webr55

It is in one piece, but a very strange style. Somehow I can't believe this is the Spanish ribbon. And I have seen it once before, in this lot sold on ebay: What is it??

Back:

I got this one recently. The second ribbon must be something foreign, maybe a non-comb Spanish Military Merit Order. Any ideas? Chris

And the back:

Full size bar below just for comparison.

I got this one from one of our members. It is a mini ribbon bar, only about 4,5cm long (see next pic for comparison). Precedence is weird (Hindenburg before other German awards), but made this way. The two last ribbons are probably the Turkish War Medal and the Bulgarian St. Alexander (medal?). I think these are too many states for an EM or junior NCO without long service award. So I guess a junior officer who got the Friedrich August medal very early, as an Unteroffizier maybe. Chris

Hello Jack, thanks very much for the information! So what I have must be his entire earlier bar. Would it be possible for you to post a photo of Gen. Whisner? I'd much appreciate that! Chris

This didn't occur to me at first, but I agree. Especially with the Hindenburg in last place - that is a very common sign of a double bar. If this is a double, with so many awards, this should be a General Staff type. Probably Hauptmann iG during WW1, Major aD. Now I have some vague (and I stress VAGUE) possibilities (I started with leftovers from an extensive, though ultimately useless research on another bar: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3398 ): - Ludwig HENKEL from IR 83, Hauptmann 1.10.1913. Adj. AOK 8. Armee, Major aD. Got BMV4X, AOR1X and Waldeck. No proof of HHOX, though. Not in WM 1939. - ? SCHMANDT from IR 16, Oberleutnant 22.4.1914, Major aD. However, not iG as far as I know. Got BMV4X, AOR1X and Waldeck. No proof of HHOX. Not in WM 1939. - Otto von BRANDENSTEIN from IR 117, Hauptmann 1.10.1913, Major aD. Got BMV4X, AOR1X, Waldeck AND HHOX. There are several v. Brandensteins, which makes it complicated. The one who got the BMV4X was iG. And one of them is in the WM 1939 ranklist as Oberst (E). Of course, there might be lots of others, for example who got the BMV4X as Oberleutnant. Wish we had the second row. Rick, can you do anything else with these?

He is not in the Reichsheer...

Can't really see: Is #6 the Saxon Albert order? Is there a hole for missing swords?

Ouch! 1) EK2 and War Merit Medal! 2) THREE LS decorations! 3) SS LS was only for members of Totenkopf, Junkerschulen and SS-VT, not parttime Allgemeine members, as this bar seems to suggest! and and and ...

This is useless. We need to see a good scan of the entire bar, front and back.

Back:

I'm not sure about this one. It is currently on ebay, and also comes from Austria. Looks like the other Vienna sausages, doesn't it?

Mine (post 177-178) is slightly different. Construction looks the same, but nothing glows, neither front nor back threads.

It's great to find a photo eventually! I suppose you already have the information about his son (name, date of death, grave location)!?

The story I found on the net goes like this: "What effectively happened was that Berrer's car drove well beyond his troops and right into the enemy. His corpse was found in a small village, and the Germans and Austrians were at a loss as to how this commander met his end--or more importantly, how it came to be that he outraced his own troops and ended up in hostile territory. General Enrico Caviglia, then commander of the Italian XXIV. Corps, gave the official story of Berrer's death as reported to newspapers around the world: Berrer's car lost touch with troops, he accidently drove into a village occupied by a squadron of Bersagliari cyclist troops, and they immediately shot him. Thus, von Berrer's career ended on 28 October 1917 at St Gottardo, Italy." Might have been a grenade, after all.

Ecce Berrer:

May we suppose then that this time is over today?

Major, maybe Oberstleutnant.

Lost devices? A crown on the RAO ribbon? Or even a bow? So maybe a long serving Gendarmerie officer with home state awards moved up to the neck?

Good to see it's yours! That is indeed Gerhard Meyer, born 3.1.1889, entered Navy 1.4.1908. As Seekadett, he was onboard SMS Victoria Louise in the Messina relief campaign. (BTW, one of his comrades on this ship was Wilhelm Peters, whose ribbon bar with the Messina medal I have, see below). He made Lt. 27.9.1911 J5i, Oberlt. 19.9.1914, Kapt.Lt. 18.8.1918 and was an officer on the "Pillau" in WW1. He advanced to Korv.Kapt 1.4.1927 in the Reichsmarine, FregKapt 1.10.1932. His last rank is char. Kapt zur See z.D. (!) with (probably retroactive) seniority of 30.9.1934. Never made Admiral (just a guess: there may be political reasons!).

#13: And the exceptionally late (Memelland!) Hindenburg doc.

#12: Char as Olt. 1921

#11: BWB doc. Signature Oberst...?