Gordon Williamson

Reverse

The Don Cossack Cross. Original at right shown with a 1970s copy at left.

The extremely rare Siberian Cossack Cross.

Some of the rarer foreign volunteer items. The Young Cossack Badge. Comes with two types of fitting. This one is similar to British cap badges, with two loops ( one missing here) soldered to the reverse to take a split pin fitting.

Nice to see the little LDO warranty card, usually missing and very hard to find.

Darell, No, S&L didn't have any sort of exclusive rights. Several firms made 57 EK pieces, including a number of original wartime makers. The retaining clip on this one isn't one I've seen before. Another mystery.

A truly fabulous historical piece Michel. Thank you for sharing !

Hymmen & Co. Tiny L/53 just below the hinge.

Semi-hollow backed A.S.

Too early on a Sunday morning for me, still not fully awake when I added the (wrong) image !

Michel, Sadly, the exterior of the case is not so nice and has some damage. I still like it though as they are very very hard to find ! Nick, I'm pretty certain the one you show is a fake. Probably a casting taken from a genuine fo badge as the "master". The hinge block is a major give away.

By the way, Dave, your Minesweeper Badge is an unmarked Deumer. They also come with a vertical needle pin, if marked they usually have a small L/11 stamp right at the bottom of the reverse face.

Catch close up

AWS 1942

Rudolf Karneth. Initials RK within a circle on the U-Boat Badge . Also exists (i.e. on the Minesweeper Badge) with individual letters R.K. with full stop after each letter and without the circular border.

Gebrüder Wegerhoff, Lüdenscheid. Normal type, with initials GWL intertwined in a monogram within a circle. Also exists (i.e., on the tombak Destroyer Badge) with individual letters in line.

On the subject of the actual markings themselves, during the Third Reich period anyone who had lost their award could obtain a free "official" replacement through the Pr?sidialkanzlei, purchase an additional piece "officially" or buy one at their own expense via the LDO retail outlets, ( these LDO marked pieces were in the terminology of the time referred to as Copies , Replicas or Restrikes). Note that this facility to obtain official replacements does not just relate to awards instituted during the Third Reich. A soldier for example, who possessed the 1914 Iron Cross First Class and lost or had his award damaged, could obtain an official replacement, and this would be appropriately marked with a Pr?sidialkanzlei Lieferant number, such as "4" for Steinhauer. If he elected to purchase his own privately just because he wanted an extra example, it would be marked with the LDO number. How many recipients would wish to pay for an over the counter copy when they could obtain an official relacement free? LDO pieces were considered restrikes, copies or replicas, not proper awards. Original period manufacturers catalogues attest to this As far as dual marked crosses are concerned, as the LDO marks predate the Pr?sidialkanzlei marks, it is likely that these were initially LDO marked then had the PK number added when they were used to complete an order from the Pr?sidialkanzlei. Attached is a declaration relating to LDO markings from a 1941 Steinhauer catalogue. Note the reference to the L-16 LDO number being used on "Nachbildungen" (i.e. Copies or Reproductions) In 1941 the retail sale of high grade decorations such as the Knights Cross and above was forbidden. Retailers were allowed to retain only display samples and all others had to be handed in to the Ordenskanzlei, the manufacturers being compensated appropriately. These LDO marked pieces ( like Juncker L/12 Knight's Crosses, L/50 marked Godet Oakleaves etc) were subsequently used as official award pieces. There is no evidence that any lower grade LDO marked pieces such as War Badges, EK1s, KVKs etc were ever used as formal award pieces.

No real point in listing all the various LDO and PK marks as these are widely available from numerous sources. There does still seem to be considerable misconception about the exact purpose of these markings however. The LDO mark ( with L/ prefix), more properly known as the Herstellerzeichen, was introduced on 1 March 1941. The origins of the LDO lay in a meeting held at the Pr?sidialkanzlei where it was decreed that in order to maintain the quality and thus the prestige of military awards and decorations, their manufacture was to be controlled and licensed. A subsequent meeting held in the Russischer Hof Hotel in Berlin on 15 July 1940 chaired by Dr Doehle and representatives from the orders manufacturing industry formally established the LDO as the central organisation for the control of the manufacture of awards for private retail. The address of the LDO was Leistungsgemeinschaft der Deutschen Ordenshersteller, 27 K?rnerstrasse, Hagen-Westf. (Later moved to Eugen Richter Strasse 6) A further notice on 1 November 1940 from the Pr?sidialkanzlei publicised the fact that the manufacture of orders and decorations for the private retail market was permitted only by Licensed firms. Firms who failed to follow regulations could be and indeed on occasion did have their manufacturing licenses withdrawn (Petz and Lorenz and Otto Schickle of Pforzheim being two examples). The actual LDO numbering was introduced on 1 March 1941 (ref. Uniformen Markt, 1.3.41) and required all awards from that date to be marked with the manufacturers LDO code. There was actually a formal guideline as to where the mark was to be placed. For instance, the official correct place for an LDO mark on an EK1 is in the lower part in the centre. Note that ribbon Crosses, including the RK and Grand Cross were to be marked on the suspension loop. Thus the Zimmermann (L/52) and Godet RK which carry the mark on the loop are correct-but the Juncker L/12 and 2, Steinhauer 4 and Zimmermann 20 RK are, technically speaking, incorrectly stamped being on the frame. This of course just goes to show that regu;lations were often ignored The original proclamation reads ""Jeder konzessionierte Hersteller erheilt soeben ein Kennzeichen (Herstellungsnummer) das von 1.3.41 ab auf den einzelnen Orden und Ehrenzeichen anzubringen ist, bei einseitigen Originalen und 16mm Verkleinerungen auf der R?ckseite, unten in der Mitte, bei doppelseitigen Originalorden und 16mm Verkleinerungen in Kreuzform (EK2, Ritterkreuz, Grosskreuz) wird die Zahl in den eingeh?ngten Ring eingeschlagen". The regulations also covered the packaging in which the awards were supplied. These were to be clearly marked with the LDO logo and the underside of the case/carton was to have the manufacturers LDO number ink-stamped. As far as Iron Crosses, for example, were concerned the following were specified. ?Full Case? (i.e. the good quality case with hinge, press stud etc). Grand Cross, Knights Cross, Oakleaves, EK1, EK1 Spange. ?Half Case? (i.e. the cheaper type with paper hinge and no press stud) EK2 ?Carton? (i.e. the matchbox type with push out tray) in Gray EK2 Spange. Note that the regulations specify a case with LDO logo for the Grand Cross, RK and Oakleaves. It is well known that many wartime orders were not fully complied with, but, despite the fact that many have doubted the originality of RK or Oaks cases with the LDO monogram, original orders specified that these MUST be used for not only the RK and Oaks but the Grand Cross, confirming not only that these did exist but that the Grand Cross was available for commercial retail sales ! One thing which is perfectly clear from original wartime proclamations is that the LDO was NOT responsible for awards supplied to the military EVER, only for private retail pieces. This is important. Comments are often made on the quality of awards such as ?the LDO would never have allowed something like this to go out?. Frankly, if the manufacturer supplied a poor quality award to the Pr?sidialkanzlei, the LDO couldn?t do a thing about it. Only the Pr?sidialkanzlei was responsible for official award pieces, the LDO only for restrikes/copies. Even at the time (Uniformen Markt Issue 9, 1 May 1942) Dr. Dohle felt it necessary to publish an announcement making it clear the restrictions on the LDOs authority. ????..the LDO is ONLY responsible for the manufacture and quality of orders etc FOR PRIVATE RETAIL BUSINESS. Orders made through the Pr?sidialkanzlei for awards, and all associated technical matters are NOT to be dealt with by the LDO????.? Attached is a copy of the proclamation relating to this.

Here's the Schwerin Marine Artillerie badge.

Hymmen & Co. (L/53). A tiny mark which is very difficult to read. So far found on U-Boat Badge and Destroyer Badge.

A D Schwerdt (A.S. Letters within a triangular border). So far found on 2nd Pattern E-Boat and Minesweeper.

Paul Meybauer (L/13) So far found on the U-Boat Badge.

Hermann Wernstein (W within a circle) often on KM badges, as here, partially obscured by the gilding finish. So far found on U-Boat, Minesweeper, Flak.

Foerster & Barth (L/21) So far found on U-Boat Badge, Destroyer Badge, Auxiliary Cruiser, Minesweeper, High Seas Fleet.

B H Mayer (L/18) So far found on U-Boat Badge, Destroyer and Minesweeper