Poison Dwarf

A friend found this arm band(?) among his late father's possessions. We have no clue what it is or if it has value (we presume it does ). The semicircular "body" of the item is woven -- a bit like embroidery -- on a linen base. The colors are reversed on the opposite side.

Can anyone enlighten us?

The amount of WORK this took back in the late 1950s sending letters back and forth, tracking down former naval officers and their next of kin is something Google searching instant results folk cannot comprehend.

Herr Hildebrand was quite pleased that anyone was still interested after 45 years! The originals were sent out in sections with 3 ring binder punches by subscription, so finding complete originals is both virtually impossible and extremely expensive.

Jeez, Rick, that sounds like an endorsement to me. So am I to understand that all the details of the two officers related to this sword would be included in Paul's reprint?

Paul: Is your document a printed piece or a .pdf?

I mean, you guys have coughed up such good information that I am wondering whether there's anything else to say about these boys? If there's more out there, I'd be happy to spring for it.

Thanks,

Mark

Anderson is listed in the Hildebrand/Lohmann book. I have the reprint for sale for $45.00

Paul:

What is the Hildebrand/Lohmann book all about? The German histories are a bit out of my league.

Best,

Mark

Great idea Laurence. I would have never thought of using one of these for anything but family photos. I suppose one could also take photos of their favourite medal groups and do the same.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Regards

Brian

You can also gang them in a larger format display (see http://tinyurl.com/mmd5ee). I've done several of these for collectors: Canadian Militia, Canadian Militia in Winter Dress, Canadian Artillery, and the latest . . . Swedish Cavalry. You get to enjoy them without putting the original images at risk, and they can be framed. This image at the link is low-resolution and is shown at about a third of it's finished size of 24" x 10".

Scans of my collection are set up to run as a screen saver on my monitor. Sure gets some attention.

Mark

Great work, gentlemen. Thanks very much for your time and effort.

Any suggestions are more than welcomed.

There's an on-line outfit called "Bags Unlimited" that sells sleeves for CDVs, cabinets, and larger photos, as well as binder-ready pages for storing them. Bought a pile just last fall to organize my photo collection after too many years of tossing them all in a dark box. You'll find them if you do a Google search for "Bags Unlimited."

You might have to study the website a bit as it's junked up with a lot of other worthless crap ( ) that's of no value to those who are only interested in old photos (like me).

Mark

The way this has been unfolding, I'll put my money on three hours.

Yes, that's all fine and good you guys, but what were their Mother's names?

C'mon, try to deliver something of value!

Seriously . . . very, very much appreciated.

Mark

Six hours from acquisition to full history. Impressive. It's been a good Memorial Day for me and for the memories of Kapit?nleutnant zur See Otto Andersen and his friend Axel L?we.

Thank you.

Rick and Bear:

Amazing! Andersen was an S-Boat commander in WWI!?!?! Wow, I thought they were a WWII weapon! This one's a keeper.

You have a real command of the records. My hat is off to you both. If you come across anything else relevant to these gentleman, I will be interested to say the very least.

Again, many thanks,

Mark

I'm salivatin' guys. Tell me more . . . .

Mark

Done

Still more

Even more

More

Hi, all. My first post on this board, and an appropriate time considering it's Memorial Day here in the US. Here's a new acquisition as of about three hours ago: an m1913 Imperial German Naval Sword named to Andersen. It's my first naval sword (not counting a British cutlass bayonet), and my first damascus blade.

Based on Rick's assessment of the virtually identical sword in this thread -- http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26183 -- I was worried that I wouldn't be able to confirm ownership. That is, until I pulled out the loupe and found "Andersen" on the rounded portion of the nearside lip of the guard. It's has almost been obliterated by rubbing, but it's there. Rick, any thoughts as to the availability of info on Herr Andersen's naval career, or Herr L?we's, for that matter? It must have been a long one judging from the wear on the hilt where the name is inscribed.

The pipeback blade features "L?we s/l Andersen" in relief and, while it is in good overall shape, there are stains here and there, and a minor nick or two in the edge. Interestingly, my sword was retailed by the same firm as NJB's in the aforementioned thread: G.B. & S. Anyone know them? The opposite side bears the Kirschbaum knight's head stamp. As I said, I'm new to damascus steel. Can one tell from just looking at it whether it is "genuine" damascus or "damaststahl"?

The hilt retains a lot of its fire gilt, and the red and green lion's eyes are intact. There's a chip out of the ivory (bone?) and a few vertical cracks in the grip, the but the wrap wire is intact. The guard spring is strong.

The scabbard is minty -- no creases, no dents. The suspension rings even have the original belt hooks attached (sadly, no belts).

Photos attached below. Comments, thoughts, recommendations are welcome.

Thanks,

Mark