Unknown Officer - Infantry Reg 71

[Mark M]

I bought this interesting photo postcard off ebay.de about a week back. Sadly there is no name. The reverse is unmailed and has written in pencil 3 Th?ringisches Jnf.Rgt.Nr.71, Unser Major. This must have been an older photo of the officer as is rank is clearly a Hauptmann. The medal bar is rather interesting - an EK2, DA, Schwarzburg SE 3x and a Reuss REK 3x/c. Does anyone have a unit history of this regiment that they might be able to put a name with is officer?

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[Mark M]

Close up of the medal bar. Is it my eyes or is the Reuss hanging on a statute ribbon?

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[Guest Rick Research]

That is a Reserve-Landwehr "LD1" for XX Years, not the XXV Years Service Cross-- as no 1897 Medal also indicates.

There is nothing to identify him with ONLY that reserve award before the war, and no published rolls on the two wartime Orders.

You're right-- it'll take a regimental history BUT-- more likely Reserve or Landwehr Infantry Regiment 71 than the peacetime unit, for a reserve officer to have been a battalion commander. So you'd need to check for all THREE potential wartime unit histories and hope they are nice ones with photos!

[Dave Danner]

The "war ribbon" was introduced on January 9, 1915, BTW.

[Mark M]

The "war ribbon" was introduced on January 9, 1915, BTW.

Dave

Very true, but swords were added to the award sometime between 1906 and 1909, several years before the change to the war ribbon. I know that colors appear different in black and white photos, so I was comparing the obviously striped Schwarzburg ribbon to the Reuss ribbon when I asked about whether it appeared to be on a statute ribbon.

Regards,

Mark

[Dave Danner]

Dave

Very true, but swords were added to the award sometime between 1906 and 1909, several years before the change to the war ribbon. I know that colors appear different in black and white photos, so I was comparing the obviously striped Schwarzburg ribbon to the Reuss ribbon when I asked about whether it appeared to be on a statute ribbon.

Regards,

Mark

Maybe you missed my point, or our points crossed.

There is no SWA or other medal to indicate an award for pre-war actions, so the Reuss medal has to be for World War I actions. I agree that there don't appear to be stripes there (even taking into account that yellow tends to turn dark on photos like this), so it is likely the amaranth statute ribbon. My point was only that there was a sufficient period from late 1914 through January for a wartime award to be made on the statute ribbon.

[Stogieman]

Sweet bar, sweet photo. be careful, you are peering over the brink of yet another pit....... ask RR about the photo collecting phase.... ;>)