MJC

Yep, little scraps of ribbon, still very vibrantly colored since they haven't seen daylight.

Muchas Gracias, Chaps!

Gentlemen,

Thanks very much for your insight. I am quickly off to buy a few more references.

Is it safe to conclude that this medal bar is an acceptable between the wars variation, despite the swords being on the ribbon? And that it was distributed by Carl Eduard to the SA and SS as a favor-currying tribute?

And to further confirm, the presence of other ribbons behind those for the medals is not a caution.

I hope I have interpreted your comments correctly. I certainly don't want to jump to any conclusions. Thanks to all.

Merry Christmas! :jumping:

Glenn,

I may be able to answer your question, but can you tell where you got the "C.2027" citation?

If at NARA, I'll post the full citation so you can order it directly.

Mike

I checked ULICH's personnel file and the only image is pre-war and it is very dark and small. Just so nobody retraces my steps trying to find an image at NARA, I also checked the General Staff Officers card file and the Heinrich Hoffmann collection, without success.

I digitized some quick images of the card file since I was already there. Shoot me a message if you are interested, and I'll send them along. They are too large to post here.

Cheers :cheers:

reverse

Gents,

I recently picked up this medal bar and I have some concerns over the French style swords on the ribbon. Additionally, you can see other colored ribbons behind the medal ribbons. Is this acceptable?

Better images will be available shortly. Any comments are appreciated, and thanks in advance.

Quite an enjoyable thread. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your successes! :cheers:

Thanks Rick :cheers:

I don't know the date of the image, but it is affixed to a document signed by him on 1 Feb 1940. Determined looking, isn't he!

His 201 file is just 50 pages. Are you interested in something in particular? If you wish to order a DVD from NARA, his file can be found in RG 242 A-3356 Roll 551, under German Army Officers. The last bit is redundant, but when dealing with NARA functionaries, the more info the better.

Cheers

No info on Messerer's potential demise from either the Volksbund and the NARA Casualty Index. I had scanned several pages of his Dienstlaufbahn but they are a bit illegible, so please content yourselves with a poor image of the man.

I'll try the docs again later.

5. War Memorial. Thanks very much for any and all assistance. Beer is on me at SoS or MAX!

4. The caption states that this image was taken while in hospital recovering from his gassing at Verdun. Is there any significance to his wearing the Red Cross armband? Was this typical of a patient, or was he acting as an orderly?

3.

2.

Gentlemen,

I am assisting the grandson of this WWI casualty to piece together his family military history, and I am not well suited to this conflict, my area of "expertise" being the second conflict.

We have very little information, and a few blurry photos captured from a DVD. If any assistance can be offered, he and I will both be appreciative. In the absence of locating direct biographic information, I will provide unit and campaign data to illustrate his experiences to his family.

Friedrich Heinrich RUEFFLER

~born 12.5.1889 at Hausweiler, Saar

~went by the name Heinrich Rueffler

~presumably served with IR 70

~gassed at Verdun

~spent lengthy time in Lazarette

~died of wound postwar, with name added to War Memorial at Friedrichstal, SAAR

I know this is not much to go on, but I am hopeful that something in the attached images might provoke a comment or observation. Why he is wearing a Shako, for example? Any suggestions as to further research would also be appreciated. Clearer images are available in the near future.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and thanks in advance. I will happily reciprocate your assistance with any WWII NARA research you need to have conducted.

What a tremendous bar. Ed, congratulations.

As long as it doesn't cross some unspoken boundary of secrecy, I'm also interested in who sold the piece. I must have passed it at the MAX but I don't know where.

Should anyone reading this post have something similar for sale, please pm me.

Peter,

Thank you for your answer. It is amazing what the mind tells one to see. I had initially thought it a odd X shaped device with the suit showing through the arms of the X. Of course it is a ribbon bow. I must stop drinking blended Scotch and graduate to Single Malts.

Sheepishly,

Mike

2. A much better image

Sorry for the poor imagery, but can anyone ID this lapel pin? This gent is a First War vet and he wore the pin for a Third Reich Era studio portrait.

Any and all help is always appreciated.

I pulled his personnel file yesterday and the number on the pin does not match the Zivilabzeichen number in his file. Perhaps he wasn't named in the advert because it would be too easy to disprove the link between the photo and the pin.

Rick,

That explains the haircut. HH doesn't name him, perhaps they don't know, although their listing implies they do since they had his final rank, and not the rank in the image.

Lots of nice goodies in the auction, by the way.

Another debt of thanks, redeemable in beer, wine, and now Sangria,

Mike

Hi Gents,

Any thoughts on this man? Hermann Historica is selling a Zivilabzeichen attributed to him along with this image.

Thanks in advance!

HH has him listed as a Gruppenfuehrer. Isn't he a Brigadefuehrer?

More "Then and Then" than "Then and Now", but interesting just the same.

Joe,

Sorry to read that your attribution is missing, but congratulations on the article. My copy is on order.

Merry Christmas

Rick,

Thanks for the quick response. I appear to be having technological difficulties at the moment.

Cheers