webr55

Not quite. The 1924 Navy RL does not yet list Colonial, SWA and China, but the 1932 one DOES.

...looks like an engineer-type... stand by...

I remember that old case from WAF, 5 years ago. Schwengers seems to be the name, and the candidate is a pre-1914 cavalry Lt dR who got called back in the 1930s. The MMJ ribbon cannot be original to the tunic, the ribbon bar MIGHT be. In any case, it is a great bar. As Rick does not like linking to other sites, I have copied his passages from 2002: "The only Imperial regular officer named Schwengers was a Saxon killed in 1914. There were two--significantly, with RHENISH ties-- pre-1914 Reserve officers named Schwengers-- a Lt dR of some seniority resident in Duisburg 1914 in Feldart Rgt 7, and a 1912/13 Lt dR resident in Schwarzburg May '13 and Eisenach May '14 in Kurassier Rgt 8: either of whom COULD have "gone Panzer" branch." "Major (E) 1.9.38 #15 Schwengers was on staff of Wehr Ersatz Inspektion Innsbruck then. He does not appear in the 1944 Seniority List, so presumably had been killed or died in between. Given normal promotion, probably Oberstleutnant in 1942. I don't find him on the German Cross list, so can't imagine what else that set of loops could be for on his right side. If NOT a Spanish Cross, then some strange "foreign" award. He had to have been one of the pre-WW1 RESERVE Rhineland Schwengers mentioned above, who went "full time" as a Supplementary (E) officer in the 1930s. I'd suspect the 1913/14 cavalry Lt dR one, since my Mecklenburger dR officer was of that same age/seniority and got pulled back in, ending up as an Oberstleutnant too." "I'd say that the super ribbon bar does NOT belong on this tunic! I can't imagine a 50 something retread Major having racked up ALL THAT STUFF and nobody ever heard of him! Gotta seek out the Big Heroes of the Legion Condor!" "I've been through the available WW1 award rolls that I have and don't find anything WW1 for a Schwengers from Baden, Bavaria, Lippe-Detmold, the Prussian Hohenzollern House OrderX, Saxony, Saxe-Altenburg, or Waldeck. Since if he were the younger ca 1912/13 reserve Schwengers, that would place him born about 1885/6, that would have made him a damn old Hauptmann to be zipping around single handedly winning the war for Franco! Nor was our Mystery Schwengers a young former police officer called into the army-- there was but the single Major (E) in 1939." "If he was, as I think fairly certain, one of those two men, if he had pinback ribbon bar loops as long as that monster spread, that would seem to reinforce that ribbon bar bbeing original to the tunic being possible. (even at the 25mm size each ribbon, I can't imagine a purely "WW1 veteran" combination missing all the stuff I checked for above and didn't find). There is no way the Bavarian Max-Joseph/Bravery Medal ribbon from the buttonhole IS a match, though, and if everything is faded to the same degree, that would just seem to indicate looong storage in sunlight."

Hello Dave, is this tunic with the giant ribbon bar named? And did the bar come with the tunic? If so, I would be VERY interested in a close-up of the ribbon bar! Thanks Chris

Some library catalogs show exam dates of PhD candidates, for example the Staatsbibliothek Berlin. Regards Chris

Sorry, can't find a Rudolf Hüne with a Dr. Maybe - just a guess - he got a Dr. in law from some department which did not require a publication. Could be an Austrian university - they have always been notorious in that regard.

Now that is a valuable research tool! Thanks for finding it! Chris

Yes, Alfred Kaufmann held anti-Nazi meetings in Giessen, was arrested and sentenced to death after his circle was infiltrated by a female Gestapo agent. BUT - after a number of petitions - Kaufmann was "pardoned" to life imprisonment and finally released by American troops. He died however in 1946, from the effects of his prison time, at the age of 78.

Congratulations Rick! It's really great to see so many projects advancing! David: The Hauptstaatsarchiv Hannover seems to keep a number of Hanover's rolls, at least for the Guelphen Order.

Very nice and rare example! I have a pic of this bar with the BH4. The bar is not mine, don't know where I saw it. I've tried to ID it, but unsuccessfully.

The back. These bars are probably made from original parts. Some others are tab back fakes. But as I said, some are ok, so be careful what you're buying! Regards Chris

Another one:

The back:

I have to reactivate this thread because there is a flood of new fakes currently on ebay, from seller "bedel2000". Some of his stuff is ok, but many are fakes, although he/she guarantees originality. Some examples:

That would leave us with three suspects, however I don't know which one should have got a Colonial medal: Rudolf Ma?mann, entered service 1.4.1902, HAE1 and EK in 1918, aD 1920 as char. KorvKap Baron thoe Schwartzenberg en Hohenlandsberg (Friesian name), entered service 1.4.1902, HAE1 and EK in 1918, aD 1920 as char. KorvKap. He had however a prewar Norwegian St. Olav, which he might have mounted again on a postwar bar. Ludwig Fabricius, entered service 6.4.1904, HAE1 and EK in 1918, aD 1920 as KapLt. He would only have got enough time for the XXV with overseas service.

That is very well possible. With wartime service counting double for the XXV, most officers who were "in" by 1902 got their XXV - even without colonial years.

The only info I can find is that he appears to have been a high ranking official in the German Foreign Office during the 1950s. At least Ministerialdirigent, maybe Staatssekret?r. Regards Chris

Got him! This is Theodor von Bomhard (1841 - after 1911) Born Wunsiedel 12.1.1841 (Bavarian) Unterlieutenant 16.5.1859 ... Oberst 11.12.1888 Generalmajor 12.6.1893 char. GenLt zD 25.12.1897 char. Gen der Artillerie zD 3.3.1911 He was Commander of FAR1 in 1891, Sektionschef Field Artillery Inspection in 1893, Commander of 2nd Field Artillery Brigade in 1895. His awards per 1895 are BMV4X, BMV3X, Bavarian Crown Order Knight, St. Michael Commander 2nd, EK2, KO2, KDM70, Bavar 1866 cross, DA 2nd, Swedish Sword Order Commander 2nd and ÖFJ1 (Grand Cross). The two last ones do not show up in the 1891 RL. So this photo must have been taken sometime between 1891 and 1893 (promotion to Generalmajor), and before he got the ÖFJ1. Trivia: He was the grandfather of SS-Gruppenführer Adolf von Bomhard.

Thanks for the numbers! Chris

Hello Werner, have you got award numbers for the Beamtenband MVK, especially with crown? Thanks Chris

You're right. The list should be more specific.

Anhalt ? Baden KFO/BZL: published, but incomplete Bayern MMJO: published MVO/MVK: published, but incomplete Braunschweig: BrH/BrEAK: apparently not in archive Bremen Hanseatenkreuz: exist in archive, not yet published Hamburg Hanseatenkreuz: exist in archive, not yet published Hessen-Darmstadt HPO/HT: destroyed in the war? Hessen (Kurfürstentum): House Order of the Golden Lion --> David M Order of William --> David M Hohenzollern being published Lippe-Detmold LDH: being published Lübeck Hanseatenkreuz: exist in archive, not yet published Mecklenburg-Schwerin exist in archive, not yet published Mecklenburg-Strelitz found, but too chaotic to be useful Oldenburg ? Preußen PLM/HHOX: published-- HHOX being worked on for a new edition Reuß ä.L. und j.L. exist in archive, not yet published Sachsen SH/SV: published SA: published, but rolls not complete Sachsen-Altenburg HSH: published, supplements being published Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha HSH: being published Carl Eduard War Cross: being published Carl Eduard Medals: being published Sachsen-Meiningen HSH: being published, but incomplete War Merit Cross: being published Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach WF: being published, but incomplete Wilhelm Ernst War Cros: being published, but incomplete Schaumburg-Lippe House Order * Decorations for Arts & Sciences: being published Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt und Schwarzburg-Sondershausen exist in archive, not yet published Waldeck Merit Cross 1914-18: published-- revised 2nd edition being re-published Württemberg WKO/MVO/WF, WKrz, VK: being published Austria Iron Crown: ? ÖMK: ? Just meant as a start, waiting for your corrections/updates. Regards Chris

Great job, David! We should have a pinned thread with a list of all states' rolls, stating which have been published, will be published, found, not yet found, definitely destroyed, and so on.

All that makes sense. My great-grandfather was a farmer, born 1886, and had been a reserve NCO in the field artillery in WW1. I thought he was a Vizewachtmeister dR, but this photo suggests he had only been an Unteroffizier. He was not recalled for WW2 or any Wehrmacht service. A reserve gathering is quite likely, but some apparently already had new shiny uniforms, while others simply pinned the new eagle on some old dress. The Oberfeldwebel in the center was my grandfather's brother, Erich Reich. He was definitely a Vizewachtmeister dR and was neither recalled for WW2. There is another photo of him probably taken on the same day:

Maybe some sort of early WH uniform, or am I just missing something?