not one of the variations that I have seen for the ribbons that were worn with these crosses.

Chip

You say that 200 Euro is a bargain. So, what is the standard value for a silver example with undamaged enamel? My notions of value must be way out of date.

Chip

uman,

What is it that is being faked? Photos?

Chip

These pins surface regularly on e-bay, but they are highly collected by the Italians, who pay very hefty prices for them. The last one that I bought at a local militaria show for $12.00 was not of much interest to me, so I put it on ebay and it sold for nearly $70.00. That got my attention! Now, I wish I had bought them years ago when you could find them all day for $10.00 or less. Ah well.....

Chip

Your 92 day story has given me new hope that my package of $500.00 worth of German shoulder straps will show up (18 months and counting).

Chip

Guys,

I have enjoyed looking at these. I especially like the Bosnian regimental and Rick's J?ger. My collection is small (thirty pieces or so), but fairly representative of the various types. As Rick says, there are thousands of designs. A friend of mine has a huge collection with somewhere around a thousand pieces. My belief had always been that these were originally made to sell to the public as a fund raisers. They became very popular with the troops as well, but I don't think, for the most part that they were specifically ordered and made for units to wear. I mean, you see quite a few of the Eisenbahnsicherung version and there could not have been that many troops that fell into that category. On the other hand, I have owned badges that were customized by taking a generic corps pin and soldering brass regimental numbers to it. My guess is that this was the exception.

There are some books that cover the subject, but they just give samplings and are not comprehensive studies.

I have seen a ton of these pins and don't recall ever having seen one that was painted green? Most of them are made of Kriegsmetall, brass or white metal and are occasionally enameled.

When the Germans served with the Austrians there was some interest in these badges. The troops began to wear the Austrian corps badge (I have period photos). Later, several Bavarian divisions had their own pins created and it is well documented that they were worn during the war, though forbidden and unofficial. I have examples from the Bavarian 10th Div., 11.Div. and 8.Res.Div. They are pictured in J?rgen Kraus' book.

Chip

Rick,

Regarding the von Homeyers, is there any way of telling from their medals which one was in Palastine? Surely, he would have gotten an EH as well. Is there some way of finding out which field hospital was in Bet Hanun?

Chip

Jens,

I would love to have the uniform that that double button hole ribbon was attached to. What a beautiful thing that would have been! I find it interesting, though somewhat logical that the uniform was pitched, but the ribbons kept. This happened all to often. None of my field gray uniforms have button hole ribbons. Maybe it is because the majority of them are Bavarian and only lightly worn.

Chip

And this is the fragile preliminary authorization certificate. It reads, "Dem Feldlazarett=Inspekor=Stellvertreter Fritz Lederer wurde am 24. Dezember 1916 im Namen S.M. des Sultans der Eisnere Halbmond verliehen. Bet Hanun, 4. Juli 1917 der Stabarzt, von Homeyer Stabsarzt.

The ink stamp reads, "Feldlazarett Nr.?" Unfortunately, it is too faint to read the field hospital number. If anyone can provide additional information on this Beamte or anything else related to this time or place, I would be very interested to know.

Chip

PS Sorry, no matter what I do I cannot get this picture to load without drawing it down to the size of a postage stamp! Bummer.

Chip - I have added the image for you.

Gordon

This is mine, along with the stick pin. The badge is marked "938" on the back. I apologize for the quality of the scan.

Chip

Joe,

It's not like anything from WWI that I have seen.

Chip

Les,

I was very interested to see your Garde trench helmet. I have three of them myself, which I got back in the late 1970s, before it became generally known that these were not Weimar markings. Of particular interest is that one of my helmets is painted in a fashion very similar to yours, in that the first shield was painted over the original paint finish and the second shield slightly offset over the first. I think that the original shields were done some time in the spring of 1918. Later in the summer the orders came down for helmets to be camouflaged. When this was done, both the shield and the rear number(s) were repainted. The original numbers were painted in dark red. The second paint color for the numbers tended to be white, as the red numbers were hard to see from a distance. Like your helmet, you can easily see where the original shield and number were on mine. You did not mention it, but it does look like your helmet has also had two numbers painted on the back.

All three of my helmets were made by "Bell L", which I think must have been the original issue to the Garde division. All of mine have company numbers, but I have seen original examples without any number, which I attribute to non-infantry units. There was an article published in the "Zeitschrift f?r Heereskunde" back in the 1980's, which showed an example marked inside the rear skirt to the 1.Garde Feldartillerie and it had no number on the back.

I would be interested to know which manufacturer made your helmet and which U.S. division the soldier, who brought it back was from. Thanks for sharing this unique grouping.

Chip

Christophe,

I see what you mean about them being scarce, in that there were not other troops from Waldeck. I once had a wartime enlisted issue cap marked to the 83rd. Like Dave says, your cap could not belong to the same person who owned the boards. Maybe same unit, but not the same man.

Paul,

Try as I might, I cannot see any colored "v"s in the cords of your officer's board. The "II" and the pips look to be from the period, but the add-on piece at the bottom and the button do not. If it had some colored "darts" I would say it was from a Bekleidungsamt. As it stands, I am not sure what it is. Sorry.

Chip

Regarding my J?ger board, could anyone tell me when Ralf von Rango was promoted to Oberst? I think he was an Oberstleutnant when he was the commander of J?ger Rgt. Nr.3.

Chip

Chris,

Actually, the artwork on the 15.Bayer.Inf.Div. example turns me several shades of green!

Chip

Rick,

Correct! It belonged to Ralf von Rango, who commanded the J?ger Regiment Nr.3. I have yet to find out why he chose to wear the state colors of Baden, when two of the battalions of the regiment were Bavarian, one was Prussian and the fourth was Prussian/Baden. Perhaps he was a Badener himself.

Christophe,

Why do you think that the 83.IR boards rare?

Chip

Sal,

I don't believe that any machine is involved here. The Winker was trained to communicate by positioning a pair of flags in various configurations to represent letters of the alphabet and numbers. It was a line of sight thing and was limited to the distance at which it could be clearly seen by the person on the other end, be it by the naked eye or by binoculars or other some device.

Chip

OK,

Here is a hint on my officer's board. The commander of this unit wore the Baden colors on his boards, but there was only one Baden battalion in this unit.

Chip

Chris,

Early, in my estimation.

Chip

Rick,

What I especially like about your photo is the one year volunteer shoulder cords. Very unusual to see. Overall a photo with a lot of appeal!

Chip

Sal,

It's a signallers patch. Semaphore, I suspect, to me more precise. It's a private purchase piece. The issue examples had square flags. One myth is that these patches with the swallow tail flags are only for cavalry units (like the tails on a lance pennant). As plainly shown in your picture, they were worn by anyone who could afford one.

Chip

Rick,

Did you mean Reichswehr, as opposed to Reichsheer? My understanding is that either piping method was used during the imperial period. I'm no expert when it comes to immediate post-war uniforms, but were all of the imperial colored officer's collar tabs continued into this period? I didn't think so. I have pairs officer's tabs from the Garde Foot Artillery Regiment and the Garde Pioneers with piping on three sides. Would these have been made during the postwar times?

Chip

Officer's boards were attached in several ways. I like the method used on yours, because it did not damage the cording. The small tab was sewn into the shoulder seam. I also have a strap and a picture of it being worn, but it is a lowly enlisted Minenwerfersoldat.

I really like your set (board and photo). A little history can do wonders for an otherwise unremarkable board.

My Hessian general's board is a M15 field dress pattern (subdued cording with double color "Vs"). The rank is too high for him to be the regimental commander. The cypher is that of Inf.-Regt. Kaiser Wilhelm (2.Gro?herzogl.Hess.) Nr.116.

Chip