Sepia Saturday 741 - Highs & Lows

When I look at a new SS theme, I usually have an idea of which pictures from the family archive I could use.  But not this time. Fortunately, Alan provided an escape (as he always does). He mentions "a couple of Alpine skiers from almost a century ago, feeling high on the top of a mountain".

I am not a skiing man myself nor do we have mountains in Holland. The highest "mountain" here is a hill called the Vaalserberg in the province of Limburg; it is a little over 300 meters high. Not exactly the type of mountain when you plan to go out skiing. But there is a picture of my grandfather Andreas Miebies (1883-1957) standing in the dunes near The Hague. It was taken over a century ago, during the second part of WW One when he was mobilized. We see him here standing on the very right. His rank is that of sergeant and he is the commanding officer of this group of soldiers serving in the 47th Landweer batallion Hunters (Jagers).

A section of infantry troops belonging to the 47th batallion Hunters
with Sgt. Andreas Miebies on the very right

The rifles you see are the Austrian .256 Manlicher M.95. It was manufactured 

under license in The Netherlands by the Hembrug weapon factory in Zaandam. 

It has been in use until after WW Two.

Manlicher M.95

When my grandparents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, their oldest 

son, my father, put together a kind of PowerPoint presentation avant la lettre. 

For that purpose, he made several drawings and stitched them onto a fabric roll. 

On the drawing below he drew himself shortly after his birth on his father's lap 

with Grandma still in bed. At the time, my dad was born in August 1914, 

Granddad apparently served already in the army as the Manlicher rifle was up 

against the wall and his uniform on the chair.

At the beginning of WW Two, the Dutch army Manlichers were confiscated and 

used by the Germans. So it is not impossible that just a few days before the end of 

WW Two, my father and his comrades were shot by Dutch Manlichers in the 

hands of Germans...

Like the drawing, the picture of the military in the dunes was also part of the presentation my father made for his parents. Readers with sharp eyes will 

be able to see the stitch holes on the top side of the photograph.

If you want to see how other Sepians interpreted this month's theme, go to the

Sepia Saturday site and enjoy yourself!

Sepia Saturday - A Military Dad

When my paternal grandparents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on August 15, 1938, my father added to the festivities by making an overview of their life so far. He did this by preparing a roll made of linen about 10 yards long and 5 inches wide. Then he attached family pictures and self made drawings to it. I would imagine that he presented his parents with a kind of This is your life. 

Part of the linen roll with highlights of my grandparents' marriage.

Mathematicians among you will have already calculated that my grandparents were married in 1913, just before the start of WW1. Although The Netherlands remained neutral during this war, its army was in a mobilized state during the four years the war lasted. The mobilization officially started on August 1, 1914 and included my granddad Andreas Miebies (1883- The Hague -1957). Two days later his first son, my father, was born. During their wedding anniversary 24 years later, my father made an artist impression of this memorable event.

Johannes Cornelis Miebies seated on the knee of his father Andreas.

The drawing shows my grandmother Lena Bakker (Heenvliet, 1880 - The Hague, 1959) sound asleep and probably exhausted after the delivery of a baby boy able to sit up so soon after the happy occurrence.  Please also note grandfathers' rifle and uniform on the bedside chair. 
We are now coming close to the Sepia Saturday theme of this week. It is a heroic looking group of soldiers wearing sabers and caps resembling those of bellhops. 

It is my good fortune that my father included a similar picture in his This is your life for his parents. So now I can show you my grandfather in the King's armor. 

Grandfather Andreas (to the very right) and his military pals
during his mobilization.

I have been trying to find out in which part of the military he served but so far in vain. The one thing that strikes me in this photo is the large variety of uniforms. And contrary to this weeks Sepia Saturday picture, on this photograph the mustaches are a minority. My grandfather displays the most evident one. Knowing Andreas lived in The Hague and assuming that he stayed there during his mobilization, I think this photo was taken in the dunes near The Hague. 

For more uniforms, caps, helmets, mustaches and heroism, have a look at the Sepia Saturday site. It is managed this week by Kat Mortensen, a lady with military genes.

Update Oct. 16, 2012: Among many other particulars the Dutch Army Museum informed me that my grandfathers rank was sergeant and that he was the section commander of this 47th infantry battalion Jagers (Hunters).
In Dutch the detailed information received reads as follows:

De foto is genomen na maart 1916, toen werd de kepie (pet) ingevoerd in het leger. De in het midden staande en de liggende persoon dragen deze kepie.
Het is een sectie van het bataljon Landweer - Infanterie (Jagers No. 47) met als standplaats Den Haag. Er waren 44 districten en 2 batajons grenadiers (3 en 32) en 2 jagerbataljons (36 en 47) Op de hoofden draagt men de sjako M 1865 met de groene bol van de Jagers, twee sjako's model 1912, waarvan men de emblemen ( een lauwerkrans met daarin een hoorn) heeft afgehaald (om beter te kunnen camoufleren). Het is ook mogelijk dat ze in die tijd niet meer geleverd werden aan eenheden die de kepie kregen. De platte pet behoorde bij het uniform van 1912, een grijsgroen uniform met groene jagers kraag en mouwopslagen. De persoon links draagt de jas die ingevoerd werd in 1905 en gedragen werd tot 1912. De jassen met twee rijen knopen werden gedragen van 1865 tot 1905. Allen zijn bewapend met het geweer M.95. De twee onderofficieren, sergeanten van de Jagers met de kepies, zijn de instructeurs van het regiment Jagers. Uw grootvader was, als sergeant, de sectie-commandant.