Interesting Medal Bar...

[medalnet]

I attached a picture of an interesting medal bar. The Imtiyaz medal bears the inscription: "Dr. Henning".

Interestingly enough the same inscription is found on the "combat"-bar. Those bars normally would show the name of the location an Imtiyaz recipient would have done his deed. Yet, just the name.
The only facts I could find out was that he served the II. Seebat - III. Stamm-Seebataillon from 1911 to 1912.

[Rick Research]

There is no "Dr Henning" who matches these awards--the Prussian ones, let alone the Turkish! Regular or reserve, army or navy. There was no one of that name who left II or III SB in 1912 per the 1912 Army Rank List.

What color is the backing on the bar?

Is that a COMBATANT Southwest Africa?

Is it a IV or V Class Medjidie? I can't tell from the small scan.

These awards, absence of any military long service award...

makes me think a civil servant, Dr.jur. etc and not a Dr.med. ... some sort of NON military type (so "invisible" to Rank Lists) NOT in the 1908/09 Orders Almanac.

I don't find anyone of this name (but PLENTY of "Dr." titles! in the Hof- und Staatskalendar for 1917, German diplomatic mission to Turkey.)

[medalnet]

What color is the backing on the bar? BLUE

Is that a COMBATANT Southwest Africa? NON-COMBATANT

Is it a IV or V Class Medjidie? I can't tell from the small scan. The width/hight is ~53 mm

He should still be listed in the "Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Kgr. Preussens".

The actual translation I got from a good friend of mine in Turkey was:
Doctor Henig or Doctor Hing

Another friend of mine in Germany found the Dr. Hennig match out of his database, which is made up out of Ranklists as well as orders lists and Hof and State Handbooks.

Here a better picture of the bar:

[Rick Research]

Oooo

Ahhh.... HENNIG! NOW I have him! (This has been my day for dealing with "spelling issues," hasn't it folks? )

Dr. med. (Friedrich) Lothar Hennig, born 3 July 1875

Imperial German Navy 1.4.96 until (apparently) retired August 1911--

Marine-Oberassistenzarzt 6.12.02 A
Marine-Stabsarzt 20.11.05 (no seniority letters, he was 1st that date)
(charakterisiert?) Marine-Oberstabsarzt (? aD) 19.8.11

In 1905 he was ship's surgeon on S.M.S. "Habicht" which was off the coast of Southwest Africa and landed sailors in the first emergency of 1904.

At that time he held the 1897 Centenary Medal, Turkish Medjidie Order IVth Class, and Turkish Silver Imtiaz Medal.

By 1908 he was aboard S.M.S. "Fürst Biscmarck" and had added the Prussian Crown Order 4 to his awards.

The 1908/09 Orders Almanac shows him with the same awards, at the Deckoffizierschule.

Recalled for the war and spent the entire war at

Reserve-Lazarett Braunschweig.

He was married by 1914, wife Elsa born 13 May 18XX.

Per the German Naval Officers' Association (M.O.V.) Directories of 1928, 1931, 1935, 1937, and 1939 he laid claim to the rank of Marine-Obergeneralarzt aD (not shown in the Marine Ehrenrangliste 1914-18) and was living at Roonstraße 13, Braunschwig that entire time. He ran a private Surgical and Orthopedic Clinic "am Stadtpark" in Braunschweig. (Telephone 906.)

He was member number 4492 of the M.O.V. The navy and Orders Almanac have him as "Lothar," but he apparently used "Friedrich Lothar" after the war.

I do not find him in "Wer Ist's?" or any other sources.


And of course everyone HERE knows and is over the "black-white" NONcombatant EK2!!!!!

[Rick Research]

This appears to have been lost in the back pages.

[Marc Garlasco]

This is AWESOME!
Marc

[Gerd Becker]

Excellent

So why didn´t he get the EK on Non-combattant ribbon? This bar is predestinated to have a Non-combattant EK with all the other Non-com awards, isn´t it? What could be the reason, as, like Rick says, he spent the entire war in a Lazarett in Braunschweig?

Gerd

[Rick Research]

There is no "reason" that I've ever been able to find for the 6,855 "black-white" NONcombatant EK2s.

With only TWO award documents that have surfaced for these so far and so few identifiable recipients' medal bars with this same award-- this one and Paul's Bavarian Bekleidungsamt Major Sauter (still haven't posted my Excellent Scan, Bad Paul! ) here...

we have no statistical sample to even guess.

[medalnet]

Why not a white ribbon...

Looking through countless groups and documents it seemed to have been custom to award the combatant ribbon to anybody that was even remotly close to anything that may have looked like battle. I guess just sniffing powder was enough to get anything on that ribbon.

The white / non combatant ribbon was more likely to be awarded to those far away at home in some kind of office...

[Rick Research]

Actually, the two "black-white" documents we have were both for Home Boys on the Baltic coast in desk jobs. Sauter got his... on the München Front!

Dr H too does not seem to have ever left the city of Braunschweig during his entire war, which must have surprised his other neighborhood Frontkameraden...

perhaps "combatant arms" officers at home got "black-white" while mere Beamten and clerical staff got "white-black" but... no sample of documentation enough to judge.

Just medal bars... and WEIRD document groups.

Here's my "black-white" noncombatant document. The other one is still a secret in a private collection.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/foru...ight=D%F6hring

[Gerd Becker]

Rick and Andreas, thanks for the explanation.

best,
Gerd

[Blitz]

A fantastic bar with an even better history!

[Rick Research]

And to cross-index these VERY rare groups, here is one to Bavarian Bekleidungsamt Major Friedrich Sauter, who spent the war in Munich, as Dr Hennig did in Brunswick.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.net/foru...ad.php?t=98459

"Mixed" combat/noncombat groups show up fairly (I hesitate to use the word) commonly, but it is extremely hard to be able to track down the specific recipient to VERIFY that their Hindenburg Cross does indeed "go" with their EK.

Where are all their award documents!?

[Jundl]

My great-grandfather

Hello there,
I'm pretty amazed, how much Information you managed to gather about my great-grandfather.
Can you tell me where all this came from? How come you have this bar?
(By the way: his wife's name was actually Elise. Born 1874. )

Every answer is appreciated.

Greetings from Germany
Janine

[Gary B]

Rick Research was an excellent historian/researcher. He had many of the officer rank books and helped many collectors identify the original recipients of their ribbon or medal bars. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. A great loss to the collecting community.

Gary B