Kron Bavarian Pure Gold

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Colors not so good, I had a few minutes to get shots of this.

Born in Schleswig he was commissioned in Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Carl (4. Gro?herzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118

14 Dec 1895: Adjutant of the 30th Infantry brigade

27 Jan 1899: Company Commander in 4. Westpreu?isches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 140

18 Jul 1902: Adjutant on the staff of the II Army Corps

24 Mar 1909: Commander II Battalion 5. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 165

01 Oct 1912: Oberstleutnant on the Staff of 9. Lothringisches

Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 173

02 Aug 1914: Commander Landwehr Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 25

Sekonde-Lieutenant: 15 Apr 1884

Premier-Lieutenant: 17 Sep 1892

Hauptmann: 18 Nov 1897

Major: 18 Nov 1905

Oberstleutnant: 1 Oct 1912 N

Oberst: 19 Aug 1914 Y

Generalmajor: 18 Dec 1917

Retired 31 December 1921 as a Generalleutnant

Battalion Commander Infanterie-Regiment 65: 1912

Permanent Staff Officer 9. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 173: 1914

Commander 27. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade: 5 Jun 1916 - 28 Sep 1916

Acting Commander 105. Infanterie-Division: 4 Jul 1918

Commander 86. Infanterie-Brigade: 10 Jan 1919 - 30 Sep 1919

Befehlshaber der Infanterie in Reichswehr-Brigade 1: 15 May 1920 - 30 Sep 1920

Infanterief?hrer I: 1 Oct 1920 - 31 Dec 1921

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Would love to get my uncle's bar, somewhere maybe out there missing a crown.

Red Eagle 4 with Crown, Crown 3rd, XXV, 1897, BrH3a (Brunswick Henry the lion-Knightsr 1st), HP3a (Hessian Philip the Generous-Knight 1st), and WVK3 (Waldeck Merit Cross 3rd)

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

My Uncle with von Klingspor wife.

[Guest Rick Research]

Shots of WHAT?

I think you missed a bit of whatever that's part of!

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Rick, the crown was taken off the bar in Eastern Germany in December 1946 after he died, put in a pocket by a nephew, by train to Wiesbaden and traded to my mother for three packs of cigarettes. Smokes were CASH in those days... By the weight of gold, she purposely overpaid him. The rest was all considered 'junk' as it had no real gold content. And they needed food.

Edited January 16, 2006 by Brian von Etzel

[VtwinVince]

Interesting thread, Brian, thanks for posting it. You remind me of the stories my maternal grandmother used to tell me about the winter of 1945-46, when she was reduced to hawking the family's jewels and decorations in order to avoid starvation. This was after the US army "liberated" the area they were living in, Lower Saxony, booted them out of their home, ransacked and appropriated all their property and refused to give them any food. To the victors the spoils, as they say...

[Ramblinfarms]

Tis true. From our perspective 60 years later, we can take a more balanced view of the war, and ALL the sides that fought in it.

But in 1945, it would not be hard to see why the average GI, especially one that fought in the last terrible death-throes of the Third Reich, would have little to no sympathy for Germany and the German people.

It doesn't make it right, but I can certainly understand the mentality.

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Victors don't always take spoils.

I'd heard stories about my father feeding kids with ice cream and other foods he and his buddies appropriated from the mess. Seemed a little too goody goody and I figured the story a bit elaborated.

When we moved there in the sixties we traveled to Dalsheim near Alzey. Willi Egerer owned a winery there and was a friend of my dad's. When we arrived in the town all these now older people in their 30's and 40's went out of their to make sure they met up with dad to thank him for his kindness.

Spoils to the victors? Revenge? I think that sums up the Russian experience but my father's kindness was not unusual. There were plenty of GI's stealing from anyone and everyone, but there were plenty of them being kind young men to a ravaged people.

[Les]

Spoils to the victors? Revenge? I think that sums up the Russian experience but my father's kindness was not unusual. There were plenty of GI's stealing from anyone and everyone, but there were plenty of them being kind young men to a ravaged people.

There were others on the Allied side that did what they could for the Germans (and everyone else) after the war was over. Gail S. Halvorsen of Provo, Utah, the "candy bomber" of Berlin flew cargo planes into Berlin before and during the Berlin airlift. Halvorsen on one of his flights to Tempelhof started up a conversation with some local children who asked for candy or buble-gum. He gave them some gum, and promised more on future trips. The kids asked how they would know when he was coming, and he said he'd wiggle the wings. He did, they came, and kept on coming again and again. Halvorsen became a symbol to Americans and Germans about many things, for sometimes different reasons.

More than one or two Americans and Brits returned home after the war, or occupation duty with "war brides." Apparently, both victors and vanquished were able to get beyond the past.

Les

[VtwinVince]

Les and Brian, you are both right that there were exceptions to the rule, and I don't deny that many allied soldiers were not motivated by revenge. But I think it's time to dispel the notion that allied troops were somehow involved in a "crusade" in Europe, ridding it of evil and being welcomed by the liberated. Let's face it, being German after May 8, 1945 was not a good thing, whether in the east or west. It was open season on anyone or anything German because, after all, they had inflicted Hitler on the world.

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Think how many officers and men like my dad were 1st generation born in America... Both parents spoke German. They all hated Hitler, but they believed they were liberating which is exactly what they were doing.

[Ramblinfarms]

That makes sense. My Grandfather was AUSTRIAN-American" till the day he died. He hated Hitler and the Nazis for what they did to Austria by dragging them into the Wagnarian Passion Play of the Third Reich.

[VtwinVince]

The notion that Austria was "dragged" into the Third Reich is ludicrous. The vast majority of Austrians were avid supporters of the Anschluss in 1938, and supplied many of the top Nazis, including of course AH. After the war the Austrian government cleverly warped history by insisting that Austria had been "invaded" and "occupied" by the Germans and was a victim of Nazi aggression. This of course made them exempt from the stigma of Nazism which has plagued Germany since the war. One only needs to look at the footage of Hitler speaking at the Heldenplatz in 1938 to know that this is utter rubbish.

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

I think the silent majority in many countries got swept into the devil's web. And the adoring minority who dreamed of being on top of the world learned all too quickly the mistake they had made when they losts their sons in the frozen east and everything they owned from the skies filled with bombers.

[Stogieman]

Just a quick note here........ Plenty of GI's looted and just as many did not. I had 5 Great Uncles in Europe from 1942 through 1957. Not one of them brought home anything more than a postcard and 4 "war orphans" adopted as their own.

What they shipped home were Hummels and Mepps Lures and the occassional beer Stein. All paid for in cash. I cringe when I hear the one who adopted the kids talk about the PPK/holster/belt he traded away for some single malt scotch.............

I'm sure that there were no shortage of willing participants in the occupations/annexations but I am also just as sure that there were a tremendous number of people opposed.

Let's be careful to not let this degenerate into a political discussion please. Thanks!

[Ramblinfarms]

Saddam could fill a plaza full of cheering supporters, too.