ItemCo16527

Thanks for the information. I figured they were some kind of award for progressing through the "ranks", but it seems there's more to it than that

Good evening, one and all. It's been a long time since I've been here, and just noticed there was a section dedicated to the Freemasons. As it happens, my great-grandfather had been a Mason for many years, and I happen to have a couple of coins (or medals - not sure about the terminology) that belonged to him. I hope you guys enjoy seeing them. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about them, or what they represent. If anyone could shed some light on them for me, my family and I would be eternally grateful

Thank you, Nick! I wasn't 100% positive about which medal was for what. Thanks for clearing that up for me

Finally, the ship's badge. Please feel free to share your items or thoughts.

An enamel cross, of a similar design as on the above medals.

I believe this medal was awarded to the divers who participated who dove on the Kursk.

I am told this medal was awarded to those who participated in the search and recovery efforts.

Monday, August 12th, will mark the loss of the Russian submarine K-141 - the "Kursk" - with all hands. This would be one of the worst submarine disasters in history. In memory of the loss of the Kursk, I thought I would post some pictures I have of commemorative badges and awards relating to the Kursk, and the recovery efforts. Please feel free to post any mementos, pictures, awards, etc. you may have relating to this proud submarine. To start off, here is a picture of a small grouping of awards and badges I have.

This thread is making me regret selling my 40th Anniversary medal lol

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I hope you don't mind me posting this, but this is a medal I actually just sold off. 40th Anniversary Medal of the 18th Submarine Division. Pic 1:

Outstanding! Thank you. He likely would have been with the 7th Corps Artillery since the village of Billed was within that region. Mystery solved! Thank you for your help! I'll check with the USMF about the second uniform.

Thank you so much! No one knows where the pictures were taken, unfortunately. But, at least I now know he was with an Artillery unit - which is more information then I ever thought I'd find. Do you know offhand where the 7th Corp-Artillery and 7th Division-Artillery Regiments would have been stationed, say between 1903 and 1908? If the second uniform isn't Austro-Hungarian, any idea what it could be?

I recently obtained scans of two pictures of my great-grandfather. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army in the very early 20th Century, probably enlisting around 1903 or so. I was wondering if there is any way to determine which regiment he served in from his uniform. I don't know much about the Austro-Hungarian Army, so I'm a little lost. His name was Josef Georg (a.k.a. Joseph George) Blum, and he was from the village of Billed in what is now Romania. The second picture (wearing the hat) is a real head-scratcher. He appears to be about 10 years older (after he would have emigrated to America). The hat and tunic are Austro-Hungarian, but the insignia on the hat appear to be American. The disc seems to be a U.S. Army Infantry (or Artillery, it's hard to tell) collar disc, and the eagle badge is an American bald eagle with some kind of writing above it. It looks like either "C.M.C.R.C." or "C.H.C.R.C.". I was wondering if anyone might have some idea about this, too. Thanks!

Thank you so much, Glenn! I'd completely forgotten that I'd posted this request. I did a quick Google search for Otto Rasenack, and apparently he'd authored some articles and at least one book, and had been a director of some kind in West Germany with regard to slaughterhouses. He was still alive around 1968. When I have some more time, I'm going to do some more in depth research. Thank you again!!! Jeff

Thank you for your input. I'll be selling it as a put-together now.

I believe it's dated 1942 from what a prospective buyer told me. Another told me the patches are outright fakes.

Hi all, I have a WWII-era battledress jacket that I'm selling, and someone has told me that the patches on it are not originals. I bought this jacket almost 10 years ago, and the seller assured me they were originals. I was wondering if someone here would be able to give me an expert opinion. Thanks!

Ancestry.com doesn't have anything in the way of RN records. The Medal Index Cards are Army-only, although you will sometimes find one to a member of another branch. However, this was usually a case of a relative applying for a deceased sailor or Marine's medals to the wrong office. In my case, I was looking for an MIC for a soldier by surname only and found an MIC to a Lt. Cragg of the Royal Navy. He had been killed in action while serving ashore in France, and it appears his father had applied for his medals through the Army medal office by mistake. For whatever reason, an MIC was created for him even though his medals would have had to be issued by the Royal Navy. I highly recommend using the services of J. Collins Military Research. I've used them numerous times, and not only are their prices very reasonable, but they get your research to you fast. You can find them at this link: http://www.militaryresearchon.com/ Just use the drop boxes to select what branch and time period you're looking for. As for Royal Navy service number prefixes, they had several for various ratings, ranks, and branches. Some examples: J - Seaman & Communications ratings (Signalman & Telegraphists) K - Stokers L - Officers Stewards & Cooks M - ERAs (Engine Room Artificers), Artisians (Shipwrights, Plumbers, Coopers etc.), Ship's Police, Sick Berth/Supply ratings, and Bandsmen SS - Short Service enlistments Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Divisions: BZ - Bristol CZ - Clyde LZ - London MZ - Mersey PZ - Crystal Palace SZ - Sussex TZ - Tyne Y - Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Deferred Enlistment (this would replaced by divisional prefix on actual enlistment) WZ - Wales

Hi Chris, I'm really glad this was so hopeful to you. I didn't post a thread alerting everyone to it because I figured someone had beaten me to it - I probably should have looked harder! You're right, this is a huge step forward for Imperial German research. Hopefully, Ancestry will be adding more things like this in the near future. If this is the reason that the British service records for surnames beginning with P through Z were delayed for so long, then I won't be mad at Ancestry anymore :lol:

You're welcome, Ulsterman. Always glad to help when I can. Just be sure to tell the folks at Ancestry that I'd like a cut of the membership fees for sending you their way :lol:

Hi Chris, If found three hits, but I suspect there were some transcription problems. The rosters appear to have been photographed, rather than scanned, and the camera's flash washed out some of the writing. I also cannot, for the life of me, decipher German handwriting. The three hits are listed as: -Farenlius Dumbacher, born 3 April 1887, Schneeberg (Mittenberg) Unterfranken -Karl Dumbacher, born 3 April 1887, Schneeberg Bezirksamt Miltenberg Bayern -Karuel Dumbacher, born 3 April 1887, Schuseberg Bezirksamt Miltenberg A/M. Untfrk I'm very confident these are all the same person with the first names being transcribed incorrectly due to the poor quality of the photos of the roster pages. The only one where I can make out a Dienstgrad is Karl Dumbacher, and he is listed as a Leutnant. Edit: Upon much closer inspection "Farenlius" definitely looks like "Cornelius". "Karuel" appears to be "Koruel" or "Kornel". "Karl" is nearly indecipherable to me :(

The World Deluxe Membership, which is what you'd need to view these and British Medal Index Cards and service records, is priced at around $24.95/month, or ~$300/year However, with the amount of research I do on my family and soldiers whose medals and uniforms I own, the subscription paid for itself several times over this past year.

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