Chris Boonzaier Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 When could a collector possibly find half a jacket to be more interesting than a complete one? :-)
IrishGunner Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) When it was worn by Michael Jackson while holding his baby out of a Berlin hotel window? Edited October 26, 2011 by IrishGunner
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 27, 2011 Author Posted October 27, 2011 Nope.... better than that...... :-)
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 27, 2011 Author Posted October 27, 2011 The owner of this jacket is buried in Block1 Grave 292 of the German Military cemetary at Mangiennes at Verdun. He was not wearing this jacket when it was shredded by a French Mortar / Artillery round. His grave will be my first place to visit on the next Verdun tour. best Chris
Naxos Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 Incredible historical piece! What is the man's story?
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 27, 2011 Author Posted October 27, 2011 Incredible historical piece! What is the man's story? I want to get it together before posting it.... :-)
Naxos Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 I want to get it together before posting it.... :-) Can't wait to hear it. The Best WWI combat tunic I have seen.
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 27, 2011 Author Posted October 27, 2011 Can't wait to hear it. The Best WWI combat tunic I have seen. Well.... some guys just like the "Minty" ones.... you know..."Dont buy the story... buy the piece..." ;-))
Chris Boonzaier Posted October 27, 2011 Author Posted October 27, 2011 I want to get a full right up... German sources, French sources etc... then show it all... :-))
Claudius Posted October 27, 2011 Posted October 27, 2011 Amazing that they kept it all these years. Looks like an experiment with Bengal Tiger wrestling that went terribly wrong. The complete lack of staining suggests to me that no one was wearing it when it was hit. Must have had it out dry during an artillery storm, but I should wait for Chris' story.
Eric K. Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 So when is the write up coming? If he wasn't wearing this was it in his pack? hanging on a tree? We want details!!! Eric
Chip Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 Looks like he was up to his a**hole in alligators! :D
Chris Boonzaier Posted November 22, 2011 Author Posted November 22, 2011 I am busy doing the write up on this.... From another page on Kaisers cross, you can see pretty much how this can happen to a Jacket... "At 10pm David Haustei was killed by French artillery just 2m's from me, without me noticing it. It was an strange occurrence and unfortunately it must be said he was largely responsible for his own death. In spite of numerous warnings he had spent the day outside the bunker, under direct observation of the French artillery balloons. He spent the afternoon of the 22nd in his under shirt, sitting in the trench, delousing himself. he had taken his jacket off. A salvo of artillery brought him into the bunker where I berated him. after the barrage he went to recuperate his jacket which it turned out, had disappeared, either buried or destroyed by the artillery. At 10pm he went out to dig for it when a salvo landed. I jumped into the bunker, but Haustei was killed by a large splinter in the chest. We did not notice as we thought he had entered the dugout from the other side and we all lay down to sleep. Only when I called for the work detail did we find him, 1.5m from the entrance. The work details could not work in the barrage and the collapsed walls gave the enemy a great view of our positions." This was in a position hit by a French Trench Mortar.... the man himself was killed in an attack 2 months later, after having sent this home....
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 13, 2011 Author Posted December 13, 2011 Okay, back from Verdun where we walked the ground where his jacket was shredded by a French Trench mortar....
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 13, 2011 Author Posted December 13, 2011 And we even found a French trench mortar round, ironic to find it there as we have only ever seen a handful of these at Verdun..... Have more pics, but as the digital camera broke, I have to wait for the negatives to be developed....
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 21, 2012 Author Posted January 21, 2012 I am working on an article for the site... but here is the jacket....
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 21, 2012 Author Posted January 21, 2012 The pigs tail, piece of Bunker sheeting and barbed wire are pretty much from within a couple of hundred meters from where he was killed.
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 21, 2012 Author Posted January 21, 2012 Hi Grave and the cemetry, his grave is at the foot of the tree on the left hand side...
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