What unit is this officer..

[Chris Boonzaier]

... he is standing next to a horse...

[Paul R]

I dont know about the specific unit, but the insignia appears to be that of a medical officer!

Paul

[Chris Boonzaier]

I figure a doctor or a vetenarian?

[Paul R]

Definately a doctor as I can see the staff under the serpant.

I do not see how it will be possible to ID a unit based upon the details on his uniform... but I am new to this area.

His Bavarian award is higher in precidence than his Prussian EK2. Could that mean that he was Bavarian?(again, still learning the basics here)

[Guest Rick Research]

Nope, the combination of cap and shoulder board suggests INFANTRY to me-- all red piped cap, but white underlay boards. The device is a "4."

Bavarian from the cockade-- though Prussian buttons.

Very light-weight summer material. Hmmm.

Imperial medical officers had a dark cord between the inner and outer bullion loops with Vs-- where the dark green "stripe" was on Wehrmacht Beamten boards later. I thought I had a whole board scanned, but can't find it. Here's a close up of a Prussian medical officer board showing part of the black cord:

[attachmentid=24539]

[Paul R]

Thanks for the info on the unique features of the medical boards of the period, Rick!

Does anyone have a photo or scan of an Imperial "4" to post for comparison?

[Chip]

Rick's got it right. The straps are M16 field issue with white underlay for infantry. That would probably make the unit the b.4.I.R. The buttons are general issue after 1916 for the Bavarian Bluse and Mantel. The traditional Lion buttons were supposed to be replaced with crown buttons. I assume that this applied to officer's as well. The only lions left were on the NCO rank disks. In practice, this took a little while to get into the production pipeline and the earliest Blusen were still being made with lion buttons. I have a Probe Bavarian Bluse dated 1916 with lion buttons throughout.

The special strip of cord on the medical officer's board differed by state. It came in black, blue, red/black twist, red/white twist, etc.

The tunic and cap look like they could be examples of that "silk" material.

Chip

Edited January 27, 2006 by Chip

[Paul R]

Thank you for the clarification on the Medical Insignia. They sound like they can be an area of collecting on their own!

Paul

[Chris Boonzaier]

From what I can see... this would have to be Bavarian 4th Reserve Infantry Regt. On the back of the photo is St Mihiel 1917. The 4 b.R.I.R. was there for a short spell after being withdrawn from the battle of the Aisne.

A question about the medals. Would a MVK3rd class with swords be a possibility?

[Guest Rick Research]

Sure, as a Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier if a regular or a Reserve Offizier Aspirant-Unteroffizier if dR.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Good stuff. This came out of the same house as the photo....

[Jacky]

the stuff came from the same house???

Are you a house-clearer or.... do you dig into houses for their medals (burglary??) ????

That would explain why you have so many nice things...

Kind regards

Jacky

[Chris Boonzaier]

the stuff came from the same house???

Are you a house-clearer or.... do you dig into houses for their medals (burglary??) ????

If only it was so easy !!!

A friend is the next village found it for me. It is one of those anonymous little groups that would usually be split by the first collector who got them, but for me the photograph is enough of a "Binder" to keep then together.

Best

Chris