I bought this PK because it was unusual in that it shows an Unterofficier (or Sergeant without his belt/portapee) with an EK1. I reckon only about 10% of all EK1s were given to soldiers of Sergeant rank or below and I have a fondness for them. By the ribbon bar I suspected a Saxon...
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Last edited by McCulloh; 05-03-2004, 05:48 AM. -
alas...
....one can not see the unit # on the shoulder boards-but the ribbons looked too light for Saxon and besides-if he was only an Unterofficier, despite the private tailoring of his jacket, why would he have an extra FAM? Could it be a St. Henry's medal?
I had decided he was only an Unterofficier because I figured if he was an Sergeant or above, he'd have been vain enough to wear his badges of rank for his formal photograph.
The lack of wound badge says to me "before May, 1918".
So I showed it to Rick.... -
on the back..
...it said "In fond remembrance of our times by T/Frauind (?) (which I took to be some muddy corner of France)...your Komrand (formal your, not Dein) Karl Hoese
Taken in Fulda, 1918".
So Rick squints at the ribbons and says "Waldeck"...Last edited by McCulloh; 05-03-2004, 07:42 AM.Comment
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...and twenty minutes later Rick has found him:
Karl Hoese, Unterofficier of IR 83, holder of the EK1 and EK2, the Waldeck house order silver merit medal with swords (30.4.17) and Waldeck House Order merit cross (11.9.17) and a Waldeck's long service medal.
This is, insofar as I remember, the first time a ranker has been identified by his ribbon bar .
Thanks Rick. You are amazing.
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Sergeant
Jeff,
he IS wearing the Sergeant's buttons on his collar.
Regards
GlennComment
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I thought Corps. got the same bigger buttons as Sergeants?Comment
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NCOs
Hi Jeff,
Gefreiter: Small collar button, troop's bayonet knot
Obergefreiter (Foot Artillery): Sergeant's Button, NCO bayonet Knot
Unteroffizier: NCO Tresse, no button, NCO bayonet Knot
Sergeant: NCO Tresse, Sergeant's button, NCO bayonet knot
Vizefeldwebel: NCO Tresse, Sergeant's button, Officer's Portepée
Feldwebel: NCO Tresse, Sergeant's button, Officer's Portepée, "double piston rings"
Regards
GlennComment
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ah-right you are...well, let's see what the Waldeck rolls say now...
Of course, "Unterofficer" is a generic term for non-com, but I doubt it was used in that sense in a medal roll.Comment
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Promoted
Hi Jeff,
presumably he was promoted to either Sergeant or Vizefeldwebel sometime after his award of the Waldeck House Order Merit Cross.
Regards
GlennComment
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Perhaps somebody out there has a history of IR83 that mentions him?
Last edited by McCulloh; 05-03-2004, 08:06 AM.Comment
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His name is spelled "Höse" in the roll, but then in both cases, quite atypically for Waldeckl, his first name was omitted, so Jeff's photo adds to a published roll!
Unteroffizier Hoese apparently had a BUSY 1917.
He apparently got a "Waldeck sandwich" around his EK1!
I'm not sure what that last ribbon is-- it might be a Saxe-Meiningen War Merit Medal, which would give him FIVE valor awards!
I was rather surprised, looking at the rolls, that he--and many other Unteroffiziers-- SKIPPED the GOLD Merit Medal Class (predominantly for senior sergeants) to get the Honor Cross X grade.
4,204 Silver Medals X...
154 Merit Crosses X!!!!
As it happens, I also have a photo of a recipient of this Waldeck pair (also EK1 holder, no Wound Badge)... but it is a 1920s wedding photo, he as a Police NCO (note the Prussian long service, used by Waldeck's military contingent-- only Fendarmerie had a Waldeck long service award)....
and no name so no way to identify HIM!!!!!!
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very intersting story and a really great pic - special and only found by the experts with the "second look" on a pic!Comment
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Non com..
Hey Rick,
You had also id'd this ribbon bar before...... (said it took you two whole mins).. but would this not also be a Non-com and not an officer?
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=34241Comment
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Nope.
What is NOT there--and why-- is often as significant as what is. And it is always safe to assume when the colonial pair shows up sans colonial decorations that, as in this case, the recipient never left home.
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I just love this sort of Research. It makes these old photos come alive!"Activity! Activity! Speed! I greet you."
-Napoleon to Massena, advancing on Landshut, April 18, 1809
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