Weird Saxon Bar without Medals

[webr55]

This is a strange thing I just got. Seems like a long-serving Saxon NCO with

- a TR long service award?? RAD?? CO medal?? Prussian Reserve??

- a strange ribbon that I can't ID (looks French ) The last green piece of ribbon on the bar apparently is there only for show.

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[webr55]

Back:

Edited November 11, 2017 by webr55

[Guest Rick Research]

Very strange indeed, and without the 1897 Medal or I would think this was a WW1 home made bar for an old 1870 veteran rather than a Hindenburg Cross (and why no hook on there for that?).

The tricolor is

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3937

[webr55]

Very strange indeed, and without the 1897 Medal or I would think this was a WW1 home made bar for an old 1870 veteran rather than a Hindenburg Cross (and why no hook on there for that?).

The tricolor is

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3937

Ahhh! An inofficial South-West Africa medal - but when did he go there? Was that medal for WW1 service or for 1904ff.?

So an 1870 veteran, rather? The middle hook broke off at some point, the scan does not show that. And it looks definitely home made.

[Guest Rick Research]

Well, it can't be an 1870 because there is no 1897. I don't think he can have been in SW Africa during the 1904-06 Herero-Hottentot War or he would have had the ribbon for that medal-- this unoffical medal may have been for anybody who served there at any time.

It's a mysterious bar!

[webr55]

So what about this: A Saxon Feldwebel who was in the Schutztruppe in 1914, already had the Saxon Honor Cross and a Saxon DA, then POW, so no EK or other wartime awards. No SWA medal, but felt the need to stick to his SW Veteran piece even after 1934.

AND - wasn't the Schutztruppe eligible for the Prussian DAs? So maybe he already had a Saxon DA pre-1914, and got himself a Prussian IX or XII postwar?

[Bob Hunter]

It's fun to come across conversation pieces like yours, isn't it?

[Guest Rick Research]

This falls into the "without the MEDAL bar we'll never know" category. Non-Prussian personnel who earned a long service award in the colonies did indeed get the Prussian version. There are many examples of officers in the Bavarian Army Rank Lists-- though the only one I have ever encountered myself is this prize to an NCO who retired before the war, got a civil service job, and returned to uniform as a warrant officer in WW1:

[attachmentid=22253]

Some things ribbons alone do not tell us.

[Bob Hunter]

Love those teenie weenie campaign bars on ribbon bars! Almost as good as St. Tammy ribbons.

[HeikoGrusdat]

these bavarian war AND peacetime mvk medal bars are too cool... always again I am very happy when I see them!!!

[Stogieman]

I'm not entirely convince that that is an Honor Cross for WW1. The odd style and hooks on the back tend me towards an 1870-1900 era bar. The Honor Cross was certainly an appropriate award for that era.

[webr55]

I'm not entirely convince that that is an Honor Cross for WW1. The odd style and hooks on the back tend me towards an 1870-1900 era bar. The Honor Cross was certainly an appropriate award for that era.

It certainly has the old style look. Now you mean Saxon Honor Cross or Hindenburg?

[Stogieman]

Whoops! yes, I meant the Saxon Ehrenkreuz. Same ribbon with/without swords (first place on the bar). Also matches nicely with the Saxon LSM. It's a gut call, but I do think this is an early bar!

[webr55]

Whoops! yes, I meant the Saxon Ehrenkreuz. Same ribbon with/without swords (first place on the bar). Also matches nicely with the Saxon LSM. It's a gut call, but I do think this is an early bar!

I agree this must be a pre-1914 Saxon Ehrenkreuz w/o X. A senior NCO who also had a pre-1914 Saxon LS. Then he probably was a POW in Africa for the entire war and felt left out, so he added the SWA Veteran piece. The blue ribbon - I think - is either a Prussian DA for members of the Schutztruppe or a TR Treudienst.