fackerman64

Thanks much Eddie, Very helpful information. I didn't know that the number 823 broke down that way.

I finally found out what he did as a civil servant. I know it's been a while. He was a Justizbeamter. He worked for the Justice Department in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen. I don't know if he was a Baliff, Clerk of Courts or what though. Thanks again for all the info.

My other grand-uncle Heinrich Zipp, whom I never met served with the 3. Garde-Feld-Artl-Regt. out of Berlin during WWI. I only have a few postcards from him to my grandfather like this one... That's very interesting about the naming convention of the Cities. I always wondered by mistake that they were referring to two different Cities. The picture of my uncle Wilhelm in Pickelhaube is one with a pointy spike. He was in the infantry. My uncle Heinrich was the cannon-cocker. The list you refer to in English would be called a ranks list or muster sheet, I believe. I'm sorry but I don't have or am signed onto skype messenger. What is it and how does one apply? You may be able to just send me an Email at frank_seal_master@yahoo.com. I only recently started to find out more about my relatives that served in Germany's armed forces. It's really ironic that I joined the U.S. Army to serve in Germany myself as an Ami, when over 60 years ago America and Germany were mortal enemies. In a way, my family history has come full circle. It's amazing how former enemies can become such good allies. Seeing that list has gotten me all jazzed-up. I can't wait to see a better copy. Thanks guys.

Here is Wilhelm Zipp again during WWII when he served with the 15th Infantry Division, Regiment 106. I got to meet him when I was only 6 years old before he died. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2009/post-6247-1237990062.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2009/post-6247-1237990100.jpg

I must say I preferred the G-3 as well when I qualified with it in Haminkeln. You could drag it through the mud and it would still shoot. I also preferred the Walther P-1 to the Baretta M-9, it handled very well and was like pointing your finger to shoot. Your grandfather looked very young in that photo. He looks like he couldn't be more than 16 or 17 years old, and to have won the EKII...wow! Did he actually come from or live in Cleve (or is it Kleve)? Wesel seems to have always been a major St?tzpunk or marshalling area (major rail network and on the Rhine River). As you probably know, it was literally obliterated by bombs at the end of WWII and was where the Brits under Montgommery crossed the Rhine. I've even seen photos of Churchill visiting the wreckage of the Weseler Bridge afterwards. To this day, you can still see the ruins of the original bridge when entering Wesel from B?derich. My grandfather was only 8 years old when his two older brothers, Wilhelm and Heinrich went to fight in WWI. My grand-uncle Wilhelm fought in Russia with the 48th Reserve Division. Here he is in Berlin before being deployed.... ...and at the Russian front on the far left.

Here's a photo of me during a Field Training Exercise (FTX) at Ft. Lewis, Washington. As you can see, I'm also wearing my Army-issued birth-control or rape-prevention glasses. Ft. Lewis was one of the most beautiful posts I've ever served at. It was almost like being in the Schwarzwald. Every morning when getting out of our tents, we woke up to a view of Mount Rainiere. You had to watch out for the harvester ants though, they were as big as VW's (think of the RAMMSTEIN video for "Links..2..3..4"). Bis sp?ter,

Hallo Andreas, Du siehst ja sehr gef?hrlich aus! What's with the M-16? What happened to your HK Gewehr-3? Anyway... Rheinberg, Germany was a large supply depot for most of Nordrhein-Westfalen during the REFORGER exercises at the time. I was with the 532nd Signal Co. (HQ'd in Giessen) under the 39th Signal Bn. and the 2nd Signal Bgde (out of Bremerhaven). My detachment was assigned to provide digital communications for the Rheinberg Military Community. The entire post or Kasserne was housed in an old carpet factory (das Reichel Geb?ude). We supported the 54th Area Support Group, the 7th Support Command as well as the 527th CEBN (Combat Equipment Battalion in M?nchengladbach). Our company had other detachments in Wesel, Haminkeln, Gelsenkirchen, Geilenkirchen (a huge NATO airbase with AWACS) and D?ren. We all came under NORTHAG (Northern Army Group) and worked with the Tommie's BOAR (British Army Of the Rhein). I lived in downtown Rheinberg across the street from the bookstore owned by Claudia Schiffer's family (before she became a super-model) and just up the street from the Underberg Mansion. Those were the days!! Your English by the way, is as good as my German. Back to the subject of the photo and medals. My grandfather kept many of the medals, photographs and postcards passed onto him from his ancestors. I've been trying to sort things out between the awards and photos, trying to assign the right award to the right person and the person to a unit. I am wondering right now, if this Fussartillery unit may have taken part in the Battle of K?niggratz of 1866 based on the dates and the bouteniere I have (see bouteniere post under Imperial German Awards). In my research, I've found some useful sites such as www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de and www.feldgrau.com for relatives that fought in WWII. I have yet to find something similar for German imperial forces though. Any suggestions? Is there some department of records in Germany that would also cover the Gliederung of the imperial forces? I'm thinking I may have to check the records of the individual L?nder (i.e. the Grand Duchy of Hessen). What is really neat about all of this is that when I get one question answered, it raises 10 more. It's like solving a big jigsaw puzzle. Were you able to tell the rank of the soldiers in the photo (officers or enlisted)?

Here is the back of the medal. It states "50 Jahrfeier" and on the bottom the dates 1864 to 1914. The letters below the crown appear to be GFZ (General-Feldzeugmeister?). I don't really know if this medal has anything to do with the photo but it is very coincidental. ?brigens, ich war von 1985 bis 1987 in Rheinberg (neben Kamp-Lintfort und in der N?he von B?derich-Wesel) stationiert. Ich war bei den "Bongos" in einem Signal-Einheit (Fernmeldetechnik mit der US Armee). Dort habe ich meiner Frau kennen gelernt. Sie wurde in Duisburg geboren und kommt aus Moers. Ich wurde in Frankfurt a/M geboren. Wir sind ?fter nach Essen gefahren und kennen uns da etwas um. The medal is in somewhat bad shape. It looks to be made of tin and was annodized and lacquered. The lacquer is comming off or peeling in places. Sorry for the image quality. Freundlichem Gru? aus Amerika

Hallo der Preu?e, Wie geht's, wie steht's? Thank you for your input. It's very interesting that you mentioned the Fussartilery unit because among the heirlooms I inherited, I found the following medal. This may be related to the photo in the previous post. This is the front of the medal. The border inscription says "Fussart. Regiment General-Feldzeugmeister (Brandenburg) Nr. 3" while the inscription on the banner states, "Hie Guet Brandenburg Alle Wege". It looks like some sort of commemorative/Jubileums medal.

Thanks for the input gentlemen.

Based on the number 823 on the side of his tank, can anyone also tell me which Abteilung or specific company he was with? His name was Willy Burk, see picture below. I was told his unit was deployed out of Ehrfurt. What would also be neat is if someone had info on the orders of battle showing tank 823. Any help would be appreciated.

Here is another shot of the tank and its crew. My uncle is the one wearing the Ushanka with the flaps hanging down. Sorry for the quality of the images, they are scans of his originals which his wife/my aunt still owns.

I need help confirming the ID of the tank in these photos which I received from my uncle who recently passed away. My uncle served with Regiment 1. of the 1st Panzer Division. Most of his service was on the Russian front. It looks to me like a Pz. IV F2 which I believe had a 75mm main gun, an mg42 bow machine gun and an mg35 turret machine gun. According to him, he was the bow machine gunner/radio operator. In this photo, he is seated on the front right of the tank above the machine gun.

Amongst some of the photographs I have inherited from my recently deceased grandfather was the one below. I need help identifying the period, the type of unit and possibly the ranks of these troops. My grandfather and his family came from Frankfurt a/M in Hessen, Germany. Any help would be appreciated.

Herr General, Well, it's not a fake as far as I know unless they made fakes in that period. Remember, this medal was passed on within the family as an heirloom and I have no intention of selling it. As far as its appearance, it had been pollished at one point with a jewellers cloth to enhance or bring out the details. I appologize for the lighting in the image, I had to blow up the image which would account for some loss in resolution giving it the appearance of having been lacquered. Also, the medal is approximately 1.5cm by 1.5cm in size. There would have been some loss of detail compared to the full sized versions when the medal was stamped or produced. Hendrik, Thanks for the additional info, what you said about the EN at the bottom of the medal makes perfect sense. Though, I haven't seen too many medals where something like that was done on account of running out of space for a word. The reason I posted under Imperial Germany was because all of my ancestors on my mothers side, are/were German. At the time, many Germans fought as mercenaries or as conscripts for their allies (i.e. the Hessians that fought for the British during the American Revolution). I've been told by aunts and uncles that one of my ancestors, Guillome Zipp supposedly fought at Waterloo as part of the Dutch contingent (the right flank of Wellington near Hougemont). It may be possible that he later went on to take part in the 10 Days Campaign and this medal may help to substantiate these stories. I felt that I would probably find more feedback from people with a knowledge of German Imperial forces who faught for their allies under this heading. I may try to repost under Northern Europe for additional info. Thanks again for everyone's comments.