Oberjäger Gaspar Wallnöfer
The oldest Austrian soldier of WWI, and possibly the oldest of the Great War, 79-years-old Oberjäger Gaspar Wallnöfer* (born ca. 1837/38) pictured here in 1917 wearing a pre-war Jäger tunic** and a war-period cap. 69 years before, as a ten-year-old boy, Wallnöfer took part in the fighting in the aftermath of the 1848 revolution in northern Italy (1st Italian War of Unification) and was awarded a silver medal for bravery. According to a 1917 newspaper caption to this photo, he fought armed with a scythe. 18 years later, in 1866, serving in a Tyrolean Kaiserjäger company during the 3rd Italian War of Unification -also referred to as the 3rd Italian War of Independence- he received the Golden Medal for Bravery (Tapferkeitsmedaille) for capturing an Italian cannon during the Battle of Custozza. During WWI, Gaspar went to battle a 3rd time against its old foe, Italy, this time in the Tyrol mountains. Being a Standschütze, he served in Standschützen-Batallion Schlanders. Standschütze was a Tyrolean state militia consisting of men over fifty years old and young people who had not yet reached the age of eighteen and who were members of the Tyrolean and Voralberg rifle clubs. Gaspar survived the war but unfortunately, I was unable to find any information concerning his service and date of death. Note on the medals: The ribbons and medals are either hid by Gaspar’s beard or lack detail. After consulting whatever sources I could get my hands on, and cross-referencing awards lists from both the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empires with an order of precedence list available online I decided on the following awards, from left to right: Gold medal for bravery (Tapferkeitsmedaille) 1866 version, Silver medal for bravery, Commemorative Medal for the Defenders of the Tyrol, Crown Jubilee Medal of 1898. The last one is an obscure civilian award and it’s the only one that remotely fits the size, the odd oval shape, and the ribbon grey tone: the State Award for Cavalry Horse Breeding (1908 version). If anyone has any suggestions on the medals, I’m all ears! *Sometimes also referred to as Caspar Wallnöfer. ** Colour based on drawings and description, not actual photos of an original tunic. Original: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (BildID_15424442)
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