mike kelso
Active member
Items I have long searched for are Imperial Russian shoulder insignia. They are very hard to find outside of Russia and IMO almost impossible to find in the US. I found this group of straps/boards in the latest HH auction and was very pleased to have won them. What makes this group important is all come from units severly mauled by German forces at the Battle of Tannenburg. I believe they were collected shortly after the battle but have no proof. The card they are attached to is very old and has Sutterlin script under the modern tape. The 23rd Mortar Bn boards awere not part of the original group but did fight at Tanneburg. Note how some enlisted straps were cut down to fit the original display. 
Battle of Tannenberg
22-26 August 1914
These original and very scarce Russian shoulder insignia, in red, were collected during or shortly after the battle from Russian dead or prisoners of war. All are from General Alexander Samsonov’s Second Army. XIII and XV Corps were destroyed during the battle.
Battle of Tannenberg
22-26 August 1914
These original and very scarce Russian shoulder insignia, in red, were collected during or shortly after the battle from Russian dead or prisoners of war. All are from General Alexander Samsonov’s Second Army. XIII and XV Corps were destroyed during the battle.
XIII Corps (Smolensk) – Lt. Gen. Klyuev
1st Infantry Division (Smolensk) – Lt. Gen. Ugryumov
2nd Brigade
3rd GFM Prince Golitsyn’s Narva Infantry Regt. (Smolensk) – Col. Zagneev - Sergeant
4th Gen. Graf Konovnitsin’s (former His Majesty The King of Saxony’s) Koporye Infantry Regiment (Smolensk) – Col. Veil – Captain
1st Artillery Brigade (Smolensk) – Lieutenant
36th Infantry Division (Orel)
1st Brigade
141st Mozhaysk Infantry Regiment (Orel) – Col. Grubel - Private
2nd Brigade
144th Kashira Infantry Regiment (Bryansk) – Col. Kakhovsky - Private
36th Artillery Brigade (Karachev) – Sub-Lieutenant
XV Corps (Warsaw) – Gen. Martos
6th Infantry Division (Ostrov)
1st Brigade – Col. Novitsky
22nd Her Imperial Highness Grand-Duchess Vera Konstantinova’s Nizhny Novgorod Infantry Regiment (Ostroleka) – Col. Meipariani - Corporal
2nd Brigade
24th General Neverovsky’s Simbirsk Infantry Regiment (Ostrov) – Col. Sokolovski – Lieutenant
15th Cavalry Division (Plock) – Lt. Gen. Ljudomirow – attached to I Corps
15th Tsar Alexander III Pereyaslavlsky Dragoon Regt. (Plock) – Col. S.K. Foss - Colonel, Commanding
8th Infantry Division (Warsaw) – Gen. Fittinhof
1st Brigade
29th GFM Graf Dibich-Zabalkansky’s (Graf Diebitsch of Trans-Balkans) Chernigov Infantry Regiment (Warsaw) – Col. Alexeyev - Private
30th Poltava Infantry Regiment (Warsaw) – Col. Gavrilioa - Private
2nd Brigade
31st Alekseev Infantry Regiment (Skierniewice) – Col. Suchachevski - Private
32nd Kremenchug Infantry Regiment (Warsaw)- Col. Ramko - Private
XXIII Corps (Warsaw) – Gen. Kandrtovich
3rd Guard Inf. Div. (Warsaw) - Gen. Sirelius - attached to I Corps – Pvt., one year volunteer piping, red strap
23rd Mortar Battalion (Gura-Kalwaria) – Lieutenant
