EKII & Besitz-Zeugnis

[Tom Y]

For all you eBayphobes, this just came from the Deutsche version for less than 25 Euros.
it's mimeoed with the name and date in black ink and the signature in pencil. I tweaked the contrast to make it show better. It may be ugly, but the date is super. Rick, can you fill in the gaps for me?

[Tom Y]

Oops, the scan isn't working. Anyway, it's dated 20 Sept. 1914 to a Gefreiter in 6th C. of the 149th Westphalian Infantrie Regt, Bat. 3. And the icing on the cake, an EKII with as nice a core as I've seen. Real 1870 quality. Long, original ribbon stitched together at the ends, and nice burnishing on thev reverse from swinging on some vet's frock coat. The mark looks like a cursive small "c". Hopefully I can figure out what I'm doing wrong and get the scans to load.

[Tom Y]

Here's the Urkunde

[Tom Y]

And the stamp

[Rick Research]

Signature is that of Hauptmann (31.5.12 A) von Schmeling-Diringshofen. Incredible as it may seem, there were more than one of such people. He made it through the war, char. major aD and alive 1926. No idea about the Gefreiter's survival, though.

The regiment was in Infantry Division 4.

This is a VERY early one--congratulations. Especially since Euros aren't even real money anyway!

[Tom Y]

Thanks, Rick. Could you tell me the Gefreiter's name and the possible action he received it for? BTW, the 149te is West Prussian, not Westphalian. My mistake.

[Stijn David]

nice one

Hello,


Thanks for posting this one Tom, it is nice to see a award doc. for a ( simply ?? ) ek 2 dated as soon as 1914 for a Gefreiter ( normally they are dated much more later => from 16 towards 18 ) and i believe this to be a somehow rarer document then there later counterparts

This man must have been a hero back then in 1914 ( i wonder if he was able to survive another 4 years + the worst had stil to come for him i assume )

Friendly greetings,

[Tom Y]

Yes, Stijn, I'm really happy with it. If it is really the doc that belongs with the EK he did survive. The medal appears to have been worn on a civilian coat for a long time.