The official AHF Imperial German Army & Navy quiz thread

[Polar bear]

hi,

more than one week later, hint #2

as an auxiliary, the ship carried the same name as another warship that had been decorated with an prestigious order before the war.

greetings, the pb

[sirius02]

The ship with 4 names, initially known as German GUTENFELS, captured by the British at Port Said, at the beginning of the war, first renamed POLOVAN by the latter, this name then changed to TURRITELLA, recaptured by the German commerce raider WOLF II, and turned into an auxiliary commerce raider and renamed ILTIS. It was scuttled by its own crew near Aden, to avoid capture by HMS ODIN

[Polar bear]

hello, Sirius,

quite right, I couldn´t have told it better !

over to you,

greetings, the pb

[sirius02]

Sorry, I don´t have questions to post, so I guess anybody is free to do it

[Chris Dale]

OK, I'll give it a go...

Some regiments of the Imperial German armies wore battle honours as scrolls on their Pickelhaube plates. Most of these (for example "Waterloo") were awarded for fighting against the French at one time or another. As far as I know, only one was awarded for fighting alongside the French. Which battle honour was it and which units wore it?

Cheers
Chris

[Attrition]

Borodino? Hang on, Boxer rebellion??

[Chris Dale]

Good guesses but no battle honours for Borodino and the Boxer Rebellion were not worn on Pickelhauben as far as I know.

Here's an example from http://www.pickelhauben.net of a Pickelhaube with honours for the Peninsular Campaign and Waterloo.




Cheers
Chris

[Polar bear]

hi,

a Pickelhaube with honours for the Peninsular Campaign and Waterloo.

a German helmet with an English inscription ? ... makes one wonder whether that´s real ... or just a fake

my own guess is a honour for a battle in the war of the Spanish succession (1701-13), e.g. Höchstädt (or Blenheim), worn in the Bavarian army

greetings, the pb

[Glenn2438]

Hi Chris,

how about 2. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88? They wore the inscription Mesa di Ibor and Medellin, battle honours of the former 2. Nassauisches Infanterie-Regiment which fought against Britain and Spain during the Peninsular War.

Regards
Glenn

[Chris Dale]

Glenn! We meet again!

Yes, of course you are right. Curious though isn't it? All the other battle honours I'd noted on helmets are for fighting the French (or sometimes the Spanish or Austrians), then this one for fighting under French command.

PB, the spelling for Peninsular and Waterloo are the same in both languages.

Your question, Glenn....

Cheers
Chris

[Glenn2438]

Thanks Chris,

what uniform is His Majesty wearing here?

Regards
Glenn

[Chris Dale]

I'm not sure but the oak leaf collar lace looks like that of a Mecklenburg-Schwerin general...

Cheers
Chris

[Glenn2438]

Hi Chris,

it is a bit nearer to home than that.

Regards
Glenn

[Chris Dale]

... of course it is! I spend so much time looking at the Imperial German forces, I couldn't see the wood for the trees! His uniform is that of a British General as seen at the IWM-


photo by Henry Crun

...with his regiment presumably being the 1st (Royal) Dragoons, of which he was colonel in chief from 1894-1914?

with help from Joe's site http://www.pickelhauben.net/map/preussen.htm

Cheers
Chris

[Glenn2438]

Hi Chris,

indeed it is. The original is erroneously captioned as an "English" Field Marshal.

Over to you.

Regards
Glenn