webr55

Not exactly what you were looking for (different time...), but a flight helmet nevertheless!

Chris

However, there is a problem: Graffunder got the HHOX, gazetted on 19.4.1917. So if it is his bar, then it must have been an early wartime one, before this date.

With the Centenary and no LS, I would think that this is the bar of a regular officer who entered service before 1897 and was a Hauptmann in 1914. I find only one candidate in the 1914 RL; all others with only SA3b and HSH3b were either too young or got other WW1 awards. My suspect is a certain

Hauptmann Graffunder

Lt 22.3.95. He is listed without first name in the DOA 08/09, in IR95, has got the SA3b, HSH3b, Centenary and the Russian St. Stanislaus. Hptm 27.1.1912Q. In 1914, he is still in IR95, with an additional Bulgarian St. Alexander. He didn't get anything else from Saxony during WW1, but the Reuss award seems possible, given IR95 was a Thuringian unit. Major aD in 1919.

This might be his wartime bar, provided he wore only his German awards.

The back:

Here is my new Reuss ribbon bar. The EK ribbon is in bad condition, as you can see. The swords on the Reuss ribbon look gold or bronze. I'm not sure - an officer? Then he would have a prewar AOR and SEHO w/oX. Or a reserve NCO - without LS and with merit crosses???

... is now also selling this one:

The same seller who is selling this:

Thanks Glenn!

That means he got the EK2 a few days before his commission. Which explains why he still wears the NCO tresse on the pic with his brother. Pic #9 must have been taken after 1st Feb.

I managed to find the promotion date of Ludwig Weszkalnies to Leutnant d.L.

Vizefeldwebel Weszkalnies of Landwehrbezirk Tilsit was commissioned as a Leutnant der Landwehr Infanterie 1. Aufgebots into Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 4 on the 1st of February 1915.

Regards

Glenn

WOW! Excellent work! I don't have that date, where on earth did you find that?

Chris

Just discovered this thread. I can find only one Josef Enderle with a Dr., so both should be the same person. Josef Enderle got his Dr. rer. nat. in geology, at the University of T?bingen on 19.05.1914.

Of course, his "Prof." was not a university professor, but a senior teacher.

Sorry, can't do any better than this. Don't have the original pic.

Hmmm.... so technically, by nationality he was either

1) born "Yugoslav" or

2) a "Czech national"

and not a GERMAN at all!!!

Makes me think of the movie "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" and

"incorrect background, Comraid."

Yes, correct observation! Even after reading this fairly long article on him, it is still not totally clear to me why he rose to such heights.

BTW, what is that badge he is wearing on his right side?

Thanks for the info, I'll update the list!

I have a biographical article about Ehm. Here are some basics:

He was born in 1918 during the final days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Pola near Triest. After WW1, his family moved to Bohemia, where they lived in Czechoslovakia until the German occupation. Ehm was then drafted into the Wehrmacht and became Oberfunker (NCO) in the Nachrichtentruppe. So, unlike other DDR military leaders, he was not a former "anti-fascist" fighter.

He was in the Kurland army in 1945, then Russian POW, released 1947. Entered SED 1948, and 1950 (as Oberkommissar/1st Lt.) in Hauptverwaltung Seepolizei (HVS), the forerunner of the People's Navy (therefore naval barracks' police!). Rose quickly to deputy chief of staff of the People's Navy (founded in 1956) and as such to Kapit?n zS in 1957.

In 1959, it came as a big surprise to many that he (being just 41) was chosen by his predecessor Waldemar Verner as the new chief of the People's Navy, with promotion to Konteradmiral. From 1961-63, he was granted leave to attend the Naval Academy in Leningrad. Apparently, he was never really satisfied with his military knowledge, earning a (non-honorary!) PhD in 1978 at the age of 60!

He made Vizeadmiral in 1964, deputy minister of defence in 1972, Admiral in 1977. In 1987, he retired on his own will.

As far as I know, he is still alive.

Ok, ok, so here he is: This bar belonged to

Admiral Wilhelm Ehm

Chief of the People's Navy 1959-61 and 1963-87.

Ok, so these are the ribbons - I think. Some I cannot recognize at all, especially those in the 4th row. Can anyone help?

1) Ehrenspange zum Vaterl?ndischen Verdienstorden

2) Vaterl?ndischer Verdienstorden in Gold

3) Vaterl?ndischer Verdienstorden in Silber

4) Scharnhorst-Orden

5) Kampforden f?r Verdienste um Volk und Vaterland in Gold

6) Kampforden f?r Verdienste um Volk und Vaterland in Silber

7) Kampforden f?r Verdienste um Volk und Vaterland in Bronze

8) Orden des Roten Sterns (UdSSR)

9) Ehrentitel Verdienter Angeh?riger der Nationalen Volksarme

10) Erinnerungsmedaille 20. Jahrestag demokratische Bodenreform (1965) [??]

11) Verdienstmedaille der Nationalen Volksarmee in Gold

12) Polonia Restituta, Kommandeur mit Stern (Polen)

13) ??

14) ??

15) Verdienstmedaille der Nationalen Volksarmee in Silber

16) Ehrenzeichen der Deutschen Volkspolizei

17) Verdienstmedaille der Deutschen Post in Gold [??]

18) Medaille f?r Treue Dienste in der Seeverkehrswirtschaft in Gold

19) Medaille f?r Treue Dienste in der Seeverkehrswirtschaft in Silber

20) Medaille f?r Treue Dienste in der Seeverkehrswirtschaft in Bronze

21) Medaille f?r vorbildlichen Grenzdienst [??]

22) Ehrentitel Verdienter Werkt?tiger des Bereiches der haus- und kommunalwirtschaftlichen Dienstleistungen der DDR [??]

23) Medaille der Waffenbr?derschaft in Gold

24) Verdienstmedaille der Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse in Gold

25) Verdienstmedaille der Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse in Bronze

26) ??

27) Medaille f?r ausgezeichnete Leistungen in landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsgenossenschaften [??]

28) Jubil?umsmedaille ?60 Jahre Rote Armee? (UdSSR)

29) Jubil?umsmedaille ?30 Jahre Bulgarische Volksarmee? (Bulgarien) (1974)

30) Jubil?umsmedaille ?50 Jahre Volksarmee? (Mongolei) (1971)

31) Orden der Freundschaft der Nationen (UdSSR)

32) Medaille zur St?rkung der Waffenbr?derschaft 1. Klasse (CSSR) (1970)

33) Medaille der Waffenbr?derschaft in Gold (Ungarn) (1979)

34) Medaille der Waffenbr?derschaft (Bulgarien) (1975)

35) Medaille f?r 20 Jahre Treue Dienste in der Nationalen Volksarmee

36) Medaille f?r 15 Jahre Treue Dienste in der Nationalen Volksarmee

37) Medaille f?r 10 Jahre Treue Dienste in der Nationalen Volksarmee

38) Medaille f?r 5 Jahre Treue Dienste in der Nationalen Volksarmee

39) Medaille f?r Treue Dienste in der Kasernierten Volkspolizei

Now that is a bar! It is a shame that someone removed the "jewels" from that Ehrenspange zum Vaterl?ndischen Verdienstorden! Despite this, the bar is a one of a kind item! Nice find!

Nice array of foreign medals and very hard to find East German medals!

Is that a ribbon bar for a Soviet Order of the Red Star!?!?!? (3rd row, far left!)

He must have been a higher level admiral!

Yes, I think that is the Red Star. I haven't been able to identify all those ribbons, I'm not sure what the foreign ones are.

Paul, your guess isn't bad...

BTW, the zirkonia jewels on the Ehrenspange are still there!

Chris

Yes, I ID'd the wearer through a photo. But maybe someone would like to guess??

Gentlemen,

I have never bought GDR stuff before. But sometimes you find the one-of-a-kind item you've got to have. Well, I found mine:

2nd one (Medaglia al Valor Militare, silver, not gold as Marseille)

Same blue ribbon on these pics:

Reverse:

Our old friend baff002 now has this one, at 1460 Euro, hm...

And as we can see, he did manage to survive the war and went into battle on : 01.09.1939 and did make it through untill 08.05.1945 (where he went into captivity according towards his family => i do doubt this date as he should have been only less then 3 months in Russian captivity, and knowing the Russians they rather had the use of keeping these POW a bit longer. I think he might have been able somehow to escape captivity and make it back towards Germany.)

That's interesting. Do you know how many children he had?

I ask because I got the following story from a relative whose father was also in the Kurland army: Just before the surrender, a local commander in Kurland decided to let all those with three or more children board their last intact ship and sail across the Baltic sea to Holstein, where they surrendered to the British - and got home quite soon.

The "why" most likely came down to something that we have the benefit of knowing that they did not:

who was going to win the war.

It was not ever as inevitable or as obvious as the gift of history to us suggests.

Current events will look remarkably different to the generation born after us, who will have the benefit of hindsight.

That's the thing about history--

it is always "today" to the people living it.

Couldn't have said it better. What looks logical and necessary from today's point of view, depended actually on quite contingent circumstances in its time. And I don't think the "What if" question is just academic play.

That is great work on a real long-term case!

ID would not have been possible without the WMVO rolls. I hope we will all get to see them soon!