Sal Williams Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 Hi Folks,I finally got my absolute fave Imperial award. Picked this up when I was in Austria. Rick and Glenn came up with some amazing info on this little guy.
Sal Williams Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 OOOOOOOOOooooo, Oaks! Or the "salad" as Rick says
Sal Williams Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 There is more to this tale but I am running out right now so I will post more later.Best, Sal
Chris Boonzaier Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 What is the green made of? I just saw a programm about mining a precious stone that looked the same colour.
Sal Williams Posted June 18, 2005 Author Posted June 18, 2005 What is the green made of? I just saw a programm about mining a precious stone that looked the same colour.←As I understand it it is just green glass
Bob Hunter Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 An OZL w/Oaks&Swords is nice place to begin a love affair... The cross is, I believe, formed from green crystal. It's glass, it's fragile and it scratchs so handle it with care.
Guest Rick Research Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 EXCELLENT scans Sal, much better than your on the road pixs! (I had no idea there WERE coin operated internet scanners, imagine that. )The rest of the story is where this special piece becomes not just 1 of 1,479 butONE... of 1,479
Bob Hunter Posted June 18, 2005 Posted June 18, 2005 I can think of three people looking forward to not only the 'where' but also the ' how' of that...
Sal Williams Posted June 19, 2005 Author Posted June 19, 2005 And now the fun begins. here is what it came in.
Sal Williams Posted June 19, 2005 Author Posted June 19, 2005 And here is the front of the packet and the answer to the mystery of who what when where AND how! ( I think Bob will get a kick out of this )
Sal Williams Posted June 19, 2005 Author Posted June 19, 2005 I will let Ricky and Glenn tell the tale in more detail than I ever could!Best, Sal
don Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 When you guys are done,maybe others could post their Favourite Imperial award here also. don
Stogieman Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Great stuff Sal, that's only the second issue packet I've ever seen!
Gerd Becker Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Fantastic Find. Sally. Exceptionally rare with packet, not to speak of a NAMED package.
Guest Rick Research Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 The envelopes are always named that way. Enlisted men got their awards handwritten on plain brown paper. 99.99999999999 percent of recipients simply threw the packaging away.Two lucky things--Erhard Roth transcribed the WW1 Baden award rolls, and they are in print in the Autengruber series--Hauptmann der Landwehr I Heinrich Westmark received his "BZ3bXmE" per 1 August 1917.The roll just shows "ResInfRgt" so Sal's envelope provides MORE information in this case, for with the unit, Order of Battle tracking can be done to see where he was then and what this might have been for-- though the regimental history would be the most accurate source. Reserve Infantry Regiment 111 was in the 28th Reserve Infantry Division. Given the usual bureacratic processing delays, this was probably for the extremely heavy losses against the French on the Californie Plateau (ironic, given the current owner lives on the classic California beach! ) in May. Pulled from the line and sent over 1,000 underage recruits from the 1918 draft class, the division was sent for training and recuperation in the Verdun sector in June-- promptly being overcame by a dysentery epidemic which sent the whole division COMPLETELY out of the line until August. So as of 1 August 1917 Westmark's last significant action had been on 18th May. Westmark was also the only officer of his name in the Prussian army, which makes following him easier than a Schmidt or M?ller, for sure!He was commissioned a Leutnant der RESERVE in Baden Inf Rgt 114 by 1902, but soon switched over to the less call ups LANDWEHR for his convenience and not because of age. He remained in the pre-WW1 German Rank Lists under Landwehrbezirk Stockach in Baden, rising through the ranks to Hauptmann dL before the war (dR and dL rank dates were NOT shown in Prussian Rank Lists, arrgh), acquiring an "LD2" between 1907 and 1912 (my gap in the annual editions)-- which meant he would have qualified for an XX on discharge in 1919/20.So... what was his Order doing in a shop in Austria, sez you?Wellllll, that's where Glenn's enormous archive comes in...
Glenn J Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Hi Rick,not much to add,Westmark was commissioned as a Leutnant der Reserve on 17.10.99 B6b in I.R. 114. By May 1909 he was the senior infantry Leutnant der Landwehr I in Landwehrbezirk Stockach and was an Oberleutnant d.L. by May 1910.He was living in Linz so that is probably why the decorations turned up in Austria.RegardsGlenn
Sal Williams Posted June 19, 2005 Author Posted June 19, 2005 (edited) Hi Rick,not much to add,Westmark was commissioned as a Leutnant der Reserve on 17.10.99 B6b in I.R. 114. By May 1909 he was the senior infantry Leutnant der Landwehr I in Landwehrbezirk Stockach and was an Oberleutnant d.L. by May 1910.He was living in Linz so that is probably why the decorations turned up in Austria.RegardsGlenn←Glenn! You are so modest. What about his exact addess and occupation after the war. I know it seems an impossible task and yet,..... Edited June 19, 2005 by Sal Williams
Glenn J Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 modest. What about his exact addess and occupation after the war. I know it seems an impossible task and yet,..... ←Sal,well before the war he was a businessman living at Landstra?e 107 RegardsGlenn[attachmentid=4602]
Bob Hunter Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Wonderful, Sal! You have a copy of the famous Heinrich Westmark reproduction OZLw/Swords made by expatriate leprechauns in Sri Lanka.
dond Posted June 19, 2005 Posted June 19, 2005 Sal, I am green with envy. I haven't gotten one of those yet.Don
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