Hello everyone,

I could use a little help or direction on this one. I have a tag stamped "11./J.F.A.R. 639" with a roll number of 63 and blood type stamped A. I cannot find an artillery regiment 639 but I did find a single Korps level battery 639 so I do not think this is an artillery abbreviation. Any input is appreciated!

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Hello,

I went in search of a 1944 Ford Jeep tub and the owner had picked up this sword at a pawn shop and can’t find where it may be from.

I am not into swords and could not find any identifying marks on the sword other than "Breda" imprinted on the leather. I also could not find any swords that look similar to this one on general inet searches.

If any of you recognize this sword and can tell me about it I would appreciate it.

Thank you,

Onaway

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Hello everyone,

Here are some photos of another Queensland Police P1907 bayonet I acquired recently off eBay from Canada. The scabbard is not matching. The bayonet is marked Q^P 612 so if anyone comes across that scabbard drop me a line. The grips are marked AUSTRALIA from when it was imported into the US. The pommel and both sides of the cross guard are marked J.C which I assume is the mark of the US importer. My guess is that it was transferred from the Queensland Police to the Australian Army during WW2 and then sold off to the US.

Any comments welcome.

Alex

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Hello everyone,

Here are some photos of my recently acquired Italian 1938 folding bayonet. Its my first Italian bayonet and I’ve been looking for one for ages. The blade is a little loose but I’ve heard thats common. The photos don’t do the blade justice, its still got most of its plum coloured finish. Does anyone know who the manufacture of this bayonet is?

Any comments welcome.

Alex

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I picked this up as a WWII machete with a rigger made scabbard. I was told this was common for the airborne troops in ETO. Would like to learn more about this item if anyone has any experience with this type of item. All comment good or bad are welcome as I am here to learn. Any help is appreciate.
John

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Dear Fellow Collectors / Researchers,
I have acquired a tunic that I’m pretty sure is of Italian origin. At least I think it is. I’m just not sure of its authenticity and I have a few questions about it. It constists of a U.S. made / issue shirt with Italian badges and insignia.
1) Is this a fantasy piece?
2) Was it custom for the Italains actually use U.S. uniform items for their military?
3) Are the badges, awards and insignia proper?
Any information is happily accepted.
Thanks for your time and assistance.
R/ Twillie2

Hello my friends !!! Hope you’re all doing great !

Passing by here to share this SA Sportabzeichen in Silber - Type 1 I recently added to my collection.

In my opinion, one of the most beautiful badges of the third reich !

Lettering: "Eigentum D. Chefs D. Ausbildungswesens"

Number: 24667

Manufacturer: Bonner Kunst Abzeichenbedarf, Bonn

May I have some knowledge and thoughts from you ? : D

Thank you !

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Click to view the auction article

Click to view the auction article

Three years ago, my dad passed away and I got his WWII Japanese officer sword. It was missing parts, so I’ve spent the last 3 years fixing it up, and have just had it polished. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to tell the story, as much as I have.

It was made in Spring 1941, by the Mantetsu factory in Manchuria, and carrries the "Koa Issin" slogan. Don’t know anything about it’s path in the war, but by the look of the blade it did some duty in the field. My dad lied about his age (16 at the time) and joined the Marines in 1950. They kicked him out when Korea started, but he rejoined in 1956 and served 7 years and seperated as a Staff Sgt. Somewhere along that time, he picked up the Mantetsu. I wish I had asked him how he got it, but as a kid, it never occured to me. He did say that the missing parts were stolen buy guys "looking for jewels."

When I got it in 2014, it was missing sarute, rank tassel, tsuba/seppa, semegane, ishizuke, and mekugi. I found a nice tsuba/seppa set from a Japanese seller online, and ordered the mekugi online. Then I found someone selling a tsuka that had the same cloth sarute, which I swapped out to Dad’s tsuka. When looking for rank tassels, most Field grade tassels were in the $500 range where the Comapany grade tassels were around $150, so I decided Dad’s mantetsu could be a Captain’s sword! I later found a semegane. Had to file the inside of it to get it up the saya far enough! And the last piece, the ishizuke, came from another Mantetsu saya from The Ozzy Samurai on one of the forums.

After a 2 year wait, my turn came up for the polish. I highly recommend David Hofhine. He did a fabulous job! I really debated about the polish. The blade was stained and scratched and showed that it had a bit of history. So I almost kept it that way. But in the end, it was Dad’s and I wanted it to look top-notch, so I went ahead with it, and I’m glad I did. It’s quite beautiful.

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