Gordon Williamson

Well, the fittings are exactly what I'd expect on a wartime piece.

I've never been particularly convinced about these double marked Souval pieces.

I have seen it suggested that the double marked pieces are leftover original wartime stock to which the L/58 stamp was added postwar. Even if that is the case, then the badge itself would be wartime, and certainly well worth the price you paid !!

Note the very long neck and large head. This one would probably be laughed off as fake if it turned up "in the flesh"

Officer version with gilt crown piping. Cap eagle is rather interesting

A couple of interesting shots from a photo album I just acquired.

The buttons seem tiny, and very widely spaced apart.

Very nice indeed. Docs for the silver clasp are NOT easy to find.

Of course another important clue is the notice board which clearly indicates the photo was taken at a railway station.

Small and grainy though it might be, photos of Bahnhofswache are very, very hard to find and proof that EBay is still a great hunting ground for good stuff.

Another little gem from EBay.

Sold as Feldgendarmerie which is reasonable considering the Gorget.

However, a few other clues are present. Firstly the lack of cuffband or arm-eagle, though it wouldn't preclude a 1944-45 Feldgendarme, is a sign it may be something different. Certainly doesn't look like a late war shot.

On the original print, it is just possible to see that the detail at the ends of the half moon Gorget isn't circular ( i.e. the button which would be expected) and is set a little further down.

It is in fact an eagle, not a button on the Gorget, and the soldier isn't a Feldgendarm, but an Infantryman on duty as a member of the Bahnhofswache.

Was fortunate enough to beat several others to it in getting this one. Never seen another Mayer with the "26" mark.

Just arrived today.

Minesweeper by Mayer in Zinc, an official award piece with the companies contract supplier number "26" rather than the LDO L/18 found on retail pieces.

Quite a few detail differences in the eagle when compared with the tolling for their first type in Tombak.

I have photos of this type on file (Jan Arne has an exact match) but so far no positive ID on the maker. Although Minesweepers all look pretty much the same, there are a lot of little differences in the shape of the eagles body, head and the way the talons grasp the swas.

This type isn't an exact match for any of the (so far) positively identified makers.

PIn style was used by Mayer, but I don't think it is Mayer. Mayer certainly had more than one set of tooling as their early Tombak badges differ in detail from their later Zinc pieces, but this type doesn't match either.

Very nice grouping. Last time I was over at the U-Boot Archiv I completed a search through all the albums for each individual boat, looking for DK winners. No "portrait" type shots of Haremsa unfortunately, but I can confirm that the shot with the mother does indeed show Haremsa. This was the only shot of him I could find at the Archiv. Definitely the same guy.

Actually, I like the loook of both of these, yours and this one from EBay. I'm sure like everything else, these are being faked, but I would be astonished if multiple types of fakes of these were being made to this level of quality.

Reverse comparison. Similar set up. Apart from the obvious different number of rivets and wider pin.

Here is a direct comparison with my 9-rivet AWS. Similar but not the same. A few very minor differences. The AWS does have a similar "diamond" pattern under the enamel though.

Very nice indeed !

Have to say, I've never seen a totally unmarked one (except for these horrible silvered zinc specimens). The lack of markings is very unusual, but I wouldn't necessarily condemn it for that. I've never seen a fake that has picked up the tiny nicks on the swastika found on originals by Deschler.

What size ?

The solid back ones for some reason seem to be smaller than the hollow backs, at least those that I've handled.

This hollow Gold is 20mm and the solid 16mm.

16mm was pretty much a standard size during the TR period, as was the use of "solid" configuration, so I'm gessing the solid ones are possibly from the 30s and the hollow ones are the earlier pieces.

The (F) after the rank indicates that the individual was promoted to that rank for long service ( in this case 12 years) instead of having passed specific qualification tests to advance to that rank.

It doesn't relate to a trade speciality I'm afraid so won't help determine exactly what this guy did. Most likely, as his rank suggests, he was engine room personnel.

Certainly has the tell-tale signs you would expect on a Deschler piece. Early examples would only have the 900 silver mark, not the Deschler "1"

Good original piece. I like it !

No positive identification of the manufacturer of this type yet, but for sure a wartime original.

Indeed there is

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm pretty sure that on one of the late war photos in the album the five pointed star of a line officer is visible above his sleeve rings, so it looks like a genuine change of branch from MA to Line Officer. Maybe at the same time he turned "professional" as opposed to "for the duration" and the d.R. would be dropped.

Since this isn't just restricted to Army/Luft, here is a Naval one.

I haven't been able to find anyone who has seen one of these, but I am assuming it was just a local authorisation giving him "police powers" within the port.

He wasn't Marinek?stenpolizei (MKP) which was a totally different thing. MKP was formed from drafts of personnel from the Wasserschutzpolizei in 1940. Their duties includied things like security in ports and harbours, coastlines etc but in occupied countries.Most of the kind of duties they covered would be covered by the Wasserschutzpolizei within Germany.

I think this guy was more like what we would think of as "Shore Patrol" , with duties more in line with keeping rowdy sailors in check.

Although instituted in late 1942, there were considerable problems in getting the things manufactured in significant numbers and certainly as far as the KM was concerned, well into 1943 units were advised not to bother requisitioning supplies of the band for qualifying personnel as they just weren't available. In most cases it was towards the end of 1943 before KM units started getting the cuffbands for award to their people, and after the surrender of German forces in North Africa.

So, yes, it seems late when you just look at the date of the award being instituted but in terms of what actually happened, its not all that unusual. Closing date for recommendations for the KM was 15 August 1944 ( strangely, earlier than the Luftwaffe and Army personnel for whom it was 31 October 1944)

Incidentally M?ller's Afrika band is not the standard camelhair type but one of several known variants.