Minor Meiningen Miracles: "Mere Other Ranks" SMM Combinations

[Guest Rick Research]

I have begun the mind-numbingly tedious process of transcribing the Roll of the roughly 23,000 Sachsen-Meiningen War Merit Medals (SMM) and have completed the first two war years.

In 1915 there were 4,600 SMMs on the combatant ribbon: 330 were to Saxons or native Meiningers in Saxon units, 253 to members of Baden units, 54 to Bavarian units, 37 in Waldeck’s infantry regiment, 25 in Württemberg units, 20 to members of the Imperial Navy, 12 in Hessian units, 3 in Oldenburg units, and 2 in Mecklenburg units.

In 1916 there were 5,704 SMMs on the combatant ribbon, of which 189 more (adding to the 1915 numbers previously cited) went to Meiningers in and members of Saxon units, 134 more to the Imperial navy, 119 to Bavarian units, 105 more in Baden units, 34 more in Hessian units, 32 more in Waldeck’s regiment, 22 to Württemberg units, 4 more to Mecklenburg units (of the entire Mecklenburg total for both years only 1 was from Strelitz), and 2 to Oldenburg units.

Here is a pair of Bavarian ribbon bars that came together years ago.

The 4 bar has silver swords (patina scans looking brown) which must represent a BMVK2X as awarded to senior sergeants, ending with a faded out Bavarian long service award ribbon. Because there is no Luitpold Jubilee Medal, that must be a BLD2 for the wearer to have had a BMVK2X. Of the 173 Bavarian recipients of an SMM in 1915 and 1916, only 16 were senior Reserve and Landwehr sergeants of ranks who could have received a BMVK2X.

16 out of 173 out of 10,304… so far.

Obviously a specific individual identification is not possible here BUT…

16 NCOs are the entire possible pool, for the two years completed so far.

Try THAT with your average Imperial German NCO bar of “common” awards…. :catjava:

[TacHel]

*Picks self off of floor from kneeling in front of the MASTER*

Are you one day planning to input all of your data from the numerous rolls you've worked on in a program with a search engine?

[Guest Rick Research]

So far the Remote Biological Entities (R.B.E.s) have to do that....

Now if only we could get the A.I.s to do the TYPING!

But actually-- once typed, all of it is searchable.

How many 1st names Alwin-- 219? (Titus? --2)

How many Feldunterarzt? --10

How many in Res Inf Rgt 109-- 102

Recipients who were factory workers? -- 286

Hairdressers?-- 38

Glass eye inserters?-- 21

and so on.

THEORETICALLY there is always the chance that a postcard sized photo signed with nothing but the "right" first name COULD now be identified.... :whistle:

Edited January 23, 2010 by Rick Research

[webr55]

So far the Remote Biological Entities (R.B.E.s) have to do that....

Now if only we could get the A.I.s to do the TYPING!

But actually-- once typed, all of it is searchable.

How many 1st names Alwin-- 219? (Titus? --2)

How many Feldunterarzt? --10

How many in Res Inf Rgt 109-- 102

Recipients who were factory workers? -- 286

Hairdressers?-- 38

Glass eye inserters?-- 21

and so on.

THEORETICALLY there is always the chance that a postcard sized photo signed with nothing but the "right" first name COULD now be identified....

Simply great. Those results make slave labor worthwhile in the end...

[Guest Rick Research]

The advantage to having 100% of an award in a small state like this is that, in the end, absolute conclusions can be reached.

These figures are from the total of 10,443 transcribed as of today up to the middle of January 1917:

Feldwebelleutnant = 5

Offizierstellvertreter = 218

Feldwebel (680) & Wachtmeister (140) = 820

Vizefeldwebel (433) & Vizewachtmeister (191) = 524

Fähnrich = 2

Sergeant = 181

Unteroffizier (1,844), Obergefreiter (44) & Oberjäger (25) = 1,913

Gefreiter = 2,292

These are the combatant arms army NCO ranks so far. There are probably several hundred “miscellaneous” such as Warrant Officer level doctors (11) and the vague and often non-specific administrative titles (Like “Beamten-Stellvertreter” which reveal absolutely nothing at all about actual function), but the overwhelming majority, of course, went to privates in all branches of service.

The virtual parity of awards between Gefreiters and Unteroffiziere is rather surprising, as is the virtual insignificance of the rank of Sergeant (the German title, not English translation). More surprising, given the fact that reserve officer candidates and NCOs promoted for bravery could reach that level, is the fact that Vizefeldwebel-equivalents were significantly outnumbered for awards by the far less actually numerous top sergeant grade of Feldwebel-equivalents.

The top wartime Warrant Officer-equivalent ranks of Feldwebelleutnant and Offizierstellvertreter are interesting because the “officers-only” SMK was granted to 178 (!!!) of the former and 2 of the latter. This may have been a result of recognizing that the SMM was under-rewarding them in the first half of the war—only completing the SMM roll for 1917 through 1919 will reveal whether time WAS a factor or some discretion was involved at that neither/nor level. That status ”issue” also arose with regular officer senior-cadets (Fähnrich) because while 2 received the SMM, 23 were decorated with the SMK!

It also seems more and more certain that the “missing” 1916+ Ernestine House Order/Medal rolls for Sachsen-Meiningen are NOT, in fact, missing at all—but rather the SMK and SMM simply REPLACED the far more expensive enamel and silver decorations. There were certainly “stray” awards of the Order from Meiningen in the last years of the war which we cannot account for in the Rolls, particularly at higher classes levels. But I am now quite confident in thinking that the Ernestine MEDALS from Meiningen were simply phased out entirely in favor of the SMMs. Certainly, recipients of the Meiningen Ernestine Medals 1914-15 seem to have been excluded (again, caveat “so far” as only 1915 and 1916 are completed) from receiving a SMM.