What is this?

[SteelhelmJim]

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...1&d=1312575228

[SteelhelmJim]

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...1&d=1312575280

[Gerdan]

The writing is: "Andenken an die Rekrutierung" - In memory of the recruitment.

The king is the Bavarian Ludwig III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_III_of_Bavaria


Gerdan

[SteelhelmJim]

Gerden, Thanks.
But what recruitment, why and when, and what does artillery have to do with it?

[SteelhelmJim]

And is the photograph of Ludwig III when he was younger, or is it someone else?

[Chip M]

Jim,

It's just a souvenir of the soldier's signing up for service. The photo is of a younger Ludwig III (prewar). It's impossible to date it any further, unless you can guess how old Ludwig is in the photo and if the pin dates from that exact time. The artillery is the branch that the soldier signed up for. They had similar pins for the other branches.

Chip

[SteelhelmJim]

Thanks Chip.