An Extensive Collection Of Awards, Photos, & Documents Of Kriegsmarine Machinist

A ribbon bar, measuring 75x18mm, mint condition: 1) Iron Cross 1939 2nd Class. 2) Hindenburg Cross with Swords. 3) Air Warden Honour Decoration 2nd Class  4) Hungarian World War Commemorative Decoration 1914/1918 with Swords. 5) Bulgarian War Commemorative Decoration 1915/1918 with Swords. 6 photo postcards, measuring between 85x135mm and 174x122mm, three of which show battleships, one shows a navy musicians’ band, another one a group shot to commemorate the class of 1918, and a picture of a Navy NCO, possibly Alander. They show various degrees of aging signs, overall extremely fine condition.

A collection of documents, measuring between 139x200mm and 210x330mm, all in fine to mint condition. They are award certificates for either promotions or decorations:

Promotion to machinist 3rd class, 1923.

Hindenburg Cross with Swords, 1935.

A document in Bulgarian for the Bulgarian War Commemorative Decoration 1915/1918 with Swords, 1941.

Minesweeper War Badge, 1942.

Iron Cross 2nd Class, 1943.

Iron Cross 1st Class, 1944.

Wound Badge in Black, 1945.

Naval Front Clasp, 1945. He received this award in a Dutch P.O.W. camp in August.

A bilingual (English and German) certificate of discharge from the Kriegsmarine

A military ID book of the Imperial German Navy from 1916, measuring 87x146mm, 40 pages. Considering its age, it is in extremely fine condition. A book of good conduct, measuring 146x202mm, in fine condition. It contains a two page autobiography and several evaluations, all praising Alander’s conduct. A ship’s company book for Ship 1414 of the 14th picket flotilla, measuring 165x208mm, in extremely fine condition. It contains a double page for all the sailors that served on it, one of them being Alander.

Footnote: Wilhelm Heinrich Friedrich Alander was born on October 18, 1898 in Wilhelmshaven, Prussia. His father was a Navy artificer. Alander became a machinist and then joined the Imperial German Navy as a war volunteer on November 10, 1916, as part of the 1st Detachment of the 2nd Shipyard Divison (1. Abteilung II. Werft-Division) in Wilhelmshaven. He first served on the Cruiser “Karlsruhe”, the Battleship “Westfalen”, and then the Cruiser “Königsberg”. Due to the reduction of the German fleet, Alander was discharged on September 10, 1920. He then worked in the police force between 1920 and 1923, then joined the mercantile marine (Handelsmarine), with which he stayed until 1927, the year he got married. He settled down and bought a grocery store, which he then managed until 1940. Alander was drafted into the Kriegsmarine on August 5, 1940. Between 1942 and 1943, he served to protect the French coast. Later, he was assigned to the Floating Anti-Aircraft Battery (Schwimmende Flakbatterie) “Medusa” outside Wilhelmshaven, as part of the Navy Anti-Aircraft Detachment 222. He was wounded during this assignment in January 1945.