Revisiting a well worn White Falcon bar

[landsknechte]

I'm in the process of trying to organize my collection a bit, and in so doing I'm revisiting some of my old bars.  I posted this rather salty bar 15-ish years ago, suspecting that it might be identifiable given the rarity of the GSF3aX.  Nothing came of it at the time, but I took another look at it today and got a hit!  Only two people in the 1918 Naval Ranklist have the right grade of the White Falcon plus the Hamburg Hanseatic Cross.  One was a doctor with a few additional decorations, and the other an artillery officer: Kapitänleutnant Martin Ratz. 

 

I've just barely started to look into his his history, but it looks like he was posted on a on everything from a Victorian era steamship (still rigged for sails), coastal artillery, a couple of dreadnoughts, to ultimately finish up the war on a captured Russian battleship.  He spent the interwar period doing exactly what you might expect - working for a botanical supply company in Erfurt..  He went on to serve in WWII in some capacity, with the rank of Korvettenkapitän.  He died during, or shortly after the war, and was buried in a military cemetery in Belgium.  

 

  

 

 

[Stogieman]

I love it when the research pays off! I hope you’re able to confirm. It might be salty, but it’s a nice little bar!