WW1 IMPERIAL GERMAN NAMED SILVER PLAQUE GIVEN BY KAISER WILHELM to 35 KILL ACE
Present your best items with Auctiva's FREE Scrolling Gallery. 835 marked Silver presentation plaque with gold accents, given as a personal gift of Kaiser Wilhelm II. This silver plaque is named to Hauptmann Eduard Ritter von Schleich.
After doing a google search, I found out they called him the "Black Knight" and obtained 35 kills during the War. The plaque is dated 08/25/1918.The plaque measures 8 1/4 X 6 3/4 inches and as I said, very heavy. The plaque is completely hand engraved with a facsimile of Kaiser Wilhelm's signature to the bottom.
The plaque is housed in a blue leather form fitted case but the lock is missing the key. PLEASE SEE MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR OTHER GREAT WORLD WAR TWO ITEMS. While he was recovering from his wounds he decided to volunteer in the Royal Bavarian Air Service, and was accepted for training as an observer. After service with FEA 1 on two seaters, he applied for pilot training and qualified in September 1915, he joined FA 2b in October 1915, and in January 1916 during an observation flight, Schleich was wounded in the arm by an exploding anti-aircraft shell.
Instead of returning to base, Schleich had his crewman bandage his wound while still in the air and then continued to complete his assignment. He was decorated with the Iron Cross First Class for this action. The wound meant he did not see further service until September, when he assumed command of Fliegerschule 1. He joined Jasta 21 in May 1917, and commanded the unit from June onwards. Prior to his leadership, Jasta 21 had a lacklustre combat record and low morale, but under Oberleutnant von Schleich within a month the Jasta had downed 36 enemy aircraft, 19 credited to Schleich personally.When his best friend on the Jasta, Leutnant Erich Limpert was killed in a dogfight, Schleich ordered his plane to be painted all black. This black plane soon led to Schleich being dubbed'The Black Knight'. Ongoing Prussian and Bavarian political arguments over a non-prussian commanding a Prussian fighter unit caused a new Bavarian Jasta to be formed and Schleich was reassigned to command Jasta 32 in October 1917, with his tally at 25.
He was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite in December, and after a spell commanding Jastaschule 1 , on 15 March he took command of Jagdgruppe Nr. 8 , a collection of Jastas 23, 34 and 35, in the last month of the war he commanded Jasta 21. By the war's end his score was 35. The item weighs 2 pounds 1.30 ounces. The item "WW1 IMPERIAL GERMAN NAMED SILVER PLAQUE GIVEN BY KAISER WILHELM to 35 KILL ACE" is in sale since Wednesday, February 03, 2016. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\WW I (1914-18)\Original Period Items\Germany\Medals, Pins & Ribbons". The seller is "the-rooster" and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. This item can be shipped worldwide.