IrishGunner

Lukasz, thank you once again for the comments. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to look at my piece. It's nice to know all my Polish pieces are original. That is not the case, unfortunately, for many collections.

January 15, 1914: US State militias to be strengthened in the event the Federal Government needs them for the purpose of invading a foreign country or repelling an invasion. Except I think they mean Mexico...not Germany.

So, it seems some "conservatives" thought war was possible in the Balkans by spring 1914...but only as a continuation of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. So, were there really warning signs as early as January 1914?

More Field Guns Army's Urgent Need I guess no one paid attention to Major General Leonard Wood in 1914 because when the US entered the War in 1917, we had to get all of our guns from France and Britain. Even I had to laugh when I read in the article, "Experts say there is no field artillery service in any army that surpasses that of the United States gun for gun." I guess those "experts" never traveled to Europe...any country in Europe. I think the great-great-grandchildren of those "experts" now work for CNN as "expert" military analysts.

Kaiser Intervenes to Avoid...War ... Not. Many Leave Paris for the Rivera ... They will soon be leaving Paris for other reasons and there won't be any parties... Britain inciting war between US and Mexico? How this story will change in 1917 ... The British War Office presents the attractions and advantages of soldiering Luring the sheep to the coming slaughter?

Thanks, Bernhard. That's cool about the hometown connection. Too bad he wasn't a "better" soldier with a more interesting Pass.

Thanks Bernhard! Here's the only other page with info from the Pass; it mentions the discharge to Bremen... Not sure what else it might say.

Well worth the cost for the photo...perfect display.

Mountain Artillery is the correct English. Beautiful photos to this "Mountain Artilleryman!" I recently lost the bidding war on a WWI vintage medal to the Alpini artillery...

I'm hoping one of our German script/handwriting experts can help me with these Militärpass pages. Christoph Cohrs entered service with Lauenburgisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr.45 in Altona-Bahrenfeld on 22 Nov 1917; assigned to the Genesenen-Batterie FAR 45 on 16 Feb 1918. Here's where my "reading" of the Pass breaks down... I can't decipher what's on these pages related to his time with the Genesenen-Batterie. Any assistance in reading/translation appreciated.

Marcin, indeed, nailed it... When I bought the Pass, I too at first thought it was an EK2; the scan on the auction wasn't too clear. I knew I needed this one in my artillery collection. The starting bid was very low and I was prepared for it to go up considerably before the end. So, I couldn't believe it when I won the Pass for Euro 16, including shipping to the US! When it arrived, I realized it wasn't an "EK II"...but "EK 66 K" A little research... There are four Erinnerungskreuz für 1866: Erinnerungskreuz Treuen Kriegern 1866 Erinnerungskreuz Main Armee 1866 Erinnerungskreuz Konigsgrätz 1866 Erinnerungskreuz Nichtkämpfer Ostpreussisches Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 1 Feldzug credit for 1866: 1866 gegen Österreich: (1. Fuss-Abtl. bei der 1. Inf.-Div., 3. bei der 2. ID, 2. und Reit. als Res. Art. I. Armeekorps; eine reit. Batt. bei der Res. Kav. Brig. dieses Korps) Treffen bei Trautenau, Schlacht bei Königsgrätz, Gefechte bei Tobitschau - Rockeinitz. As FAR 1 was a East Prussia garrisoned regiment and these battles all are in what is now the Czech Republic, it makes sense that the "EK 66 K" is for the... Erinnerungskreuz Konigsgrätz 1866 A nice addition to the medal that I already owned when I got the Pass...

Every now and then, you post something clever... You should let your son post for you more often. Of course, if you had looked a little closer, you would have seen that Kanonier Buczek was even closer than you think... He was assigned to Ostpreussisches Feldartillerie Regiment Nr. 1, Infantrie Munitions Col. Nr. 2

So, "War Bride" on the front I can get from Google... But the reverse of the card, especially the unit stamp... Any assistance in translation appreciated....

Can you find what's really cool...

Thanks, Andy! Proving once again that it's always best to share with GMIC wizards even what one thinks is "nothing special" - something interesting almost always comes to light.

overall arm length with finials = 16.5 mm overall arm length without finials = 15 mm arm width = 11 mm thickness = 2.5 mm Best I can do with the side view...

Kanonier Erich Hintz, entered service 14 Nov 1916 with Fuss-Artillerie Regiment Nr. 5; by the end of 1916, he's with Fuss-Artillerie Regiment Nr. 23. He survives the war and joins the Reichswehr, discharged in 1928 after 12 years service, last with the 1. (Pruess.) Artillerie Regiment. There is nothing under his "Orden and Ehrenzeichen" nor his "Feldzuge, Verwundungen" sections. So, perhaps nothing remarkable about this Pass; but I thought I'd share in case I missed something...

Lukasz, bardzo, dziękuję. I'm certainly not disappointed; as I stated, I suspect it's not original mint. I'll measure the cross as soon as I can... Good news on the other medals though!

Ausgezeichnet! Thanks Andy!

Great photos Andy

Just when I think I got this shoulder strap stuff to a point where I'm confident, something comes along to confuse me again. So, here are two CDVs. Both taken in Thorn, Prussia. The garrison of Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.11 The one with an artillery pickelhaube, is clearly...well...artillery. His strap is white with a "red" 11 - as expected. Now the second guy, with the great mustache and cool glasses - his strap looks white with a "red" 11 - but his has piping around the edge. This has the date 1906 on the reverse. I've looked at all the other "11" regiments; the only other one that is nearby is Dragoon Nr. 11 in Lyck (further east in Prussia). Except their strap is supposed to be "wine red" with a yellow 11. So, Chip... what's up with the different straps for Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.11?

I've been to every nook and cranny of Tony's site. Good stuff.

This photo was taken in 1903, before the Belgians received the 1905 75mm Krupp field guns in Post #1. The Belgians were known for using a lot of out-dated guns in 1914, many spread among the fortresses. These are Krupp Canon 87mm M1866; likely training pieces in 1903, but possibly employed in 1914 as well.

Thanks!