Historical help needed - Look !

[Robert Noss]

Last saturday I got a most interesting document and photo group - and to be honest, I have not really an idea what I have here.

It is a group consisting of several photos, paperwork, letters, maps, drawings and telegramms, money and so on.
This man was Major d.R. Dr. Walter Schenk:



Here is a detail shot of his decorations:



He was somehow related as an official teacher or a diplomat in Afghanistan in 1935.

Here is the address on a letter:




German-afghanian company Kabul

Here is his calling card:



Photos show him together with afghanian soldiers:





On that last photo he is the guy with the pith-helmet.

There are also photos of afghanian airforce ?? equipped with german airplanes ??



...and a Lufthansa plane:



A hand-drawn plan of the german camp at Kabul:



A list of german people in afghanistan (this is one of several lists, there is also a group of OT-members listed)



Calling card with a dedication and signed photo of an afghanian general:



Photo:



Back of photo above:



Back of the general's calling card:



The afghanian general spoke perfectly german.

Some other stuff from that group, old afghanian money, original paintings, several maps and so on.







One of two telegramms which tell about a contract that was signed (whatever that was) 1934.




I could continue with more photos, a newspaper, more maps, some letters from the afghanian embassy from 1956 where the embassador again thanked Major Schenk for his work he has done for afghanistan.

I have a lot of questions, but the thing that interests me most is, what was the german-afghanian company and what did they do between 1934 - 1937 ?

Second - who was Major Schenk ?

Any comments, infos or what You think are highly appreciated, also if some of You know of a link in the internet with more infos.

And last, please do not take this for an advertisement, but I will sell or trade that group so I need any info to describe it better than now.

Thanks in advance
Robert

[Klaus O.]

Hi Robert,

Let's begin with the medal bar description:

- Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse, 1914
- Bayerischer Militärverdienstorden, 4. Kl. mit Krone und Schwertern
- Bayerischer Militärverdienstorden, 4. Kl. mit Schwertern
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
- (Bayrische) goldene Hochzeits-Jubiläumsmedaille, 1918
- (Bayrische) Prinzregent Luitpolds-Medaille (Bronze?)
- (Bayrische) Kronprinz Rupprecht-Medaille (Bronze, Silber oder Gold?)
- Preussen, Kronen-Orden, 4. Klasse
- preussische Medaille/Auszeichnung?

Definately a proud and to the Bavarian crown loyal subject...

Ciao,

Claudio

[VerKuilen Ager]

I realize that this is virtually no help, but the "Kurt Seidel" was a Lufthansa Ju52-3/m (you can just see the Lufthansa name on the nose) with production serial number 5267, and registration code D-AVUP (you can see the end of the code on the rear of the fuselage).

[Rick Research]

Hey Robert! You DID sign those adoption papers I sent you, right?

Walter Schenk was born in 1887, and served in the Bavarian army 1906-20:

Leutnant 9 March 1908
Oberleutnant 30.11.14
Hauptmann 17.1.17

He was in Infantry Regiment 2 in 1913, when his sole medal was the 1911 Luitpold Army Jubilee Medal

He earned his Bavarian MVO4X as an Oberleutnant, so it is not on the recently published Autengruber award rolls. It should have been REPLACED by his MVO4X with Crown, which was gazetted in the "Personal Nachrichten" 27 Janyuary 1920:

that suggests processing as a returned prisoner of war, and perhaps explains how he was able to get the "Crown" without turning in the lower grade as required, in those confusing times.

I cannot tell what the last medal on his bar is: perhaps playing with the contrast might help. He also appears to be wearing a WW1 Bavarian flying badge, whose crown and a bit of wreth can JUST be seen down in the lower right dark of the closeup photo: adjusting contrast might help, but it looks like something flting in there: so either pilot or flyers' commemorative badge.

A wartime flyer sounds plausible, given the focus on aviation we see in these photos and the "Germans in Afghanistan" list.

His "Major aD" rank may be an Afghan courtesy "one rank promotion" the way WW1 German officers in "Turkish" service were advanced one rank.

He retired as a Hauptmann, not Major. Luckily the Bavarian Army Lists give first names, so he can be spotted among all the other Schenks.

I don't turn him up in 1935 Wer Ist's, army, air force, or even SS lists. (There was an "SS Himalayan Expedition 1937/38" so that isn't as far fetched as it sounds-- "Indiana Jones" to the contrary!)

[JensF.]

A VERY interesting group! Maybe he was the first german ISAF soldier in Kabul?

[Christian L]

hy robert,
interesting group!
you can write to the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv - Kriegsarchiv
there you'll find all what the government has as documents about him - i think in his position and interesting military career it would be worth to do
christian

[Rick Research]

That last medal on his group must be the 1932 Jubilee Medal of Bavarian Infantry Regiment 2, which had a black ribbon with yellow stripes.