webr55

I have had these for many years. I suppose these are postwar items, but what branch and what time exactly? Thanks Chris

Would love to see that!

That might be, I agree. But I bet the person who made the medal bar chose not only the wrong LS decoration but also the wrong grade of the Volkspflege decoration.

I couldn't find him as a General in the 1914 RL. Maybe he was zD already by then.

Not a diplomat. What you have here - RAO and Crown Order moved up to the neck - is a Prussian General. Question is whether this is a pre-WW1 bar, as there are no WW1 awards. A General would have had at least some war awards on his bar, I think.

More things are strange here: An XXV and in before 1897, but still - according to the Volkspflege medal - an Oberleutnant/Oberzahlmeister in 1940 - after 43+ years of service? An XXV AND a Treudienst 40? The Kreuz des Allgemeinen Ehrenzeichens ribbon must be an error, since that was given only to very old NCOs. And maybe there was a Volkspflege 3rd cl in first place originally.

Please show us the back! Chris

Sadly, no. No documents survived WW2, especially the flight from East Prussia.

Thank you for your kind comments!

I think a) it depends and b) maybe it is possible going both ways. Relying on print only has a number of disadvantages as well. Most important, you cannot add any new information easily, and you cannot correct mistakes - unless you keep doing new editions. Especially in case you want to add additional information on recipients - as it is coming in and not wait until you have all the stories together. I agree that preservation of books by libraries is important, but I think this can be achieved by other mechanisms via the net as well. Information on the internet may vanish temporarily, but it can be copied more easily and brought up again later. Maybe it is possible to do a book with some stories, but an online site as well, which can be updated continously. Regards Chris

Many thanks, Glenn, as always!! Chris

So, Glenn, please - any chance of finding their commission dates? Chris

Emil did not get the EK1, but he survived WW1. He had however less luck in WW2: Emil Papendick is missing since the flight from East Prussia in 1945. The only indication of what regiment Emil was in is this (sadly cut-off) postcard he got from his brother in (apparently) 1916. It is addressed to Lt u. Komp.fh. Emil Papendick in Inf. Regt. ... 451?

Another pic of him, however the resolution is not good enough to focus on the shoulder strap:

Emil was however not commissioned before WW1. Probably made only Vizefw dR, but he must have made officer in 1914 or at the beginning of 1915. This pic shows him as Lt dR during the war.

Emil Papendick was Walter's elder brother. He was born in 1884 and joined the Gren-Reg 3 in Königsberg probably in 1907, when this photo was taken, which shows him as a one-year volunteer:

He was assigned to IR52 as company leader after that, here is a last photo of him. Walter Papendick was KIA on 11.9.1918 near Vailly.

His EK1 in close-up:

Another pic from the same session:

As far as I know, RIR 35 was at the Eastern front, later at Verdun for a short time, and then sent to Galicia where they were sitting quite idle. Finally they were sent to France again during summer 1918 and got involved in some very heavy fighting. RIR 35 was dissolved on 23.7.1918 due to heavy losses. Probably Walter, who survived this, got his EK1 on that occasion:

This photo is taken from the regimental history of RIR 35, showing Walter to the right:

Walter was then assigned to RIR 35 and got the EK2:

He was commissioned in the 2. GRzF as Lt dR, probably at the end of 1915:

I've posted this before on another forum, but I post it here again because I'm looking for some specific information... their commission dates (Glenn?? ). These are two great-granduncles of my wife: Walter Papendick and Emil Papendick. First Walter: He was born in 1896 in Sokaiten/East Prussia and joined the 2. Garde-Reg. zF probably in 1914:

cross-posting! Another point: I could not find ANY Deckoffizier in the 1914 RL with RAO medal, KO medal AND AllgEhrenzeichen who was NOT in service before 1897. This is a tricky case.