Three soldiers standing

[Eduardo]

This group of three soldiers has all the white part of the postcard's front written. The lines of the pencil are so light that it is difficult to make anything from them Also I can see that the photo was taken from another photo or at least is seems like that. Something else is that the face of the first soldier to the left is partialy errased or he moved. I have made scans of the buckles and the neck area of the center one. Can something be said about them with that info?

Eduardo

[David Gregory]

Eduardo,

Sorry I can't help with much information on the men in the picture. The belt buckles seem to be standard issue.

The dark lines along the two sides of the images might be due to reproduction of the original photo, but they may also be on the original negative. The bellows of the camera may have been in the way of the image when it was taken or the photographic plate (perhaps glass or film) may have been misaligned in the holder.

David

[Eduardo]

Thanks David. You must be right. After thinking it over I think that it would have been difficult to take a picture from a photo and keep the details. Your explanation clears the issue.

Seems nothing more can be said of this group. I don't know if I can get some filters to be able to read the pensil writting. Will try and maybe that would produce more information.

Eduardo

[David Gregory]

Eduardo,

Photos like this are often contact prints from the original negative.

To reveal more of the writing, try changing the colour balance settings in your scanner software. I have made washed-out writing "appear" on pages of a Milit?rpass in the past, but only by trying different settings until it just happened to be correct. I tried a systematic approach, but trial and error were the only way to get any results.

David

[Chip]

Eduardo,

We might be able to determine what unit they were in from the shoulder straps. If you could enlarge the straps on the soldier that shows them the best, I could possibly make a determination. It looks like they are from a cyphered infantry regiment.

Chip

[Eduardo]

Hello Chip,

I have done some detailed scans of the shoulder straps. Here I post them and hope they help.

Eduardo

[Chip]

Eduardo,

Thank you for your effort to enlarge the photo. I am not 100% sure, but it looks like the cypher is that of the Infanterie Leibregiment Gro?herzogin Nr.117 (Hessian). I think that this might be confirmed by the button hole ribbon, which appears to be for a Hessian bravery medal. This strap is the M15 simplified version (unpiped M10). I no longer have an example in my collection, but here is the same cypher on a M15 enlisted man's strap. The belt buckles are not Hessian, but during the war, Hessian troops often wore a mixture of Prussian and Hessian insignia.

Chip

Edited October 21, 2006 by Chip

[Eduardo]

Thanks Chip. Your information is very valuable for my files. As soon as I can I will print all what I have in the subject and will send you a copy so you can have it and hopefully inform me more about the material.

Eduardo

[Mike Dwyer]

Chip,

Just to serve as a backup, I think you're correct about the shoulder strap cypher.

[Jacky]

I could be mistaken,

but the man in the middle appears to wear an EK on a nichtk?mpfer band??

Kind regards

Jacky

[David Gregory]

I could be mistaken,

but the man in the middle appears to wear an EK on a nichtk?mpfer band??

Kind regards

Jacky

From the size of the stripes, it might also be a Hessen Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen.

[Jacky]

Maybe nice to have a topic in which one mentions all the ribbons appropriated for wearing from the button hole??

Kind regards

Jacky

[David Gregory]

Maybe nice to have a topic in which one mentions all the ribbons appropriated for wearing from the button hole??

Kind regards

Jacky

Jacky,

We made a start at http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5225&hl=.

Since then, I have found a few more photos in my files. I'll add them when my scanner decides to do its job again.

David

[Eduardo]

Because of my ignirance in this subject I had not noticed the button hole decorations. Here I have made enlargements of the two in the pic of the 3 soldiers standing. The first one corrresponds to the man in the left and the second one to thew man in the center.

Eduardo

[David Gregory]

Because of my ignirance in this subject I had not noticed the button hole decorations. Here I have made enlargements of the two in the pic of the 3 soldiers standing. The first one corrresponds to the man in the left and the second one to thew man in the center.

Eduardo

Eduardo,

The ribbon on the left may be that of the Baden MVO, probably for a Silberne Verdienstmedaille.

The one on the right still looks like that of the Hessen Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, although it might be for something else.

David