webr55

Seems I missed this thread. Yes, this is char. General der Infanterie Erich W?llwarth (1872-1951). He is wearing only his wartime awards, so the WF3a (a peacetime award WITHOUT swords!) is left out, as well as his BO3 and RAO4.

The Reichswehr 1924 ranklist shows only a BMV3X, but the award lists confirm: BVM3XmKr on 11.6.1917 as KW Oberstlt and Chief of General Staff.

1929 aD as char General d Inf, BUT reactivated in 1939.

1940 Gen d Inf zV, Kommandierender General Stellv. GK IV. AK and Befehlshaber WK IV

1942 aD

And even got the DKiS on 12.6.1943 - at 71!

I also found out he survived the Bombing of Dresden and fled to his native W?rttemberg, saving only what he could carry. He then had to live on social welfare (72 DM monthly), from 1949 on he got a tiny pension of 160 DM. He was running low on wood, coal and potatoes during the winter.

And he was an anti-Nazi, strictly opposed to radical ideas propagated by people like Remer after the war.

A wonderful photo, Christophe!

The one to the left is wearing a Hamburg Hanseatic Cross next to his EK2. The one to the right is wearing two ribbons from his buttonhole, looks like EK2 and Hindenburg Cross. The badge next to his Wound Badge is the 1931 SA Rally Braunschweig badge.

? TN Officer with WWI Submariner Badge ?

• Medals on ribbons (which I can't ID)

Oh - please post a close-up of that medal bar!

Thanks

Chris

Thanks for the pictures!

webr55: bravery medal II. class (silver), bravery medal III. class (bronze), EK2 and "medal for merit" - Za z?sluhy...

on the first two ribbons are missing enameled miniatures... medal for merit was given for 6 moths of service or for wound.

Ah - many thanks! Is this the missing miniature for the silver bravery medal?

Chris

Many thanks to all for your kind comments!

So that is a Wagner & Sohn piece - I didn't recognize that, thanks.

Many thanks for posting that entry Hardy!

Many thanks Rick!

Hardy --- that simply didn't occur to me! I just checked the cross itself - and you could be right indeed!

Any idea whether this might have been personally handed out by the Kaiser?

Regards

Chris

Anyone seen my EK?

This is the plate in the Langemarck Hall at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, commemorating the regiments at Langemarck, with RIR 26 among them:

This is the EK1 of a Prussian General:

Generalmajor Gustav Udo Julius von Westernhagen (1868-1942)

He was commander of RIR 26 during the battle of Langemarck.

It took me some time.... and a look into the regimental history of RIR 26. After that, it became clear what the first line reads:

G. v. Westernhagen

Those were the first lines I could make out - after some heavy cleaning. The last line (probably the location) seems unreadable - at least for me. But the second line is:

Oberstlt u. Kdr

An Oberstleutnant and commanding officer? Who?

The third to fifth line read...

Res Inf Reg 26

Okt

1914

RIR 26 was one of the Langemarck regiments...

You think I belonged to some Vizefeldwebel dR Müller, never to be found...

Well, my engraving is extremely difficult to read --- let's shed some light on it...

My pin broke off, got resoldered, broke off again. Not a pretty sight...

... BUT: I hold an engraving on my back....

I came from a certain source in Massachusetts (thanks Stogie! ). I am heavily worn, some paint has gone. Nobody wanted me....

Today is the 94th anniversary of the battle of Langemarck - famously known as the "Slaughter of the Innocents". I take this occasion to show you a piece I am very proud to own.

Yes I agree - but a handful is a handful....

@ webr55 : the medal bar you are showing lies in my collection... I bought it from a US collector.

Apart from the fact that the Anschluss-Medaillen are missing, also the quality of construction of the bar looks a bit "simpler" than the one of Ribbentrop... very likely it was a Godet... as most VIP or Generals had their bars mounted by first class Orden & Ehrenzeichen vendors or juwellers.

Ciao,

Claudio

Ahhh Claudio, good to hear it's yours!

Well what I mean is just -- i would like to see a pic of Joachim wearing that ribbon (trop) bar. The combination alone is not THAT unusual...

Chris

Looks like Navy backing:

WOW!

Congratulations!!

BTW, here's something I've seen sometime ago... yes the order is different, but still....

Close-up:

A 1933 picture of Erich v. Lo?nitzer was recently sold - it shows his St. Henry, SEHO and probably a HH:

Wonderful research, very detailed! It was my understanding too that the TeNo ranks were eventually turned into Polizei ranks. I looked for these Generals and Obersten everywhere in the usual lists and nearly got crazy not being able to find them.

So it's very good we now know more about this neglected branch of service! It also helps to find out more about the post-WW1 careers of a number of officers!

Chris