IrishGunner

Andy, I've never been very good at preserving my adventures on film. Sadly, I have no personal photos to share. The internet should yield some great images...and a website...Open Air Museum Kolovrat Kobarid/Capparetto:

Andy, actually reading Rommel's book Infantrie Greift An gave me the motivation to hike the area while living in the region. The mountains around Kobarid/Capparetto and the Isonzo Front are what really got me interested in WWI and collecting in a more focused way. Not to mention it's a very beautiful area. Worth a trip.

Absolutely! Not just Gebirgs-Artillerie, but also Kolovrat - I've hiked those mountains on the border of Slovenia and Italy.

I hope you can ID...that's a great bar. I don't get around much, so seeing a Greek bar like this is a treat.

Beautiful pair. And a HRH connection. Well done. Thanks for sharing.

Another uncommon unit... Fernsprech Abteilung

Chip, I thought the text might be interesting... Maybe describing what it's like to be near a shell impacting... But hey, you never know. Extramütze with a gray band... that's interesting too!

If anyone has a free moment and can translate... Curious... What did he say about the Front...if anything...

I really enjoy seeing references to these different seldom seen type units... Note: Not my post card - currently for sale from a well-known online shop. Just thought we needed some more posts!

Incredible! Once again proving... Do the research!

Hey, couldn't they have bought a shirt and tie for the occasion? Borrowed a suit from a Marine or other military member of the Embassy? Sheesh.

I've been browsing thousands of WWI photos lately ... from all battle fronts, including DSWA. I haven't seen anything similar in period photos. I think you are right - not period.

Can I buy a cannon?

Thanks for showing gegenplatte... Hadn't seen one of those before.

Have you seen a EK shaped gegenplatte before?

Thanks, Chris! I did a GMIC search on "gas" and "chemical", but got nada. But I knew this had been discussed somewhere before. German wikipedia has a great article on Pionierregiment (Pionierbataillon) 35 and it's role as the first gas warfare unit. All I needed was that azimuth! Thanks again. Herbert Cron's book has a decent piece too... With Pionierbataillon 39 being added in Feb 18 and Pionierbataillon 94-96. He also wrote there were finally 8 battalions in total, but with the numbered ones mentioned, totals only 6. Oh, Cron and his numbers.

Not my photos (from the internet), but I found these recently while doing some minor research... Russian Obukhov 152mm Fortress Gun M77 on a siege carriage, captured by the Germans on the Eastern Front and put into use with Landwehr Fussartillerie units. They even moved them to the Western Front... From Britian's Imperial War Museum site... Incorrectly, identified as "Captured 15 cm (150 mm) Ringkanone 92 German gun near Mametz Wood, 10th August 1916."

A bit of recent minor research provides the opportunity to update this thread. I found some photos of captured German guns on Britain's Imperial War Museum site that just didn't seem to be quite right... The IWM caption reads: "Moving a captured German 15 cm (150 mm) Ringkanone 92 gun near Mametz Wood, 10th August 1916." However, the German 15cm Ringkanone M92 had a much longer barrel and a different carriage. After some discussion on another forum and further photo searching on the internet, I've come to the conclusion this is more likely a Russian Obukhov 152mm (120 pood) Fortress Gun M77 on a siege carriage. 100s of the guns were captured by the Germans on the Eastern Front and supposedly put into use with Landwehr Fussartillerie units. Here is the Russian Obukhov 152mm (120 pood) Fortress Gun M77 on a fortress carriage in position near near Kurtengof, Latvia, September 1915 (also from the internet). And another (from the internet) at Lappeenranta, Finland; a memorial to the Finnish Artillery School officer course 1918-1919.

I just read an article online from the American Journal of Public Health (2008) entitled: "Chemical Warfare and Medical Response During World War I" A decent article and worth a read if interested in the topic. The article states, "April 22, 1915, members of a special unit of the German Army opened the valves on more than 6000 steel cylinders arrayed in trenches along their defensive perimeter at Ypres, Belgium. Within 10 minutes, 160 tons of chlorine gas drifted over the opposing French trenches, engulfing all those downwind. Filled with pressurized liquid chlorine, the cylinders had been clandestinely installed by the Germans more than 3 weeks earlier. The order to release the gas was entrusted to German military meteorologists, who had carefully studied the area’s prevailing wind patterns." My question is this: What branch was this "special unit"? Engineers? What German units were responsible for employing gas warfare (other than artillery)? Here are a couple aerial photos (from the internet) of the gas being released from the cylinders...

Knowing nothing of Canadian uniforms, are officer collar dogs standard or different for each regiment?

Tim, thanks for that info! The estimated number of medals based on population census clearly isn't an exact science. Sunbury is a county seat and historically has had at least troop/company size National Guard armories. So, something around 648 could make sense. Interestingly, the 28th Division commander at the beginning of WWI, MG Charles Maxwell, was from Sunbury, retired there, and is buried there. In 1915 he was promoted to Major General as commander of the 28th Division, and he led the division during the Mexico Villa Expedition. He commanded the division during its training at the start of World War I, and traveled to France to observe trench warfare tactics firsthand. But he retired shortly before the division embarked for Europe. Reportedly, when the Army created the Spanish War Service and Mexican Border Service Medals in 1919, Clement was the first recipient of each.

I'll trade you two boils for a 'rhoid...

Tim, I do not have the references. I must sadly admit that my library is rather thin. I would be curious to see what the Louis Small book has on the Sunbury medal - if anything. Thanks!

That's better than a caption I saw on one internet shot... "heavily worn and patched trousers"

Are you sure you haven't changed your collecting focus? I mean it's Bavarian, but that's a lot of artillery for an infantryman. That's a great shot. I think you should put that in an envelope, address it to me, and post it right away!