A rejected officer (One for Rick ;-) )

[Chris Boonzaier]

This woulda been a great group to discuss :-)

When he was 17 (in 1915) he wrote to about 10 Units asking each to accept him as a volunteer/ersatz Reservist.... all except one wrote back saying "thanks, we are full...)

[Chris Boonzaier]

He did make it into the Telegraphen truppen and was a 19 Year old Lt de Res... EK1 and 2...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here are what I assume are map overlays of the Telephone Line network in 1918 for the Division....

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here are some combat reports etc....

[Chris Boonzaier]

An unusual document to his father saying they want to promote him, but they need an income gaurantee from the fathe to finance the costs of being an officer (reading between the lines)

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60178-unusual-document-indeed/

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here are the bills for kitting himself as an officer...

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60177-dressing-up-an-officer/

[Chris Boonzaier]

And a 1919 letter asking him to join the Reichswehr, there is a desperate shortage of officers as they are all caught up in the Freikorps etc...

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/60176-freikorps-versus-reichswehr/

[E Williams]

Reading postings like this reminds me, it really wasn't much different in the british or American army, aristocrats VS common layman. I could always see the friction/off standish/disdain West Pointers had for ROTC and especially for OCS during my twenty years. It was the European acceptance that the hierarchy/aristocrats since Christ was a corporal, they called the shots and let no peon tell them different.

Edited October 4, 2013 by E Williams

[webr55]

Fascinating. Those income guarantees were quite common it seems.

Btw, now I see I know the street where he lived.