
Beau Newman
Valued Member-
Posts
741 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Store
Everything posted by Beau Newman
-
The ribbon is correct for either the combatant's or non-combatant's cross, both of which were bronzed. Only the blackened next of kin cross used a different ribbon, similar to the Franco-Prussian non-combatant's ribbon. The LS medal was for either Reserve or Landwehr service, which could have ranged from front line service in a reserve unit to home guard service in the Landwehr. Even some regular army soldiers received the non-combatant's cross.
-
In spite of there being close to 2,000 1st type Albert Knights awarded (with and w/o swords combined), they are almost impossible to find. The main reason appears to be the fact that these were to be returned to the Orders Commission upon the death of the recipient. Here is an example of a 1st Type Knight w/Swords which was reissued as a 2nd Type Knight 1st Class w/o Swords by replacing the front medallion and removing the swords. They did a very nice job of plugging the holes for the swords in the center of the cross with 4 tiny gold plugs. These 1st Type Knights are noticibly smaller than the standard 2nd Type 1st Class Knights. The blue medallion surrounds also tend to be narrower on the early pieces.
-
I came upon this group several years ago at an OVMS show. At the time, I had not seen many of the pre-war Bavarian MVKs so, I didn't realize how well made these early pieces were. This one is marked 900 GH on the edge of the center medallion. The group even has what appears to be a legit post-1913 2nd class w/o swords. The ribbon for the Hindenburg cross is a bit odd. Possibly a case of an attempt to replace an earlier veteran's piece?