Rui’s Renditions
Somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, a German ‘schneeschuhtruppe’ stands guard over an idyllic landscape.
On the back of this postcard, it is written “Karpathen, Mai 1917, Alarmbereit!”
Of particular interest is the rarely-seen combination of the Schneeschuhlitewka with a stahlhelm.
The date of May 1917 strikes me as odd, given that, from what I was able to understand, the Alpenkorps was in reserve until the 15th of May, and on the move to the western front on the 16th, having returned to Romania only at the end of July.
Concerning his award ribbon, given the low resolution, it’s not possible to be sure of the pattern. At first, it seems to have 3 colours (white borders, two dark stripes, and a third colour in the middle), but this might be a trick of the light. Given that this infantry soldier was most probably Bavarian or Prussian, I concentrated my search for a possible match in these two kingdoms. I ended up choosing the enlisted men’s version of the Red Eagle Medal for demonstration purposes only.
Original property of Wooway1