Heinrich goes for the gold.....

[Chris Boonzaier]

Okay, no exact date for his wound, but he seems to have been badly wounded in may-July 1916, probably just before may as he was finished in hospital and already back at the ersatz batln.

I assume a very, very bad wound that had him invalided out.

Anyway, a letter sent with his EK2 to the EB

[Chris Boonzaier]

Followed by the real EK doc a few moths later....

[Chris Boonzaier]

And his Wound badge doc for the gold badge (My first WW1 gold wound doc).

I assume it was one big bad wound.

The damage in the bottom corner was the post office by the way :-(

[Ulsterman]

Great doc Chris. Any chance he's mentioned in the regimantal history at all?

[dond]

Why did it take them until 1939 to award him the wound badge?

[Guest Rick Research]

I've never seen ANY version of 1918 "gold" either.

He can't have been blind or he would have made a VERY poor crossing guard/signalman for the ?? Reichsbahn.

People who were OUT of the military before June 1918 very often never got their badges processed. Then the regulations changed in 1936 to reflect severity rather than number of wounds and there was a rush of new applications and upgrades.

He would have either been an amputee or "unmanned" to have rated the late gold.

We can only guess at the human tragedies sometimes.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Great doc Chris. Any chance he's mentioned in the regimantal history at all?

I wish I had the history :-(

[Bernhard H.Holst]

I wish I had the history :-(

Hello readers.

The history of :" Das Heide Regiment Koenglich Preussisches 2. Hannoversches Infanterie Regiment Nr. 77 im Weltkriege 1914-1918" appeared in 1934.

Unfortunately it does not contain an index however I will make an effort to scrutinize it to perhaps find a little more information. It had belonged to a member of the 1. M.G. Kompanie who served from 1912 to 1918. In WW II from 1919 to 1945 in the L.W. L.N.Rgt. 2 as Oberfeldwebel.

BTW: as Rick rightly pointed out the circumstances as to the "late" bestowal of the Woundbadge i. G. please note the issuing office namely "Versorgungsamt" or the the office charged with matters of pensions/compensations for veterans incl. those with disabilities.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Tom Y]

Abebooks comes through

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello readers:

Tom has located the history of this regiment and it seems to be easily available if one is willing to pay the price(s) charged.

Here is a brief description of this regiment:

Date of formation is given as 1813 ( Kgl.Hann. 5. Inf.Rgt.in existence from 1813 to 1866), participation in the Battle of Waterloo with the subsequent battle honour of "Waterloo" granted.

After 1867 constituted as Inf.Rgt. 77 , Kaiser Wilhelm II reinstituted the battle honour "Waterloo" on the helmet bandeau.

The regiment was part of the 20. I.D. in the X.Corps in the 40.Inf.Brigade together with the 3rd Hann. Inf.Rgt.79 and the Braunschw. Inf.Rgt. 92.

In the timespan most likely pertinent here the regiment was deployed on the Eastern Front.. The 2. M.G.Komp. was part of the II.Btl.

The regiment lost in excess of 5,200 dead soldiers .

It merited :

One PLM (Hptm. Fricke) ;

Seven Knightscrosses with Swords of the Royal House of Hohenzollern;

Five Prussian Golden Military Merit Crosses ( out of slightly more than 1,700 awarded).

Bernhard H. Holst

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I am still guessing the Aisne as opposed to the eastern front.

The award was made about a month and a half after the Regt arrived in the east. BUT in that time the guy had been wounded bad enough to get the gold wound badge, been through hospital, landed in the recovery company? I would guess he was wounded late 15, early 16...did his hospital time, landed n the recovery comapny and then got his EK.

Tom is right, a good potential buy... but I have almost 500 imperial EK docs and 130 or so regtl histories.... and only 2-3 cases is there anything relevant to an individual :-(

[Stogieman]

Pretty special set Chris. I've gone back through all my archive fotos and cannot find a GWB either. Lots of Black, some Silber.... no gold.