Chip

Here are my officer's boards. Any are available for trade against nice enlisted straps that I can use.

None of my bugles have inscriptions, by which I assume you meant unit markings.

Chip

Charles,

I collect German bugles. I have a Prussian, Bavarian and Saxon examples in brass and a Prussian in steel. I also have the rare belt carrier.

Chip

Could it be "Ankel"?

I was thrown off by the helmets, so thanks Bayern for the information. 

Chip

Most collectors wanting Leiber stuff would have no idea about the history of the man. They just see "ILR" and throw out the money. Knowledge pays or saves, depending on how you look at it. There are lots of Leiber collectors out there.

These rayon linings were notorious for wearing through. When you add a second pocket for extra storage, the bulging pocket would wear through much faster than normal.....thus the leather reinforcement.

Chip

The tunics in post #32 look like those of one of the Maschinengewehr Abteilung. 

I think we are petty much in agreement that the crowned Edelweiß badge is postwar. With one of the two last bidders now having an example, the next one will sell for a lot less. I wish I had a second one, as I would be happy to sell even for 160 Euro.

Chip

Private purchase M1907. Could vary significantly from the official width of issue patterns.

Chip

I can see it and it looks like the 8th Reserve Division insignia to me. It makes sense with the other pins in the photo. What else would it be?

Chip

Wolfgang,

Could you show the leather tabs that have Hersteller-Stempels?

Thanks,

Chip

Chris,

If I had any private purchase tunics, I would be happy to trade you for issue ones. 

GeryC,

I did not give all the definitions of the word, as I thought that the most common meaning would suffice. Of course, you are correct with the additional meanings.

Chip

The history of the Sturmbataillon Nr.1 includes the history of the bayr.Infanterie=Geschütz=Batterie Nr.2.

Chip

Bolle, That's an outstanding group! Very jealous.

It says "Werft" meaning dock troops.

Chip

Very nice grouping. The price will be high. 

Chip

Is that a Salzbeutel? The dimensions look the same as others I have seen.

Chip

Hello Christophe,

The officer's boards that came with this patch are his from after the introduction of the "MW" for shoulder boards. This introduction meant that the sleeve patches were no longer needed and they were quickly discontinued. I suppose that is one reason the patches are so rare to find today.

This is half of a pair (the other is in a frame).

Chip

I think these heavy cord (major through general) boards date from the 1866 pattern. At that time, all field grade officers (Ltn. to Hauptmann) wore the flat, narrow 1866 pattern. When the next major change came in 1888, I believe the higher ranks cords were downsized to more what we would expect to see, say, in 1910. Officer's still had some leeway in their choices and I'm sure many older officers continued to wear the larger boards after 1888.

Chip 

I don't think there has been a positive ID on these. I have seen other numbers like this. It appears to be a Pickelhaube cover number. I have a bunch of loose ones that I bought at the Stuttgart show back in the early 80's and they are this style and size.

It looks like this guy is from a 200 series Reserve unit.

Chip

Yes, it's a feldgrau color lining. I have two Saxon caps with half-size marks, a 54,5 and a 57,5.

Chip

A French friend of mine has a Bing Tornister. It's in nice shape. 

Here's another Bing product.

Hi Andy,

I think some makers are known. I have not seen a "list" per se.

Chip

On 1/30/2010 at 11:41, Les said:

and then you might be giving him something for a wrong answer. Why?

If the intention of removing shoulder straps is to hide the unit's identity for whatever reason, what about the officers who can't remove theirs? The enlisted men being told to take the straps off, while the officers have theirs permanently attached and that can be used to identify the unit, are at odds with each other.

Why have enlisted men remove shoulder straps if the officers in a unit cannot remove theirs?

Officer's had two types of shoulder insignia...those sewn into the shoulder seam and the removable type. Early in the war, when it was found that the bright prewar straps were leading to officers being targeted, several forms of covering were used. The most common was a strip of cloth sewn over the board. Officers also painted their boards field gray and before the September 1915 regulations, a type of "subdued" board was available. By the September 1915 regulations, officer's boards were either subdued flat gray Feldachselstücke or the bright Friedensachselstücke, primarily meant for the Friedensuniform and the Kleiner Rock. So, from the very early days of the war, there was no need for an officer to remove his sewn-in boards, as there were several means to hide them.

Chip