Rob Irwin

Hello chaps. I recently looked for a reference book on the Army Veterinary Corps in WW1.

I turned up two books on the Australian experience ("Vets at War" and "Forgotten Men"), but the only one I could find on the UK experience was a tome covering 1919-1961, so interesting in general but not the time period I was after.

Of course there are unit diaries, etc, but a specific reference on the WW1 experience seems missing, or at least out of print and forgotten.

Any leads? Cheers.

That makes more sense... it was just my poor interpretation of it, I think!

Wow, so there's some interesting background there. Thanks to both you chaps

Cheers, we have pieced together more about this guy in a few hours than I could have hoped for.

From my collection.

Rim says: AUS KROBERT RM GR SCHUTZ

(I've never been able to really make much of it...)

From my collection.

Rim says: SOLDAT HEINR WENDT LANDWEHR BATAILLON VERDE

It's not much, but the recent newsletter from the site welcomed images of our medal bars, "no matter how big or how small", so here's mine:

Iron Cross II class 1914, Cross of Honour of the World War - Combatant, Prussia Long Service Cross for 15 years’ service

Wow! That is information I never dreamed I'd ever find out and wasn't even the reason I posted the image; I was just wanting to share the piece in general.

So thank you, sincerely, Dave. That's great! Totally unexpected and a great surprise

The listing, when I was buying it:

AWARD DOCUMENT AND DECORATION - HINDENBURG CROSS/WIDOW'S CROSS. The Honor Cross, or more commonly, the Hindenburg Cross, was issued in three grades. First was the class for combatants, awarded with swords. This cross was bronzed-toned. The second was similar to the combatants' cross, except without swords. Finally came an award made to widows whose husbands had died for Germany. This cross had a slightly different ribbon, no swords, and was black in color. Today's example is a fine representation of the latter and its award document.

Made by: 48 R.V. PFORZHEIM

The listing, when I was buying it:

1914 IRON CROSS 2nd CLASS - LEUTNANT der RESERVE - FELDARTILLERIE-REGIMENT Nr 45. This is an award document for the 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class and the actual Iron Cross. The awardee was Leutnant der Reserve Paulsen, who served in Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr 45. The award was made on 9 June 1916. The document, which measures 4" x 6 1/2," bears the regimental stamp, and the regimental commander's signature (he was a major). The 1914 Iron Cross that accompanies the document is in fine condition. It has a ribbon.

Later, I emailed the seller about the title "Leutnant der Reserve" asking if it's some kind of Second Lieutenant, or sub-Lietenant or similar? His reply:

Many nations (including the U.S.) still have a rank of reserve officer AND regular army. You man is a full blown officer. He was in the reserves and not the regular army. The only real difference is that he was not a career officer. He served one or two years active service and with the beginning of the war and then he was most likely called back to active duty. With the expansion of the army more officers were needed. Also, a man could be promoted from Enlisted Man/NCO ranks and would be made a reserve officer even during the war. That would separate him from regular army. Hope this helps and we look forward to serving you again in the future. And yes he was a 2nd Lieutenant. This also happened in the Navy.