The Prussian

Hi Chris. The Kommandeur was Freiherr Fritz v. Wedeklind, but this signature is from the "Regiments-Führer" Note, that he was only Hauptmann as a regiment-leader! I can´t read it clearly, but there were a lot of "von Zychlinksi" in the army. I couldn´t find a fiiting one in the Ehren-Rangliste, maybe he was a reserve-officer.

Hello Bob! Thanks for your post! That´s very interestimng, your father served with the skullhead-pioneers! Well, your mother swept the patch away, that´s sad, but I think she didn´t recognize, that someone would collect those items a hundred years later... I didn´t buy something special, just a postcard with a voiew of the "Soldatenheim Stenay". But the reverse has a regimental stamp of the 7./Garde-Res.Pi.Rgt. The card was written july 9, and stamped july 10 in 1916. The sender, Lt. Hornung wrote, that his stay at the Maas is over and that he has to go to the Somme. According to the regimental history Lt. Hornung later served with the 11.company. The following battle after july 10 was the battle of Briache (july, 15). The 22.Res.Div was reliefed by the 1.Garde-Res.Div., but I don´t know the exatly date

Hello! I´ve got an organization question. Is it well known, to which divisions the single companies of the flamethrower bataillon/regiment were attached to? In the regimental history some command-relations are mentioned, but not all of them. I only have a generally list for the armies. Regimental staff: to Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Staff I.Btl.: Heeresgruppe bayerischer Kronprinz Staff II.Btl.: XVIII.AK Staff III.Btl.: Armeebateilung A, later Heeresgruppe Albrecht v. Württemberg 1.Kp.: 2.Armee, later 6.Armee 2.Kp.: 5.Armee, later 6.Armee 3.Kp.: 8.Armee, 18.Armee, Heeresgruppe Linsingen, 5.Armee, 7.Armee 4.Kp.: Armeeabteilung B, 5.Armee, XVII.Armee 5.Kp.: 5.Armee, 6.Armee 6.Kp.: 6.Armee, 5.Armee, 2.Armee 7.Kp.: 8.Armee, 5.Armee 8.Kp.: 7.Armee 9.Kp.: 18.Armee, 5.Armee, 7.Armee 10.Kp.: 6.Armee, 5.Armee, Armeeabteilung A 11.Kp.: 18.Armee, 5.Armee, 1.Armee 12.Kp.: 18.Armee, Armeeabteilung B Rekrutendepot: Heeresgruppe dt. Kronprinz Versuchsabteilung: Heersgruppe dt. kronprinz For Verdun (21.2.-11.7.1917) I have the following commandings: 1.Kp. (21.Inf.Div.) 2.Kp. (14.Res.Div.) 3.Kp. (5.Inf.Div.) 6.Kp. (6.Inf.Div.) 8.Kp. (13.Res.Div.) Res.Kp. (25.Inf.Div.) 4. and 5.Kp. (I77.Inf.Brog.) 7.Kp. (22.Res.Div. - Champagne) Why do I ask??? I bought something and am stil waiting for it..... It should arrive until friday!

Chris, do you have a better scan? I´d like to see the cap (the upper cocarde). Note the absence of the shoulder straps. The pockets are not diagonal, but horizontal

It IS longer, Chris, it IS! Never seen! Not the distance between the pockets and the waistband of the tunic. Please compare:

Hi Chris! That could be "Verstallungs-Kommando"? Those people were responsible for the horses. Marstall were the royal stables. But I´ve never heard about that for an infantry unit in 1920... Andreas, whith your permission I´ll show it in the Feldgrau-Forum. What about a "W"? Wirtschafts-Kompanie? (Economy-company)

"Verstr." only could mean "verstärkt" (strenghthed, reinforced). "Verstärkte Kompanie" would be o.k., but the "Inf." before doesn´t make any sense in german language. "Inf. Vers.Komp."? (Infantry experimental company) But what sense would that be? In may 1920 the regiments were budgetary set-up. I´ll try to get the regimental history of IR13, Maybe it helps... By the way, here I have a photo with a mysterious arm patch. Some of them wear a skullhead upon the cap, but on the diagonal strap of the 3rd man in the back line I read I.R.13 Does someone know the arm-patch below the MG-sniper-badge???

Poensgen would fit with 3.Regiment! Since may 1920 the I./RW-Inf.Rgt.13 was in Soest

Ah, ok. There were 3 kurländische Inf.Rgt. in the Brigade Kurland. So it will be 3.kurl. Inf.Rgt. 1.Rgt. (Lossow) with I.Btl. Doin, II.Btl. Borcke and III.Btl. Heiberg 2.Rgt. (Kleist) with I.Btl. Liebermann, II.Btl. Balla and III.Btl. from the Ers.Btl. (since october it´s IV.Btl., while a new III,Btl. was set-up (Berthold) 3.Rgt. (Poensgen) with I.Btl. and II,.Btl. Poensgen and III.Btl. Rieckhoff Could "verstn" means "verstärkt"? also verstärkte Kompanie? But that doesn´t make a sense too...

Hi Andreas! I have some difficulties to read... 1.12.17: zur 2.Kp./Ersatz ??? Inf.Rgt.75 15.4.18: Genesenen-Kp. Inf.Rgt.75 25.5.18: ? 6.2.19: Detachement Küntzel Garde-Kav.Schtz.Div. 2.6.19: I.Ersatz Freiwilligen Komp. IX.AK Altona 14.9.19: Feld??? 1203 21.6.19: Mannschafts-Ersatz-Depot Brigade Litauen 20.10.19: 3. ??? Inf.Rgt. Stab Eiserne Division Kurland 10.6.20: zum I./13, 2.Kp. Libau 29.5.20: Inf. ??? ??? I/13 Can youb read more? He seemed to change his unit after the actions in Kurland/Litauen

Nice photo, Andreas! Doi you know, which unit it is?

Here is the background. March, 21, 1919 the Fangschnur was donated to all volunteers of the VII.Army corps, who had three months front-experience in one of the units of that corps. So the Fangschnur is not an award just for the Freikorps Pfeffer. FK Pfeffer had the horse-badge on the sleeve. I assume, the man on the photo belonged to the Eskadron of the Freikorps Pfeffer (One bataillon of Inf.Rgt.13, one Eskadron and one battery) They were in action in march in Mannheim, then West-Prussia, in april Libau and they came in july back to Westphalia with 3000 men! The photo was taken in Treptow/Rega. That is in Pomerania, so it´s on the way from Libau to Westphalia. He wears a cap with the old two cocades. The cap was worn until end of september 1919. Which number do we see upon the shoulder strap? A 2 or a 7. In june 1919 the Reichswehr-Brigade Nr.7 Münster was built from troops of the old VII.Army Corps. Then it will be a 7 upon the strap. So we have the cavalry-regiment 7, light artillery-regiment 7 or heavy artillery-detachement 7. He might have been served with one of those 7er units. So the photo was taken between june and september 1919.

Hello! Very nice and rare documents! I love them! The Fangschnur ist brilliant too! Here is a photo:

Show us, show us!

Hello! My friend wants to say thanks to all of you for your help. He wrote: Dear Gentlemen of the Military Interest Club, thank you so much for helping identify Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg KCMG DSO as central figure in the photo posted. Throught your identification of the medals, I was able to determine, that the Governor was made KCMG in 1922. So the departure note on the back of the photo could relate to either his departure from the Gold Cost in 1927 or from British Guiana in 1929. As a starting point of my further research I presumed, that the succesor of the departing governor would see his predecessor off and be next to him on the photo in question. And: Lo and behold a name and a face came together. To the right of Sir Frederick is, I believe, Sir James Crawford Maxwell KCMG, KBE, MD (1869 – 1932) a British physician and colonial administrator who served as colonial secretary - and after Guggisberg - as acting governor of the Gold Coast, before appointed Governor of Northern Rhodesia the same year. He was awarded the KBE in 1925 and the West Africa Medal and a clasp for his role in the Hut Tax War of 1898, seen in the photo on his chest. There is a photo of him with the same pair of glasses and the medals, taken during his time at the Gold Coast here: http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-Y-30448-L/51 To the left of Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, in civilian clothes could be Sir Albert Ernest Kitson a veteran geologist, who helped Guggisberg survey the colony. The photo could therefore be placed to the Gold Coast around but not later than the 27th April 1927. Thank´s again! PS: With regards to the jodphurs: There is a photo dated 1925 showing the governor with the Prince of Wales at the Gold Coast: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Gordon_Guggisberg#/media/File:The_National_Archives_UK_-_CO_1069-37-120-1-001.jpg

Hello Tony! Thanks a lot for your answer! I´ll give it to my friend.

Hello! Very nice tunic!!!! Tres bien!!! Are there clasps with letters in the hat? Most officers can be identified by those ones. (if you don´t know the name of the officer)

Great mate! Thanks a lot!!!

Hello Glenn! Thanks for the picture. Well, it´s possible, that they wear that S too! Saargebiet would fit too. Will you show it in our forum?

Hello Glenn! A very expensive book... Could you recommen it? Are you able to show that page, please? Maybe you could quote the post in our forum (#2)

I haven't found anything. But I'm stil searching. ..

Of course my friend!

I've got a few books about police uniforms. No S mentioned. Schutzpolizei had numbers at the collars.

Hello Andrew! A friend of mine did find another photo whit that badge. I borrowed your photo for our forum (hope that was ok...) Maybe there will be further informations. http://feldgrau.pytalhost.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?35310-Kragenspiegel-quot-S-quot-kein-Schneeschuh-Freikorps-Reichswehr-kuk-Bitte-identifizieren

Hello! A friend of mine (not registered here) askes me to show this photo. Here is his text: This photo shows members of the Colonial Service and two navy officers as well a a civilian. It might have been in the possesion of a German, as there is a hardly legible pencil note on the back side of the photo reading [illegible]gisberg´s Abreise [departure]. The photo itself is printed on english paper stock. The gentleman with his feather sunhelmet might be a governor and seems to wear the order of the British empire, as does the gent next to him [?]. Both seem to be highly decorated, the man in the middle (Governor) could be Knight Commander des Order of St. Michael and St. George? The gentleman next to him seems to have been awarded a similar honour. Can anybody identify the gentleman, the medals or the ranks of the Colonial Service members? Any ideas of where the photo was taken? Thanks a lot!