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I'll take a stab at it and say that if tomorrow was Easter, I'd say he rose from the dead and came home to Mom and Dad. But, coming back (to life) at Christmas can't be all that disappointing either.

Speedytop, You have wonderfully sharp eyes to fill in those missing parts of the letter. Andy

Herrn Louis Becker, Göttingen … erfülle ich die traurige Pficht, Ihnen von dem >>> Ihres Sohns Heinrich Mitteilung zu machen. In den schweren Kämpfen von 17.09.1918 bei Nancy (??) hat er infolge Artillerie Volltreffers sein Leben seinem Vaterlande opfern müssen. Leider was es trotz ??? nicht möglich seine Leiche zu bergen, da das Gefechtsfeld aus taktischen Gründen dem Feinde überlassen werden müsste. Die Kompanie betrauert auf ... den Verlust dieses tapferen Soldaten und guten Kameraden. >>>>>> Der Gott möge Ihnen in Ihren ... beistehen Feldwebel Mr. Louis Becker,. I fulfill my sad duty to inform you of the death of your son Heinrich. In the heavy fight near Nancy (not sure) on 17.09.1918, he sacrificed his life for his Fatherland. He was killed by an direct hit from artillery. Despite (every effort???) it was not possible to recover his body, as the battle field had to be left to the enemy for tactical reasons. The company mourns the loss of this brave soldier and good comrade. May God be with you in your ..... Sergeant Major

Chris, Excellent link- perhaps we can pusuade one of our fellow travellers to stop by the archive next time they pay a visit to Berlin to have a look. Andy

While researching the career of an officer who served in the East Asian Expedition Corps from 1901-1904, I found an entry in the 1904 Militär Wochenblatt that shows him receiving the "kaiserlich chinesische Erinnerungs Medaille 1st class" after he returned home. (Imperial Chinese Commemorative Medal) Obviously, this medal does not appear in the Ranglisten and I am wondering if any member can provide an image of this medal or any details on it. Thanks, Andy

Christophe, Moritz Ernst Louis Borßdorf had a commission as a Sek.Lt. of 19.07.1865, Prem.Lt. 01.01.1872 and Rittm. 23.07.1875. He left the saxon army on 29.09.1883 as an squadron commander in HR 19. The 1883 saxon Rangliste shows him having the VR1.KD and EK2. He received the "Charakter" as a Major on 10.10.1883. He died 25.06.1896. Andy

Ulsterman, I bet if you check your PMs you'll find a message I sent to you back in March identifying your mystery man Andy

Dave, Thanks for the correction. I guess I should read the entire document next time!!! At least I found the promotions dates for the Prussian Teichmann for my reserve/Landwehr database! Andy

Chris, Given the language used, I tend to believe he was suffering from some ailment rather than wounds. Based on the EK citation, he sounds like a very strong leader, and a Landwehr regiment could use a good BC just like any other unit. A transfer after cutting his teeth in IR 143 to "share the wealth" is a good possibility. Andy

Don, No one by that name on the 1877 list- 1st, 2nd or 2nd class on white ribbon. It could be that he had already died by that date. Do you have any additional information such as unit? Also, are you certain of the spelling? A Feldwebel Friedrich August Liesow (IR 20) was awarded the EK1. Andy

Chris, Here is some initial information which may help others find more. In 1914, he was a Lt. d.L. I assigned to Landw. Bez. Colmar. He was promoted Lt.d.R. d. IR 169 on 18.08.1902. At some point, he transferred to the Landw. I. Aufg. He was promoted Oberlt. on 08.11.1914 and then to Hptm. on 26.01.1916. It is interesting to note that when he was promoted Hptm. he was assigned to IR 143. This point may be one well suited for more research. Andy

Tom, The officer to whom this bar probably belonged was char. Major Friedrich Sauter (not Seuter). He was assigned to the "Bekleidungsamt d. I. AK" at the beginning of the war. Nevertheless, a very nice bar. Andy

That is Gustav Ernst von Roerdanz. He retried from the army on 21.04.1911 as a Major and battalion commander in Inf R. 137 and in 1913 was living in Wiesbaden. He was born 28.07.1863, entered the army on 16.04.1881 in IR 111 from the corps of cadets. He served as a company commander in Füs. R. 35 from 1896-1899 then transferred to the Haupt Kadettenanstalt 1899-1902, then was a company commander in Gren. R. 109 1902-1906 and then on to Inf. R. 70 as a major attached to the staff before a transfer to IR 137 and retirement. He was recalled at the outbreak of the war and was a battalion commander in Landwehr Inf. R. 81 (02.08.14-28.12.1914) at the time this postcard was written. He served as commander of four Ersatz battalions between 10.03.15 and 01.06.17 before moving to the consulate in den Haag. On 11.11.17 he was put in charge of the "Postzentrale d. stellv. Gen. St." He died in December 1923 in Hamburg. Andy

Chris, Es gibt nicht viel... 28.04.18 EK 2 erhalten 15.06.18 Liste 1: unter der in Kriegsgefangenschaft befindlichen und jetzt in Holland untergebrachten Angehörigen der Schutztruppe 15.11.18 in der Liste 2 der bisher in Holland untergebrachten und jetzt als Austauschgefangene zurückgekehrten Angehörigen der Schutztruppe. Andy

Chris, Ich habe die Jahrgänge 1918-1920. Was oder wen suchst Du? Andy

Sandro, He was born 12.05.1868 in Castell (Unterfranken) and died 08.07.1939 in Hochburg-Ach. He was married to Amalie Prinzessin zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg. After attending Gymnasium, he voluntarily joined the 1. Ulan. R. as a Fähnrich on 19.08.1886. He became Adjutant of the IV. Armee Insp. on 19.09.1900. He was promoted Oberst on 11.10.1914 and Gen. Maj. in 1918 (sorry, no exact date). Andy

Jens, I think you have a photo of the commanders of the 223. ID around March 1918. The 67. Inf. Brig. had three regiments assigned to it at that time- IR 144, IR 173 and Ersatz Inf. R. 29. The Führer of IR 144 was Major Thümmel as you note, and Major Hermann Wülfing was Führer of IR 173. Oberst Wilhelm Alberti (*15.05.1853) retired from Gren. R. 5 as commander of the first battalion on 24.04.1904 "m. Charakter als Oberstlt." He was called back during the war and served as commander of Ers. Inf. R. 29 as noted in the Ehrenrangliste on p. 703. I cannot identify the Hauptman, though he must have been the divisional adjutant. A very nice photograph and we are lucky that someone took the time to add the names on the back! Andy

Unfortaunately, I no longer live in Germany, but in the US. I've sent you a PM with my email address. We can continue the conversation via e-mail if you care to. Andy

With the right sources, tracing a career is not that difficult. After more than 18 years of collecting information (and, more importantly, books), I have a good handle on the vast majority of first names for the Prussians as well as dates and places of birth. The Militär Wochenblatt are absolutely indespensible for finding exact dates of transfers. etc. Also, when one learns how to read a Rangliste, many things become much easier to follow. At the end of each regiment's listing in the Rangliste is a small paragraph in fine print which details the transfers, retirements, etc within that regiment since the publication of the last Rangliste. This helps immensely as one tries to follow an officer's movements within the army. It takes time, but in the end it's worth the effort. I can not over emphasize the absolute requirement of assembling as comprehensive a library as possible. It's cliché to say that knowledge is power. However, without significant resources or access to such resources, the type of research demonstrated here is simply not possible. With the help of the internet and great fora such as this, other can enjoy the benefits of the research a few of us conduct for the sheer joy of wrestling seemingly nameless, long dead Prussians from obscurity. Andy

Your man is Ernst Horn (*13.9.1876 †00.10.1925). At the beginning of the war he was a company commander in Gren. R. 6. He departed the Sch.Tr. f. DSWA on 31.05.1912 and was attached for training to the "Landesaufnahme" (surveying section of the General staff) the next day, 01.06.1912. He was promoted captain and attached to the Reichs Kolonialamt on 01.10.1912. On 27.01.1914 he was transferred to GR 6 as a company commander. Andy

Andreas, Hptm. Georg Hauß (*17.02.1871 †15.01.1941) war Komp. Chef (9. Komp.) d. HKA ab 27.01.1912. Vorher war er Komp. Chef im IR 130. Er war Kommandeur d. IR 25 18.09.1918 bis 03.02.1919. Zum Orden kann ich leider nichts sagen (da bin ich oft überfragt!) Andy

The second sword was given as a gift by one officer named Kemmer to another, Vondran. (Kemmer s/l Vondran) They most likely went to the same Kriegsschule from fall 1909 to May or Jun of 1910 and exchanged swords at graduation. They were both commissioned as Lts. on 16.06.1910 with a date of rank of 20.06.1908. Kemmer went to IR 88 and Vondran went to IR 99. In late 1913 Kemmer transferred to IR 97 and then by spring 1914 had left the army. At the beginning of the war, Vondran was temporarily detached from IR 99 to FAR 84. He was killed in action 25.08.1914. According to the casualty lists, his first name was Paul and he was born in New York! Andy

He was promoted Leutn. on 10.08.1914 without a commission. When he entered the Reichswehr he was given a date of rank of 01.10.1917 as a Leutn.. He was promoted to Hptm. 01.04.1933. In May 1933 he was on the staff of the 1. Division in Königsberg; in October 1935 he was commander of the 14th company (Panzerabwehr) of Inf. R. 56 in Ulm, and he assumed command of Pz. Abw. Abtl. 6 on 01.10.1938. Andy

Very nice document. It is signed by Siegfried Frhr. von der Borch (27.07.1855-15.03.1933). He assumed command of this brigade on 09.03.1912 after having served as commander of Gren. R. 7. This is the first time I've seen a signature with "Freiherr" spelled out! Andy

Based on saschaw's quote and the fact that it was awarded to active officers and Badener who were commissioned as an officer while assigned to a unit of the XIV. AK ..., I would assume that Fähnriche etc were not/not authorized this decoration as they were not yet active officers. Make sense????? Andy