Best way to do this is to try some that you think you know - perhaps ...
x oun x
"ou" probably correct based on upper
"n" could be "r" or "e"
Last letter could be "y" or "g".
All you can do with it is play around until the pieces fit.
Yes. I think the second letter is an "o" followed by an "r" with an "n" next and finally a "y" or __orny. The larger first letter which might be part of a first and second letters has me perplexed.
Bruce
second one Slowey?
Are the surnames the same? Letter between relatives?
First one Floary?
Forny
Here is the complete cover. Interestingly, the violet handstamp at lower left states:
Service Place
Field Newspaper
"The Front"
Field Post Number 44912
The printed field post number matches Josef's number on the back of the cover also written in pencil as is the address on the front. I'm wondering if the writer was a reporter for the propaganda rag mentioned.
RE: The address; It's that darned first letter or possible two letters. I believe that the writer has the same last name as the addressee.
Forny is interesting but I think that is a French name. The other two names do not seem German.
Bruce
You're right. It does not start with F, as the first letter does not match the F in Frau.
Maybe Horny?
Ted
Jansimon is surely your man for this query, based on earlier posts about German handwriting.
For what it's worth, I'd suggest the initial letters are St... My first guess was Stang, then Starig, Storing, Stonig or even Stoning.
But you need a German, or at least European member with experience in handwritten documents for this, and an acquaintance, at least, with likely German surnames.
I think both surnames are the same and the last letter is a "z". Will look into this when I return home.
Josef and Marie Yanny or maybe Yarny?
WB
I had my cousin in Germany look at it; she believes it could be Horny.
FYI
The abbreviation in front of Josef is Abs. for Absender, or sender.
FYI
The abbreviation in front of Josef is Abs. for Absender, or sender.
They hardly look like they were written by the same hand.
Look at the well-formed {r}s in the addressee name, and the sloppy {r}s in the sender name.
Knew two 'Horney' families in NYC.
But I think that the surname begins with {N}, as the {H} in the town name of the address and the {H} in the title of the sender are, again, very well-formed ... so {H} it ain't.
I would have gone with 'Nancy', but for what surely is an {r} ...
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
Comparing the second two letters to those in "Marie" make them indisputably "or" so we have
__ o r .. then .. __ __ .. or possibly .. __ __ __ .. then .. y
I think ikeyPikey is right that the first letter is "N" so I'm going 90% balance of probabilities with NOR to start and Y to end.
"r" would be easily discernible by the flat downward-sloping top if it wasn't hidden by the postmark. And given the easy flow of the writing in Joseph's surname it makes me think other high probability vowels might be "a" "e" or "u" (no dot indicating an "i" nor a loop at top for an "o") and consonants "m" "n" "v" or "w".
My guess is ... NORWAY
Please send my prize via surface mail with a nice recent commemorative.
Cheers fellow sleuths.
Alanovaplatz 4, 2320 Schwechat, Austria
I found the above address online, which looks like a pretty close match for the address on the cover.
Thanks all for the suggestions. And will forward to Jan-Simon's response later, too. I kicked around the possibility of the last letter as z and that may be the case.
I like the St possibility. When that is applied and using Jan-Simon's suggestion that the last letter might be z, I arrived at possibly Storz or Stonz...
I'm fairly certain both surnames are the same. I think the writer wrote out the address in a neater hand than his quick scrawl on the back for his return.
Bruce
I don't think the last letter is 'z' in the name. If you look at the address line Wien 23... the last word is Bez; a short form of Bezirk (district).
Look how that last letter has been formed; a distinct horizontal line in the centre (which is how I write the letter Z and is a Germanic habit.) plus a right pointing foot.
This turned out to be more difficult than I thought. This is not the typical German handwriting of that period, but that is explicable by the fact that the addressee is in Vienna. The name could very well be Storny or Starny which may be Bohemian in origin. I also played with the option the first letter is a capital N but I think St is more plausible.
I still think that the final letter can be a z but y makes more sense.
Thanks for the effort, Jansimon. Yes, I was just reminded earlier that the surnames in Vienna can be a hodgepodge of the various former Austro-Hungarian empire peoples.
Since this solder was posted to the Third Reich propaganda newspaper "Die Front," I may be able to find his name using that entity in my search.
Thanks all, again!
Bruce
It would seem that Field Post Number 44912, was associated with "Die Front" Field newspaper of the 18th Army Propaganda-Kompanie 621.
As for the name on the letter; after trying all manner of combinations, I felt the name may have been Slasny. I then searched for that name. Here again is the image I favoured, as opposed to the scrawl of the addressee:
Listed in a 1942 copy of "Lander Bank Wien" 'Geschaeftsadressbuch Industrie: Handel und Handwerk (a classified business index under 'trade and craft'), is the name Maria Slasny. Although the last letter of the first name is 'a' and not 'e' in this instance, the spelling may not have been correct.
This may be a red herring but the point is the surname 'Slasny' might be a candidate.
That looks like a good supposition. And thanks for identifying the unit name!
Bruce
This has turned out to be a far more interesting thread than I had expected.
Thanks to all who have posted!
Hello,
I have a WWII Feldpost cover addressed to the relative of a German soldier:
1. The first image shows his slightly neater address showing the surname. The first name is Marie but then ____________________?
2. The second image shows his signature on the backflap, not so neat. His first name: Josef followed by ____________________?
Anyone care to take a guess at the surname?
Thanks,
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Best way to do this is to try some that you think you know - perhaps ...
x oun x
"ou" probably correct based on upper
"n" could be "r" or "e"
Last letter could be "y" or "g".
All you can do with it is play around until the pieces fit.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Yes. I think the second letter is an "o" followed by an "r" with an "n" next and finally a "y" or __orny. The larger first letter which might be part of a first and second letters has me perplexed.
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
second one Slowey?
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Are the surnames the same? Letter between relatives?
re: Need Help With Surname Script
First one Floary?
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Forny
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Here is the complete cover. Interestingly, the violet handstamp at lower left states:
Service Place
Field Newspaper
"The Front"
Field Post Number 44912
The printed field post number matches Josef's number on the back of the cover also written in pencil as is the address on the front. I'm wondering if the writer was a reporter for the propaganda rag mentioned.
RE: The address; It's that darned first letter or possible two letters. I believe that the writer has the same last name as the addressee.
Forny is interesting but I think that is a French name. The other two names do not seem German.
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
You're right. It does not start with F, as the first letter does not match the F in Frau.
Maybe Horny?
Ted
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Jansimon is surely your man for this query, based on earlier posts about German handwriting.
For what it's worth, I'd suggest the initial letters are St... My first guess was Stang, then Starig, Storing, Stonig or even Stoning.
But you need a German, or at least European member with experience in handwritten documents for this, and an acquaintance, at least, with likely German surnames.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
I think both surnames are the same and the last letter is a "z". Will look into this when I return home.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Josef and Marie Yanny or maybe Yarny?
WB
re: Need Help With Surname Script
I had my cousin in Germany look at it; she believes it could be Horny.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
FYI
The abbreviation in front of Josef is Abs. for Absender, or sender.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
FYI
The abbreviation in front of Josef is Abs. for Absender, or sender.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
They hardly look like they were written by the same hand.
Look at the well-formed {r}s in the addressee name, and the sloppy {r}s in the sender name.
Knew two 'Horney' families in NYC.
But I think that the surname begins with {N}, as the {H} in the town name of the address and the {H} in the title of the sender are, again, very well-formed ... so {H} it ain't.
I would have gone with 'Nancy', but for what surely is an {r} ...
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Comparing the second two letters to those in "Marie" make them indisputably "or" so we have
__ o r .. then .. __ __ .. or possibly .. __ __ __ .. then .. y
I think ikeyPikey is right that the first letter is "N" so I'm going 90% balance of probabilities with NOR to start and Y to end.
"r" would be easily discernible by the flat downward-sloping top if it wasn't hidden by the postmark. And given the easy flow of the writing in Joseph's surname it makes me think other high probability vowels might be "a" "e" or "u" (no dot indicating an "i" nor a loop at top for an "o") and consonants "m" "n" "v" or "w".
My guess is ... NORWAY
Please send my prize via surface mail with a nice recent commemorative.
Cheers fellow sleuths.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Alanovaplatz 4, 2320 Schwechat, Austria
I found the above address online, which looks like a pretty close match for the address on the cover.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Thanks all for the suggestions. And will forward to Jan-Simon's response later, too. I kicked around the possibility of the last letter as z and that may be the case.
I like the St possibility. When that is applied and using Jan-Simon's suggestion that the last letter might be z, I arrived at possibly Storz or Stonz...
I'm fairly certain both surnames are the same. I think the writer wrote out the address in a neater hand than his quick scrawl on the back for his return.
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
I don't think the last letter is 'z' in the name. If you look at the address line Wien 23... the last word is Bez; a short form of Bezirk (district).
Look how that last letter has been formed; a distinct horizontal line in the centre (which is how I write the letter Z and is a Germanic habit.) plus a right pointing foot.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
This turned out to be more difficult than I thought. This is not the typical German handwriting of that period, but that is explicable by the fact that the addressee is in Vienna. The name could very well be Storny or Starny which may be Bohemian in origin. I also played with the option the first letter is a capital N but I think St is more plausible.
I still think that the final letter can be a z but y makes more sense.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
Thanks for the effort, Jansimon. Yes, I was just reminded earlier that the surnames in Vienna can be a hodgepodge of the various former Austro-Hungarian empire peoples.
Since this solder was posted to the Third Reich propaganda newspaper "Die Front," I may be able to find his name using that entity in my search.
Thanks all, again!
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
It would seem that Field Post Number 44912, was associated with "Die Front" Field newspaper of the 18th Army Propaganda-Kompanie 621.
As for the name on the letter; after trying all manner of combinations, I felt the name may have been Slasny. I then searched for that name. Here again is the image I favoured, as opposed to the scrawl of the addressee:
Listed in a 1942 copy of "Lander Bank Wien" 'Geschaeftsadressbuch Industrie: Handel und Handwerk (a classified business index under 'trade and craft'), is the name Maria Slasny. Although the last letter of the first name is 'a' and not 'e' in this instance, the spelling may not have been correct.
This may be a red herring but the point is the surname 'Slasny' might be a candidate.
re: Need Help With Surname Script
That looks like a good supposition. And thanks for identifying the unit name!
Bruce
re: Need Help With Surname Script
This has turned out to be a far more interesting thread than I had expected.
Thanks to all who have posted!