Chip

That's right. After 1915 (Sept.21 regulations) the spit prong cockades were used for all enlisted and non-Portepee NCOs, especially on new Schirmmützen. Examples of newly issued Feldmützen with them are also known.

Catherine,

There were many Jewish firms that had contracts with the German army in WWI, Gebrüder Israel comes to mind, but there were others, just as there were here in the U.S. All collectors here are very familiar with Gebrüder Bing from Nürnberg, who made so many items for the army. They made, among other things, flashlights, lanterns, backpacks, mess kits, cups, canteens...just about anything made from sheet metal.I have a number of Bing made items in my collection, as do most members of this forum.

It was very interesting to read the brief history of your great uncle.

Regards,

Chip

Ha! I never noticed the ruler underneath!

Thanks Andy, I had not remembered that. It must be Ulanen Regt.17 then, as the Epauletten appear to be solid metal with no colored field.

It appears that his rank is Feldwebelleutnant or Offizierstellvertreter from the stiff shoulder boards he is wearing.

Chris,

That Edelweiß device worn between the cockades in WWII would have been a really small one. You didn't mention the size on yours.

I see two units. the Garde Reiter Rgt. and an Ulanen regiment. Could they have switched caps? I don't know of an Ulanen unit that wore white caps. I'll leave that for others to sort out.

It looks like a zinc piece. Not sure if you can date it from that alone. The pin could be from the era, though I have not seen one pressed in place like this. The "2" on the back also makes me think of some sort of mass production, but who knows. Just some thoughts.....

I think this b.11.Div. badge is a fake and the latest thing out of Latvia or Poland. You knew once they started bringing a few bucks they would be copied. These guys are ruining the hobby. Sad.

Here's one where they are wearing their "Kriegsgarniture", that is, their tunics without the Litzen. You can see the crowns on the shoulder straps.

In this one, the artist created a uniform that never existed, that is, a field gray tunic with prewar colored shoulder straps.The Bavarian 1916 Friedensuniform had white shoulder straps with a red crown.

What armband is he wearing?

Hello aussiesoldier,

If your comments were in regard to my hat, I can tell you that the blackened badge is a lug back type, not a modern cast version with press-studs. I don't know what pugaree was being worn in 1928, so I can't really comment. I wish the cap had come with the WWI type issue felt band, but once again, I don't know if they were still being issued in 1928.

I was following that one too Chris. It was too much for me. If it had be Dollars, that probably would have been OK. 

Three of this series were on ebay.de just in the last week or so. The picture with the Stahlhelm is one that is fairly familiar, but the other two were previously unknown to me.

I've always thought those were the coolest of the artillery sidearms. Here's a picture of one from an old set of uniform plates. I think it is being called a M91.

Chip

Eric,

I thought that cap was a postwar thing adopted by the early communists. I've never heard of it being worn during WWI.

Chip

I guess they didn't even have their own unit stamp and so had to use that of the Inf.Leib Rgt.

It's the M1866 pattern for Hauptleute. In this case, it's a Prussian Leutnant, but without a unit number, I'm not sure what it could be. I believe these were worn up until 1888, when the patterns for these ranks (Leutnant, Oberleutnant, Hauptmann) that we are more familiar with began.

Chip

Baschlik is the German spelling of Russian name for this type of headgear. It was normal winter issue for the Russian army. I have a Russian example.

Hoss,

Are you sure that is a WWI photo? Whatever he is wearing is nothing I have ever seen in WWI and it appears he is wearing it over a visored cap with stitching on the cloth brim. The Russians had no such cap in 1914 that I know of.

An interesting personal history. It seems he was in the hospital at least once each year and ended up in a factory in 1918 (I assume due to his inability to return to combat). Fought in many interesting places. A nice pass to a relatively small unit.

I like it. Where's the photo of the maker mark? 

I really like these documents that mention the action that led to the awards. In a way, this is like an award document for 8 EKs. Very cool.

Andy,

I'm glad you mentioned your source, as I did not know these new books were out and available. I still need to get the artillery volumes!

Cool item Brian. It must have cost a fortune to ship!

I find these shoulder boards interesting in that when he became a Hauptmann he had no battalion number. Would this be because he was some sort of unassigned officer or was this common for reserve officers? Normally, only Bavarian officers had this style "T" (until later in the war) with no number. He must have continued to use his pre-1911 (red Unterlage) shoulder boards even by 1914! By the time he becomes a Major he has the correct hellgrau color. I am also not familiar with the Roman numerals on such a board. Could this indicate a corps level association or is it just another way to show 2nd battalion?

Chip