westernhighlander

Thank you all for posting. In addition to military headgear, I'm also interested in Imperial Russian militaria. I've found it difficult at times to distinguish between Soviet vs Imperial Russian Epaulettes. Are there dimensions/measurements or patterns that clearly differentiate one from the other?

I believe this is a Naval Shoulder board of a naval officer of the Ukrainian Republic 1919-1921. What rank would this represent?

Would welcome any help ID'ing these shoulder boards....

That may be, but I havent come across more than one or two since acquiring it. It also came along with several other badges which I have since determined are associated with Mike Hoare's 5 Commando operating in the Congo. I will post photos.

The arm badge above came with this fez from the war in Ifni in the Western Sahara, 1957-1959. Its a bit dirty and needs a bit of cleaning. Anyway, I'm not sure if they are connected in any way.

Acquired this with a group of other African items, thought it may be of some interest.

Its a little over 5 inches in length ( see attached photo). It is allso curved ( see attached). The curvature would fit a cylindrical form such as the upper arm just below the shoulder or cylindrical headgear such as a fez ( as oppesed to a spherical helmet). If worn on the arm, perhaps some sort of guard or parade unit similar to the metal arm badges worn by Spanish Regulares/Spanish Legion.

Might this insignia be from Equatorial Guinea during the reign of Franciscp Nguema 1973-9179 when he used the rooster as the national symbol? Its quite large.absolutel no idea of what it would have been used for, but came with a collection of other African badges.

Hello, Can anyone ID this insignia. I thought may be a Spanish North African such as the ejercito Regulare Tabor of Tetouan? it has the crescent without a star, the crossed rifles (upside down with shoulder strap), but no crown any help welcome! thanks

Hi,I realize this may be a bit of a stretch, but any help is welcome.I picked up a collection of belgian colonial badges at a recent auction and amongst the lot were three that for the life of me I cant ID. 1st is a crescent witha number 1 mounted over crossed rifles, axes and a spade. No star. I thought it might be a Spanish Moroccan sapper or perhaps a French Algerian Spahi pioneer?,The second badge has a kite shaped enamel shield in front of a rooster with its wings spread. The shield is diveded into red white and green with a blue tip. I thought it may be an Arab or North African unit under French command ( Syrian, Moroccan, Algerian?)The third is an anchor with a grenade over crossed cannon. I thought it may be a French or Belgian colonial marine or infantry artillery badge for either a kepi or pith helmet. judging by the style of the grenade it looks to pre WW1.Thanks in advance for any help. http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137500&d=1450035240 http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137497&d=1450034768 http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137499&d=1450034996

Hi,I realize this may be a bit of a stretch, but any help is welcome.I picked up a collection of belgian colonial badges at a recent auction and amongst the lot were three that for the life of me I cant ID. 1st is a crescent witha number 1 mounted over crossed rifles, axes and a spade. No star. I thought it might be a Spanish Moroccan sapper or perhaps a French Algerian Spahi pioneer?,The second badge has a kite shaped enamel shield in front of a rooster with its wings spread. The shield is diveded into red white and green with a blue tip. I thought it may be an Arab or North African unit under French command ( Syrian, Moroccan, Algerian?)The third isw an anchor with a grenade over crossed cannon. I thought it may be a French or Belgian colonial marine or infantry artillery badge for either a kepi or pith helmet. judging by the style of the grenade it looks to pree WW1.Thanks in advance for any help. http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137500&d=1450035240 http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137497&d=1450034768 http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=137499&d=1450034996

John, Can you provide the reference for the info on the helmet flash of the amphigarious units?

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Here are a few pics http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-13589-0-83630800-1384571811.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-13589-0-12409900-1384571872.jpg

John, I was ecstatic when I read your post - I simply cant thank you enough - I can't begin to tell you how hard i've been searching for the answer to the identity of the unit this helmet flash represents - some sites suggested it was fabricated whe it clearly isnt. Perhaps its the quality of the lighting in the photo(s) I uploaded, but the lower half of the flash is indeed light blue albeit faded. The underneath side is darker light blue. Additionally if you look at the photo of the helmet with the flash, the diagobnal is indeed the same as on your flash. The photo of close up of the flash appears to have been reversed when the image was uploaded. I will take additional pics in better lighting and upload them again. The flash is on both sides of the helmet. I searched for info on amphigarious units and found the following ( whih I am sure you are already familiar with) http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056dt.html. Very exciting - Thanks again, Mike Thanks, Mike

Beautiful items, very helpful thanks for posting. The green fabric on my helmet appears to be identical to the ones you,ve posted. I was wondering, if the flash of my helmet doesn't match with known SA units, could it be from rhodesia/Nyasaland?

Hello, saw your post about green veld uniforms and thought I would chime in to see if anyone else can help. I posted is a pic of a green veld helmet with ear flaps . This style helmet was used by RAF and other commonwealth air units prior to ww2. Was known as the type A "East of Malta" flying helmet. It has an SAAF badge as well as an as of yet to be determined helmet flash. The green over grey/light blue indicates atransvaal mounted or air unit of the active citizen force. Why a mounted unit would use an airforce helmet is unclear to me as is the red over black diagonal that is present on the lower grey/blue half of the flash, so I did some additional research - as was stated previously, the helmet flash is divided into an upper and lower halves, suggesting that it is from the Citizen Forces as oppsed to the Permanent Forces. The green upper half indicating Transvaal and the light blue or light grey indicating the branch of service. If the lower half is considered light blue then it would suggest air force, if light grey then ( I assume) Cavalry. The helmet having earflaps is the type issued to airforce units, so this would suggest it would belong to a citizen air force unit from the Transvaal as opposed to mounted or cavalry units. I found the following on the SA airforce website regarding Citizen Air Force in the years immediately preceding WW2, around the date stamped on the interior of the helmet (1928/1929) and during the period the green veld material was used ( 1930's)- see below "Abridged History of the Citizen Aviator in South Africa (A more detailed history is available from Directorate Air Force Reserve 012 312 2295) The first involvement of citizen-aviators in the military environment in South Africa can be traced back to 1912. Cecil Compton-Paterson was appointed as the first instructor at the Military Aviation School established to train aviators for the South African Aviation Corps. A while later the Transvaal Air Training Squadron (TATS) was established to train aviators for the Regular Air Force, this was a slow process and by1923 only 17 officers and 218 other ranks were serving in the fledgling force. To speed up the process a Special Reserve of Flying Officers (SRFO) was established in 1923 to do refresher courses for aviators and in 1926 to do cadet training. (The SRFO existed for several years after World War II.) In 1925 the SAAF began training cadets to supplement the SRFO pilots. Ground subjects were presented at the Military College and flying training at Zwartkop Air Station. Ten student pilots were awarded SAAF Flying Badges (wings) after qualifying in 1927 and were absorbed into the TATS. Two courses followed in 1930 producing a further 38 cadets. At the same time a scheme to train 50 artisans was initiated. In July 1927 a scheme of part-time courses for undergraduate pilots and later for artisans was started at the Transvaal University College (presently University of Pretoria) who formed the TUC Air Squadron as part of the SRFO. In 1928 this squadron was absorbed into the TATS and flying and ground training was done before and after normal working hours. In Europe the rumblings of an impending war were being heard and South Africa, along with other European nations, began to look at military resources. In 1935 the One Thousand Pilots Scheme to train 1000 pilots and 700 aircraft mechanics was launched with a view to training 1000 pilots and 700 mechanics by 1942. To achieve this the TATS was expanded beyond the University of Pretoria to include ab-initio training at civilian flying clubs with advanced training at SAAF Flying Training Schools. In July 1938 the TATS was reorganized into 13 flights located at strategic points in the country and renamed the Union Air Training Group." Given the aforementioned, I wonder if this helmet may be from one of these Transvaal Air Squadrons that preceded or were contemporary to the SAAF.http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_10_2013/post-13589-0-77268600-1383100318.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_10_2013/post-13589-0-98426200-1383101779.jpg

Can anyone recommend how to go about getting something like this professionally restored?

Thought I would post this. From what I understand this was used prior to and during WW2 by the South African Air Force in the eastern Mediterranean ( east of Malta) and throughout the African theater ( Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Madagascar). While I have seen examples in khaki, this is the first I've seen in a green. I would appreciate any additional info on this helmet as well as any help with the identification of the helmet flashes on the puggaree.

So the helmet has arrived and I have enclosed additional photos. Upon inspection its evident that it is extremely old and fragile, but how old is anyones guess. The helmet's unusual appearance, as seen in the photos that were posted in the beginning of this thread, turns out to be be due to its distorted shape. For starters the front peak is deviated and the sides are squeezed together which gives it an elongated and narrow shape and causes the both the front and back to bow outward, giving it a sloped domed appearance. When the sides are gently pulled outward and the front is gently pressed to return it to its original shape without damaging it, one can see that it takes on a more familiar appearance resembling other helmets from the era of the Boer Wars. It has some similarities to that of an example of Pagets horse I've seen online. As far as the ventilation is concerned, I don't know if there were cork spacers at one time or not. There may have been something between the the sweatband and the liner at one time that has since crumbled away. Interestingly the sweatband is firmly secured to the helmet with what appears to be a number of rusted and aged metallic attachments spaced at regular intervals which span the sweatband and cork, but dont penetrate the canvas cover. The gauze pagri is also extremely old and similar to examples from the period as is the red wool material, but these may have been a later addition. I,m interested to hear what others have to say. I'm happy to post additional photos if need be. The seller was willing to take it back, but after seeing it, handling it, etc, I'm more inclined to believe it may be original. It actually looks comparable to boer helmets posted on GMIC. ( http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/36423 ... -headgear/) <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zps2585e8dd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zps2585e8dd.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zps636504b7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="' alt='' class='ipsImage' >" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zps636504b7.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zps636504b7.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="' alt='' class='ipsImage' >" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zps636504b7.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zps32d32f45.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zps32d32f45.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zpse89580cd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="' alt='' class='ipsImage' >" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zpse89580cd.jpg"/></a> <a href="http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/Westernhighlander/media/image-1_zpse89580cd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="' alt='' class='ipsImage' >" border="0" alt=" photo image-1_zpse89580cd.jpg"/></a>

Thank you Mervyn, Brian, Mickey, and Peter fro your replies - the helmet is being shipped, when it arrives I'll be able to examine it more throroughly for authenticity, etc - I'll reserve judgement until then. I have posted on other forums and the response has generally been that ( based on the photos) it is not likely military nor a private purchase, possibly theatrical, maybe a polo helmet...like I said I'm waiting for it to arrive. The purveyor is willing to have it returned, but insists its original. I vaguely recall seeing an old sepia/black and white photo of a a soldier wearing a comparable helmet - not sure if it was in India or South Africa. In any case, if anyone comes across any info please post! thanks, Mike

Additional photos -

Hello, Anyone come across anything like this before? Found in South Africa. Any info much appreciated. Will try posting pics of interior. Thanks, Michael (please see attached images and zip) Boer War Helmet..zip