IrishGunner

This fellow arrived this week. A great image of the Lion Head's Saber. But it's difficult to read his shoulder strap. I can see the Bomb, but not what regiment. Best scan I can do... And guesses? Also, what's the background on the Lion Head Saber? Any history? Associated with particular type units? Anything...

"Fuss-Artillerie" = "Foot Artillery" = Heavy Artillery (aka in Britain as Garrison Artillery)

Thanks, Jan!

Thanks, Jean-Paul! Any idea if its researchable?

"Nice" is of course relative to personal taste. "Nice" to me is what I'm willing to pay without going above what I personally think it's worth to have in my collection and fits into my monthly collecting budget as "expendable" - meaning something that isn't "artillery." Even for artillery, I refuse to go above my set max and get into bidding battles. My "nice" price could bare no resemblance to "market value." For this piece, with what appears to be an original ribbon (and the smaller size which from my rudimentary research suggests its a woman's version) and the relatively low number, I set my bid range for GBP 20 - 24. I won it for GBP 24 (or roughly $40 US or the cost of lunch with a couple beers). Too much? I don't know. I've seen them on dealer sites for GBP 35 and on French eBay for Euro 35 and even below Euro 10.

21 cm Mörser M10

Just looking in Cron... By the war's end, Germany had: 297 Feld-Artillerie regiments 16 Feld-Artillerie battalions 21 Feld-Artillerie batteries 62 Fuss-Artillerie regiments 230 Fuss-Artillerie battalions 65 Fuss-Artillerie batteries This includes active, reserve, Landwehr, etc... 359 regiments total... Means with 117 regiments, in 5 years, I've collected 32.6%... 10 years to go.

Those are great photos, Andy! Thanks for sharing. I hope you'll find something interesting in the upcoming article and look forward to your comments.

Anyone familiar with this site: Les combats et engagements de 674 Régiments http://pcoutant.free.fr/regiments.htm

Does anyone know of any online resources for French Army organization and/or order-of-battle in August 1914? French language okay... Merci in advance... Does anyone have experience with this book: "Handbook of the French Army 1914" British General Staff? Seems to be a similar volume like the one from the British General Staff on the German Army from 1918.

I picked up this post card of French Red Cross nurses a few months ago. I often get a few items related to nurses since my wife is a Nurse Practitioner. It's a small way to connect her to my collecting "obsession." When I saw a chance to obtain one of the Médaille Sociétés de Secours aux Blesses Militaires pictured in the photo for a nice price; I snagged it... Arrived in the mail today. I've seen the medals named and numbered online; unfortunately, mine is not named, but the number seems "low." I wonder if there is a way to trace the numbers...

I recently snagged this 1919 Peace Medal from the City of Glasgow. It was among a "job lot" of British WWI ribbons (including a couple Victory Medal ribbons I needed!) A nice grab for less than $20 total! Sometimes it's the little things that turn out nicely. Size is 36cm long x 25cm wide

Krupp celebrated its first 100 years in 1912. In two more years - 1914 - the Kaiser will be thankful Alfred Krupp started making cannon. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30B1EFA345517738DDDA10894DC405B828DF1D3 For more about Krupp and the Kaiser's Guns look for a soon to be published article on the GMIC Home page!

I hear you. Even though I have not restricted the type of item from each regiment - I will take any item from a regiment - it still may be too much. But it gives some focus because before I was all over the place. I still haven't convinced myself to get rid of non-artillery or even non-WWI stuff though. I put a few infantry post cards on eBay (thinking I'd cash in on the "stupid" prices for some photos lately), but you guys aren't buying. :-)

I've seen that referring to the Soviet 76 mm divisional field gun in WW2, but not anything in WW1. Do you know to which allied gun it referred? Would make sense for the French 75mm.

British soldiers in the trenches nicknamed incoming German 7.7cm field gun rounds "whizz bangs" and the heavy 15cm rounds "Jack Johnsons"... Does anyone know if German soldiers had nicknames for incoming allied artillery?

Really? From what I see, it's only some belt buckles, a pickelhaube, and a regimental stein... I don't see why we can't have more Saxon photos. But okay.

I think we need more photos of Monique...errr...I mean the "Saxon display"...

Yea, I knew it was not the correct box. Thanks for the identification. Do the medal and ribbon go together? I think, yes; I've looked at the reference web pages (but don't read French).

With the Centenary of the First World War approaching, I feel it's a good time to revive this blog and update the target list for my "plan" to acquire items from as many Imperial German Artillery regiments as feasible. As of January 2014, I've collected at least one item from 117 different Artillery Regiments and from 44 other artillery batteries/battalions/munitions columns; as well as dozens of photos of artillery pieces and soldiers from unknown units. I've added Austrian, Bulgarian, Turkish, French, British and Commonwealth, American, Italian, Belgian, Russian, and Serbian units and artillery pieces to the mix. Most of these items are post cards and I've posted many of them on GMIC. The Imperial German Artillery consisted of two primary types: Field (or Light) Artillery (Feld-Artillerie) and Foot (or Heavy) Artillery (Fuss-Artillerie). Artillery regiments could be further identified as either Prussian or Bavarian; since Bavaria's Army remained nominally independent after German unification in 1871. Artillery regiments from Württemberg, Saxony, Baden, and the other German States became elements of the Prussian Army, but still maintained their unique State identity. Prussian and Bavarian artillery consisted of both active and reserve regiments; there were also Gebirgs-Artillerie (mountain artillery), Landwehr and Landsturm artillery units, as well as munitions columns for artillery ammunition transport. Specialized units also were associated with the artillery, such as Artillerie-Messtruppe (survey units) and Feld-Flieger Abteilungen Artillerie (aviation units for artillery observation). In addition to Fuss-Artillerie regiments, there were separate batteries and battalions of heavy artillery. The German Navy also fielded Marine Artillery units (Matrosen-Artillerie) and manned coastal defense guns. Considering the extent of the Imperial German Artillery, I've still a very long way to go to assemble a very representative collection. I also still have the idea in the back of my mind to create a website to combine the items I've collected with some of the history of the regiments and gunners represented by these items. Maybe this will be the year to actually pull the trigger and set up the website. In the meantime, I hope to revive this blog and even write a few articles for the GMIC article section.

Well, I think I have a bit of a mixed soup here... Ribbon for "Décoration Militaire pour Acte de Courage et de Dévouement" A 2. Class pendant And a 1. Class box... So, what do I really have here? Is this a mixture or is this the right combination?

Very interesting read... Unlike the Balkans, I guess Flanders was worth the bones of several Pomeranian grenadiers.

Extremely curious, but hardly interesting. I completely disagree with the idea that pure speculation on "what if Germany" had won helps us understand the war better. At best it's an under-handed method of trying to justify the war fought by the allies was a "just" war and that the "cost" was worth it... And why does he think Germany would have been a repressive Prussian state that didn't seek crippling reparations? He never says. Those ideas seem to be contradictory. Of course, since we are speculating, why can't we imagine Germany being a benevolent and effective "leader" of Europe? (Oh, because it doesn't fit the hidden agenda of blaming World War I all on Germany.) This article is worse than a "parlor game." It's a sad diversion from the real issues, which is that EVERY ruling elite wanted war "sooner or later." EVERY capital should take blame. And in four years, EVERY capital should accept the negative "effects" of seeking revenge, spoils, and ego at Versailles. How does imagining Germany as a victor get us past that idea? And while we're at it, I'm sure there are a few arguments that today's Britain has, in fact, become a "modest little north European social democratic" country...with a queen. And that Germany is in fact, the "leader" of Europe. Any other "counterfactual" (where did that word come from?) sludge to slide down the slippery slope?