this will be fun to watch m2 on ebay
WWII 101st airborne 502 m2 dbale paratrooper m1 helmet - eBay (item 190397580330 end time May-26-10 21:32:58 PDT)
i wonder how this auction is gonna go?
Archive for May, 2010
Question Hungarian Camouflage Poncho WW2
G'day All
I thought I'd post this one as it is a mystery to me on why the camouflage is on the inside, the outer side has leakage from the camouflage print.
Why was this manufactured like this?
I thought I'd post this one as it is a mystery to me on why the camouflage is on the inside, the outer side has leakage from the camouflage print.
Why was this manufactured like this?
My HJ knife!
Got this one from Granddad–he acquired it late in the war. Admittedly, I’m way more of a medals person myself; this is the only Third Reich edged weapon I have, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it. What is the maker? Given the knife being in this condition and from that maker, what would be a rough estimate of its asking price? (Don’t intend to sell, just curious! 
)
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Acquisition, Contact and Reunion - an amazing story…
I have an interesting story from a recent personal experience that I hope will be of interest to you all. I had not intended to share this story with the general collecting community as I am neither seeking nor deserve any personal glorification, and had initially chosen to relay this to a few close friends. However, after some more thought, I thought that like-minded individuals might enjoy hearing the outcome of this tale as this type of thing doesn't happen every day, so here goes…
I have been searching for a WW1 RFC or French aviation grouping for a while and finally hit a home run by acquiring a grouping to a pilot in 41 Squadron of the RFC/RAF that consisted of four medals, beautiful bullion RAF wings, Officer cap badge, and a pile of documentation from the British and Canadian Archives on the pilot.
Immediately after purchase, I started searching for more information on the pilot’s service. I found him named in three Over the Front publications from years past and immediately acquired two of the three. One article featured about 13 pages on the wartime exploits of this man. The most striking and thrilling exploit involved a mission where the target was an ammunition storage facility. The pilot flew his SE-5 and completed his mission along with his other squadron mates. While returning to base, a violent rainstorm began making it nearly impossible to see. As a result, this pilot had to drop down to about 300 feet to gain ground reference to continue the flight home. He was briefly relieved when he saw the outline of three hangars and thought that he had finally arrived. While circling the field, he immediately knew something was wrong when he saw the distinctive black crosses on the wings of a single aircraft on the field. Looking around, he saw no other aircraft in the vicinity and decided to drop the remainder of his bombs on the German aerodrome.
He assaulted the base, and the ensuing blasts were so violent, that he nearly blew himself out of the sky. He finally returned to his own base and relayed his experience to his Sqdn. Leader. Several days later, the commander flew to the area where the attack occurred and saw no sign of activity. He landed his aircraft in the midst of the destruction and removed a radio from the Fokker that was on the airfield. He also confirmed that there were 18 Halberstadt aircraft in the hangars that were badly damaged or destroyed.
Unfortunately this exploit went without much further accolade as the following days for 41 Squadron proved to be a costly time for them.
Now, to the current day…I contacted the author of the article in Over the Front seeking additional information on the pilot. To my and his surprise, he was friends with the pilot in his last years, was STILL friends with the widow of 94 ( they were married in the 1940's) and had wondered for over twenty years who had the items which I now held.
I traced the items getting into the hands of the general public in 1989 through an online auction. The author told me that in or about 1988 an individual had “befriended” the then legally blind and home-bound pilot (he was nearly 100 then). Apparently, when his wife left the house, this individual paid the pilot almost nothing for the items and later sold them for profit at auction. The widow has been heart-broken all of this time and could not understand why her husband would part with his items.
After numerous e-mail exchanges and phone conversations with the author and friend of the pilot, I gained access to the widow and we had several very nice conversations. She said to me…”Steve, I understand that you and I both have some of my husband’s items and I was wondering if we could reunite them?” My head thought NOOOOOO!!!!, but my heart said “Yes”. Sometimes, doing the right thing means placing ones selfish wants aside. In the end, the items were returned to his widow and she is very happy to have her husband’s treasures once again. I understand that about all she has left is a photo album and his ribbon bar which corresponded to the medal bar in my possession. I guess the moral of the story is that even though I will dearly miss having these items, that in no way equals the joy that I feel for her and having the satisfaction of knowing that I was able to make an elderly lady happy in her last years.
This is why I always say that the items are merely cloth and metal, without memories and the stories of the person who owned them, they will never be more than just possessions. I don’t believe in coincidence, and I feel that perhaps the good Lord used me as a middle man to reunite these items with this dear lady. Through this experience, I have befriended an author/historian/ publisher, and have the honor of having made the acquaintance of the last known surviving widow of a WWI Pilot. We still talk quite often and she loves to share stories of her husband. She is s dear, sweet lady whom I will have fond memories of long after she re-joins her beloved Gordon on the other side…
I have been searching for a WW1 RFC or French aviation grouping for a while and finally hit a home run by acquiring a grouping to a pilot in 41 Squadron of the RFC/RAF that consisted of four medals, beautiful bullion RAF wings, Officer cap badge, and a pile of documentation from the British and Canadian Archives on the pilot.
Immediately after purchase, I started searching for more information on the pilot’s service. I found him named in three Over the Front publications from years past and immediately acquired two of the three. One article featured about 13 pages on the wartime exploits of this man. The most striking and thrilling exploit involved a mission where the target was an ammunition storage facility. The pilot flew his SE-5 and completed his mission along with his other squadron mates. While returning to base, a violent rainstorm began making it nearly impossible to see. As a result, this pilot had to drop down to about 300 feet to gain ground reference to continue the flight home. He was briefly relieved when he saw the outline of three hangars and thought that he had finally arrived. While circling the field, he immediately knew something was wrong when he saw the distinctive black crosses on the wings of a single aircraft on the field. Looking around, he saw no other aircraft in the vicinity and decided to drop the remainder of his bombs on the German aerodrome.
He assaulted the base, and the ensuing blasts were so violent, that he nearly blew himself out of the sky. He finally returned to his own base and relayed his experience to his Sqdn. Leader. Several days later, the commander flew to the area where the attack occurred and saw no sign of activity. He landed his aircraft in the midst of the destruction and removed a radio from the Fokker that was on the airfield. He also confirmed that there were 18 Halberstadt aircraft in the hangars that were badly damaged or destroyed.
Unfortunately this exploit went without much further accolade as the following days for 41 Squadron proved to be a costly time for them.
Now, to the current day…I contacted the author of the article in Over the Front seeking additional information on the pilot. To my and his surprise, he was friends with the pilot in his last years, was STILL friends with the widow of 94 ( they were married in the 1940's) and had wondered for over twenty years who had the items which I now held.
I traced the items getting into the hands of the general public in 1989 through an online auction. The author told me that in or about 1988 an individual had “befriended” the then legally blind and home-bound pilot (he was nearly 100 then). Apparently, when his wife left the house, this individual paid the pilot almost nothing for the items and later sold them for profit at auction. The widow has been heart-broken all of this time and could not understand why her husband would part with his items.
After numerous e-mail exchanges and phone conversations with the author and friend of the pilot, I gained access to the widow and we had several very nice conversations. She said to me…”Steve, I understand that you and I both have some of my husband’s items and I was wondering if we could reunite them?” My head thought NOOOOOO!!!!, but my heart said “Yes”. Sometimes, doing the right thing means placing ones selfish wants aside. In the end, the items were returned to his widow and she is very happy to have her husband’s treasures once again. I understand that about all she has left is a photo album and his ribbon bar which corresponded to the medal bar in my possession. I guess the moral of the story is that even though I will dearly miss having these items, that in no way equals the joy that I feel for her and having the satisfaction of knowing that I was able to make an elderly lady happy in her last years.
This is why I always say that the items are merely cloth and metal, without memories and the stories of the person who owned them, they will never be more than just possessions. I don’t believe in coincidence, and I feel that perhaps the good Lord used me as a middle man to reunite these items with this dear lady. Through this experience, I have befriended an author/historian/ publisher, and have the honor of having made the acquaintance of the last known surviving widow of a WWI Pilot. We still talk quite often and she loves to share stories of her husband. She is s dear, sweet lady whom I will have fond memories of long after she re-joins her beloved Gordon on the other side…
Reichsbund Kleingartner badge
i am buy this one receive friday look original i want your opinion on this badge and info from seller thanks to all
(unusual Nazi German Membership Badge for the Reichsbund Deutscher Kleingartner ( German State Association for Gardners) from the 1930s.
The oval portion of the badge measures 3/4 x 1 inch and is made of silver plated copper filled with dark green cloisonne. The face of the badge is a slightly wider eagle, perhaps silver with a swastika on its chest.)
The back of the badge is marked, FRANK & REIF, STUTTGART -W.
(unusual Nazi German Membership Badge for the Reichsbund Deutscher Kleingartner ( German State Association for Gardners) from the 1930s.
The oval portion of the badge measures 3/4 x 1 inch and is made of silver plated copper filled with dark green cloisonne. The face of the badge is a slightly wider eagle, perhaps silver with a swastika on its chest.)
The back of the badge is marked, FRANK & REIF, STUTTGART -W.
interesting dilemma
so this guy just opened a shop near where i live. hes got a lot of stuff but he doesnt seem very knowledgable about most of it. among his german helmets he has an obviously fake normandy tri-camo with a cheap SS-RZM chinstrap and an obviously fake SS afrika camo. how do i tell him that they are fake without damaging our potential customer-dealer relationship? :confused:
i dont want to start an argument with him, lol i hate confrontation.
early soviet army pics
im interested in the russian army from the late 1930s to barbarossa.if you have pics from that period please post.pics from russian japanese battles in northern china are hard to come by.cool militaria
Need help! Hitler Youth Knife by Eickhorn: A Good Deal?
Hi, all. I was wondering what you guys thought about this HJ knife that I was considering purchasing. I know it's pretty salty, but it appears to me to be a genuine, earlier HJ knife. It is marked for Carl Eickhorn, Solingen with "Ges Geschutzt" under that. The etching on the blade is very faint but can be made out. The grips seem nice and tight and there is no damage to the enamel. The leather seems okay and the scabbard is free of dents but it just basically has none of it's paint left. In this condition am I correct that the value is somewhere around $225-$250 USD? I am being offered this knife for $125 and just wanted to make sure it was a good deal.
Thanks for taking a looke and for all the help!
Best,
Adam
Thanks for taking a looke and for all the help!
Best,
Adam
Unknown beer hall pin?
Hello everyone,
I was given this recently and told nothing more than it was "a beer hall pin."
By the looks of it, I'm assuming it's something real as I can see it's real gold that outlines the Swastika/circle. On searching on the internet, I can't find anything similar. Could anyone identify what it is for me?
Thanks for your time.
I was given this recently and told nothing more than it was "a beer hall pin."
By the looks of it, I'm assuming it's something real as I can see it's real gold that outlines the Swastika/circle. On searching on the internet, I can't find anything similar. Could anyone identify what it is for me?
Thanks for your time.
WWI Bavarian Ludwig Cross
Posting this Ludwig Cross to find out if anyone has or seen another
with the same unfinished look. Normally these medals are found in
blackened bronze. This one came with a new ribbon.
with the same unfinished look. Normally these medals are found in
blackened bronze. This one came with a new ribbon.
It may be possible that it was ‘extra stock’ after awards of this cross
had ceased, and the process of ‘blackening’ was just never completed.
Regards, Steve.
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Meie proektid
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Partnerid
