GdC26

A picture would be helpful/ Kind regards, Sandro

Well, it works, so well done!

A very nice display, you have a gift Chris.

No surprises there ?..... Cheers ?!

I was referring to the drink Chris - are you sure it was just him having a drink with himself? ?

You sure it is just him .....?

Gorgeous, and well presented GMU!

Well possible, based on your description, but hard to say without having it in hand. It may still be good to do a blacklight test - if the ribbon fails that, that is a strong indication of post WWI (and probably post WWII, although that is debated) manufacture.

Christophe is correct, it looks like a ribbon for the commanders cross which if real, is not a bad catch. Kind regards, Sandro

Pleasure. I'm not sure how often this occurred, but perhaps the answer lies in hte fact that the MMJO is a pure bravery award while the BMVO is more of a meritorious service award. As to pics, I would have to search. Here are his entries in the Militär Handbuch 1916 (where is listed as a Hauptmann im Generalstab): Oddly, his MMJO is not (yet) listed, and he does not (yet) feature in the list of MMJO knightscross recipients set out at the outset of the Handbuch. Kind regards, Sandro

Sounds about right - one of the gentlemen in the center has what could be a Freikorps badge on the upper right arm, and others as Chris pointed out seem to wear (Freikorps) cuff titles. Kind regards, Sandro

Here you go, Laurentius, early Ostfront award from the looks of it. Kind regards, Sandro

Come on Numis, this forum is not a wishing-well. If this is an area of interest to you, why not do some digging yourself, here or on the web? Not too hard to find a starting pioint and take it from there: https://www.ehrenzeichen-orden.de/c/kaiserreich/kolonien http://themedalhound.com/german/main.html http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk Kind regards, Sandro

Very nice, congrats Chris.

Checking pics on the web, it strikes me that Baviarian's cin the king's entourage simply did not generally wear EK II's.

If there is no evidence of an EK II ribbon having been attached to the coat I would personally not attach one. Is the coat prewar or wartime? Some pics of the coat and loops might help. Thanks, I had forgotten about that thread. Based on those pics, why not keep an eye out for an adjutant sash and aguilettes? That will set up the coat nicely, for substantially less than any of the orders you would need.

Possible. Is the coat dated? And are there any pics of him wearing it in the HH auction catalogue (which is still up)?

EK II on a folded ribbon suspended from the second buttonhole would be a start if he still wore the coat after receiving that decoration (from memory, it is a pre-war blue coat, but who knows). Cheers, Sandro

If the Rock was worn past the award date of the EK II you could in any event mount an EK II in the manner shown in the von Plettenberg pic you posted.

He had an BMVO officers cross with swords that probably fits the loops on your coat - not cheap, not cheap ...... ?

If there is no evidence of an EK II ribbon having been attached to the coat I would personally not attach one. Is the coat prewar or wartime? Some pics of the coat and loops might help. And perhaps this could offer some inspiration:

The clipping is from the Militär Handbuch 1914, and I have assumed the coat is one of the pre-war blue ones auctioned at HH and that this is your man. If you want to go with a foreign there: perhaps a ÖFJ1 or ÖEK2?

Possible, if he got one and the coat is wartime, if it is prewar, this would look good though: https://www.dorotheum.com/de/l/6920260/ and checking hte HH catalogue there was one in the estate. Perhaps a commanders grade pre-war foreign award? unfortunately, the only commanders grade I noticed on checking hte catalogue was the ÖMVO2, and these tend to be only slightly less expensive than the BMVO2. But if he was awarded something Italian for example, that might work. Cheers, Sandro

A commanders cross at the neck would not be uncommon (in your case, BMVO2/BMVO2X?) Cheers, Sandro

Very nice, congratulations.