EK 1914 Those strange Saxons...

[Chris Boonzaier]

The Saxons seem to have liked post award documents confirming the man has the FA medal and EK2...

Here is an unusual one, from the division... given out at X-Mas!

[Ulsterman]

Now THAT is cool!

A double award document.

Makes you wonder if -in certain units anyway, getting an EK2 automatically got you an FAM.

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello:

I have pondered this subject and came to this conclusion:

this document seems to be a congratulatory note to distinguished soldiers ( having earned more than one medal)for the Christmas holidays rather than the original bestowal document. The identical date of award(s) for two different awards to me seems very unlikely.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hello:

I have pondered this subject and came to this conclusion:

this document seems to be a congratulatory note to distinguished soldiers ( having earned more than one medal)for the Christmas holidays rather than the original bestowal document. The identical date of award(s) for two different awards to me seems very unlikely.

Bernhard H. Holst

I think it was more complicated than that. There was in WW1 no standardised system of issuing award docs for the EK. Some guys were awarded the medal and got a doc 2 years later. Some got 2 or 3 docs for the same award... The commanding general approved the award and it was up to the Regiment to decide what docs if any were issued. Very different from 1870 or WW2 which had very different but very orderly systems of issuing documents.

This is the 3rd Saxon Doc I have with both awards. This one is interesting as it seems to have the form of an X-mas letter, but another one was to a man who was at the Ersatz Battalion back in the home depot of his regt. Very probably he was awarded the FA medal and EK2, was wounded, landed up in the E.B. and they did the paperwork to confirm he had been awarded the medals, either because the originals were lost, but very possibly because up until then he had not recieved any.

It is important to remember that until mid 1918 the Germans still planned to issue "official" documents retroactively, so all the docs we see are actually all preliminary,basically just confirming that an award had been made, except later 1918 ones where they officially became "official".

Best

Chris

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello Chris

Interesting points you make. My thinking was triggered by the structure/wording of the document which made me believe it not to be even a preliminary bestowal document.

My collection of documents or groups consists mostly of Preussen, Freie u. Hanse Staedte and Braunschweig. And they do not contain such. Your caption." ..those strange Saxons" appears on the mark.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Speedy]

For me it looks like some season greetings or a christmas card. The exact German wording only says that he wears the two medals and not that they are given to him with this "document".

[Chris Boonzaier]

For me it looks like some season greetings or a christmas card. The exact German wording only says that he wears the two medals and not that they are given to him with this "document".

Hi,

I agree 100% as mentioned in post 4. but the Saxons seem to have had a thing for documents confirming a soldier had the EK and FAM . As I said in post 1... a "POST award document" as opposed to "award document"...

Almost as if the Div commander thought "hmmm... we have just been giving out typewritten ausweiss up until now... lets give them a nice doc for X-Mas"

The whole "EK and FAM" on one doc can not be THE award doc, as it would imply that the soldiers got both medals at the same time.

bEST

cHRIS