Identify these awards?

[Thomas W]

These are on the chest of a firefighter photographed in Baden Baden in the late 1930's. He's a former flamethrower officer.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Tom W.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Thomas W

[Naxos]

These are on the chest of a firefighter photographed in Baden Baden in the late 1930's. He's a former flamethrower officer.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Tom W.

Freistaat-Baden, twenty-five years service in the voluntary Fire Department - was awarded from 1920 to 1934.

I'm not sure about the medal, it's not the 40 year service medal - perhaps it's the Grossherzoglich Badische Rettungsmedaille

Hardy

Edited December 16, 2008 by Naxos

[Thomas W]

Thanks for the reply.

Here's what's weird: I'm almost positive that my photo shows Bernhard Reddemann, the former commander of the flamethrower regiment. Facially, the man in my photo is very similar to Reddemann as he appeared in 1911 (photo on the left). As you can see, the ear, nose, and chin are nearly identical, if you take into account the different angles of the head in the two images.

My photo was taken between 1931 and 1934; Reddemann died in 1938 at the age of 69.

Reddemann was the fire chief of Leipzig before the war. After the war he lived in Berlin and worked for Minimax, which produced firefighting equipment. He edited a firefighting journal during this period.

It doesn't seem likely that he would have been a member of the Baden volunteer fire brigade for 25 years. Could he have been awarded an honorary badge, in recognition of his long service as a firefighter? He wrote several books on firefighting and invented several extinguishers and nozzles. Could he have been given the medal, and then asked to pose in the Baden uniform? Back in the day, it was customary for military leaders or heads of state to pose for photos wearing the uniform of the unit they were visiting. Did firefighters have the same custom?

There's always the possibility that my photo doesn't show Reddemann at all, but the faces sure look like the same guy.

[Naxos]

Looks like him - but I doubt it is.

The man that is the expert on Flammenwerfer is a member here. His name is Bob Lembke, send him a PM

Bob's profile: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showuser=3014

Hardy

Edited December 16, 2008 by Naxos

[Thomas W]

Thanks very much.

TW

[Wild Card]

Freistaat-Baden, twenty-five years service in the voluntary Fire Department - was awarded from 1920 to 1934.

I'm not sure about the medal, it's not the 40 year service medal - perhaps it's the Grossherzoglich Badische Rettungsmedaille

Hardy

Not a Baden Lifesaving medal. They have a bust of the Grand Duke on the obverse and ?F?r Rettung? surrounded by a wreath on the reverse.

This medal does come close to the reverse of the 40 year Fire Service medal; but I would say that it is not an exact match. Also, this might just possibly not even be a Baden award because it does not have that weird extended wire ?se common to most Baden medals.

[Schießplatzmeister]

Hello folks:

The top medal is a municipal firefighting medal (but what municipality I do not know).

Best regards,

"SPM"

[saschaw]

The top medal is a municipal firefighting medal (but what municipality I do not know).

100 points for "SPM".

Those medals were given by all (or almost all?) cities in Baden, were very well struck and engraved on the reverse - and this is the one of (the city) Baden (aka "Baden-Baden"). The coat of arms gives it, with the typical mural crown. Very nice photo, but for sure not Mr. Reddemann. Though, could you show it fully? Thanks in advance.

[Thomas W]

Very nice photo, but for sure not Mr. Reddemann. Though, could you show it fully? Thanks in advance.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Thomas W

[Thomas W]

I'm still not convinced it's not Reddemann, since the age, physical build, and facial features match almost perfectly.

But thanks for all the comments.

[Thomas W]

Just for fun, I'll add all my Reddemann photos, so you can see what a chameleon he was. He looks different in every photo. The key is the ear, the chin, and the nose, all of which are the same. He clearly had an issue with his mustache, though.

Here he is in 1915.

[Thomas W]

1916.

[Thomas W]

1917.

[Thomas W]

And 1925.

[Naxos]

Nice pictures Thomas -

Look how proud he marches. Do you think (besides not having served in the Baden-Baden voluntary Fire Department for over 25 years) Reddemann would have missed a photo opportunity to sport his WWI medal bar?

[Guest Rick Research]

Can't offer any suggestions on faces, since what I do is awards combinations.

That cannot be Reddemann marching along in #14-- that officer is clearly wearing (in 2nd place) a wartime Saxe-Weimar White Falcon Order with swords and a Saxe-Meiningen War Honor Cross in third place--neither of which Reddemann received--ending with a Prussian long service XXV or XX and the 1897 Centenary Medal which required being on active duty on 22 March 1897.

Reddemann's awards were: Iron Crosses, Prussian Hohenzollern House Order 3rd with Xs (what is being worn from the front of his tunic in #11), a Prussian Crown Order 4th Class, Prussian Reserve/Landwehr XX, wartime Bavarian Military Merit Order 4X and a peacetime Saxon Albert Order-Knight 1st. Dr.jur. Reddemann was already a reserve officer in Pio Bn 20 in 1897 so he would not have qualified for the Centenary Medal.

[Thomas W]

Hi Rick:

The back of the postcard identified the guy as Reddemann, so I don't know what to say. I no longer have the original image, so I can't provide a scan.

Facially he's identical to the other shots, except for the mustache. The ear, glasses, chin, nose, and shape of the mouth are the same.

If you read Reddemann's memoirs, he has a propensity to, um... make things up. For example, he claims universal success in operations that the other side says were failures. He also takes credit for flamethrowers developed by others and operations carried out by Willy Rohr.

The #14 photo was taken on Deutscher Pionier und Verkehrstruppen-Tag in Munich, July 17, 1925. Reddemann is wearing a Prussian fire-chief's walking-out uniform instead of a Garde-Pionier uniform, which is odd.

When I was researching my book on German flamethrower pioneers, I hired a German geneologist who traced people she swore were descendents of Reddemann. They all denied they were, and they refused contact with me.

I wonder if he was some kind of nutter who--along with his tendency to lie about his achievements--wore inappropriate uniforms and medals he wasn't awarded?

Or you could be right, and the guy in the first and last photos isn't Reddemann at all. Strange to find two German firemen--or maybe three--who all have exactly the same face and build and are the same age...

[Guest Rick Research]

No one with a Hohenzollern House Order-- the German Cross in Gold of WW1-- would have "dressed down" by NOT wearing the second highest award Prussia had to offer.

It would be like a recipient of our DSC having portraits made wearing no awards but a Good Conduct Medal.

[Thomas W]

Weird. I went with the inscription on the back of the card.

I wonder if he had Alzheimer's?

[Ulsterman]

Somebody else probably thought it was him and wrote in the name.