Seeing The Unseen: "Fashionably" Partial Ribbon Bars

[Guest Rick Research]

This ribbon bar's combination says "Prussian Major"--

And yet... where is his Red Eagle 4, XXV, and 1897?

Welllllll, what we have here is the War Awards ONLY "fashion statement." WHATEVER was earned pre-war is... invisible. That leaves only what is HERE to try and trace who this belonged to originally.

Luckily the rolls for the Hohenzollern House Order X, Bavarian MMO4X with Crown, and Saxon Albert Knight 1stX with Crown have been published... and I've just completed transcibing the CRUCIAL Saxe-Meiningen War Honor Cross Roll

which makes an attempted identification possible. Couldn't do ANYTHING from the fairly common three Orders combination as a trio. ONLY the "foursome" weeds out the many possible suspects.

UNFORTUNATELY, there are TWO possible

1) Paul von Mellenthin, born 18 March 1866 Botenhagen Kreis Schivelbein, killed in action 29 June 1918 by a bomb dropped onto him at Tournai while Artillery Commander 18..

He had started out in Feldart Rgt 53, but spent most of his career in Feldart 6.

HHOX gazetted 21.12.16

BMV4XmKr 15.12.15

SA3aXmKr 15.12.15 (in Feldart Rgt 6)

SMK 24.7.15 as Commander of I. Battalion/Field Artillery Regiment 6

SecLt 19.9.88

PremLt

Hauptmann ernannt 22.7.00 and Patentiert 18.4.03 Y4y

Major 27.1.13 X3x

Oberstleutnant 22.3.18

Buried in Breslau. He left widow Orlinda Waldenburg and sons Horst (1898- Gen d Art, KCIC wOL, GCiG), Alexander, and Friedrich-Wilhelm (1904-, GenMaj).

2) Fritz Henz, killed in action 1 May 1918 at Mont Renaus near Noyon as Chief of Gneral Staff of VIII. Army Corps

Commissioned in Infantry Regiment 29, he was already in the General Staff as an Oberleutnant. When the war started, he was General Staff officer in the 15th Infantry Division, VIIII. Army Corps.

As a Hauptmann i G he racked up a Red Eagle 4, BMV4, 1897, probably got the XXV in June 1914, and had JV5 and JZ5 from Japan.

None of which are here, either.

SecLt 9.2.93

Oberlt 27.1.02 C6c

Hauptmann iG 14.1.08

Major i G 4.7.14 L

and there is absolutely NO way to tell, barring a photo WEARING this, which one originally owned it. So CLOSE, and yet Two Is Not One.

[Stogieman]

Ahhh yes, the joy that abounded when I passed forward my Saxon Ribbon Bar collection is now tempered by frustration. The bottom line should remain my (Truly) Evil Twin?..... it's still one heck of a bar with some great and hard to find devices!!

[webr55]

so it's not Otto? (Hasse - old thread, another time, another place)

Edited February 1, 2007 by webr55