Tony

Ah ok, no worries. Perhaps it should be deleted and I'll start a new thread or moved to the identification forum if possible? Tony

Italian? That’s a good thought as they came with this item http://gmic.co.uk/forums/topic/66591-german-insignia/ I’ve since been told it’s possibly Italian too. Well, from the same building. A friend who used to do house clearances in Germany has them and was wondering what they are as she’s thinking about having a clear out. As to the nationality I haven't a clue I'm afraid. Tony

Thanks for the reply. That’s exactly what I first thought but as it’s only about 25mm wide I changed my mind, thinking Warsaw Pact straps would be wider?

The Bundeswehr ones I've seen were slightly different which was why I thought about the police but yes, it more than likely is post war.

The stars on these ribbons reminded me of US medal ribbons, does anyone recognise them or could they be a different nationality? Might the brass devices have anything to do with them? They came together. Thanks Tony

Hello, The holster below looks British to me but after searching for photos of Webley and Enfield holsters I'm no longer sure, what do you think? It's brown and is marked 14, below that is 38-4 and under that it's stamped medium. Could it be Belgian? Thanks Tony

Hello, I'm hoping someone can ID this strap, I'm assuming it's German purely because it was found in Germany. Thanks for any help. Tony

Is this a pre or post 1945 P38 holster? I can't find any markings on it and it looks as if the belt loops were changed at some stage, I'm wondering if it could be post war police issue. Tony

This was my first attempt, luckily they're not high ranking officials or German which heavily reduces the chance of them wearing shiny objects. I wasn't happy with some of the colours and don't know what possessed the lady to wear such a bright coat

What did you use to strip it back so far? I have two helmets with postwar paint and I'd like to give them that original look again. I don't know how good the blokes are who said the decals are bad but as I have no idea about 3rd Reich stuff I'd also ask someone who knows his stuff to look at it in hand (if you know such a person) before carrying on back to the camo. Being able to somehow date the top coat would be good but failing all that and having the word of people who are 100% sure they're dodgy decals, I'd personally strip it back. Tony

Wish my wife was into collecting something like that rather than Readers Digest books, perhaps she wouldn't mind some of the stuff I buy if that was the case.

I wonder how often they come down due to engine failure. I'd like to see one flying, one flew over work a few years ago but not at the time it was supposed to so I missed it, although that was a locally made replica instead of an original. I get annoyed if someone bashes the car with a shopping trolley so I bet the pilot must be very cheesed off at the mo but it could have been much worse. Tony

Researching a name like Baker must be a nightmare unless you have an idea of where he lived or surviving army records. A great group and I wonder if he knew my great grandfather, a pre war territorial Ranger. Good luck with your research. Tony

Wish I had the patients to do something like that. I've given it a go but it wasn't much cop. Tony

Another good job Steve mate.

If the Kriegsbeute-Vertrieb is still working from the same address and you have a bag big enough to carry in in then why not

If you would like copies pm me your email address. Tony

Are you picking up a German accent? I reckon you're right, it looks like the sort of quality you see from 1950s/60s films and is the word 'produktion' in the bottom right corner?

I didn't know captured allied equipment was sold to help the bereaved of fallen soldiers. It'd be nice to find one of the certificates handed out with the sold item. Tony

And another nice surprise yesterday when both their iron crosses were offered to me. There was a black Hindenburg cross too but I don't know if it was from Gustav or Hans Letmathe or Karl Stender. The paper label probably used to be under one of those glass paperweight things. Wish there was a date showing when they were awarded or better still, the certificates.

Peter, Just had a look on ancestry, there was only his MIC and medal rolls I'm afraid. No service record or SWB entry. MIC just shows entered France 9/11/15 Tony

German grammar was more difficult than today???? Thanks Andy.

45 and 164

Is bronce the old way of writing bronze in German? If not, what's a Broncerohr? Tony

Thanks to both of you for the comments and yes Chris, I can do that There are more than likely many different ways of removing rust using a battery charger but this is the way I do it. You need:1 – a rusty object2 – a container large enough to fill with water and submerge the rusty object in3 – a wire brush4 – a battery charger5 – a piece of steel6 – normal household washing powder After removing a bit of crud from around the neck for better contact I attached the minus pole (cathode) to the rusty object and submerged it in a bucket of water.I then put the piece of steel in the bucket and attached the plus pole (anode) to it. I’ve kept the plus pole out of the water and haven’t encountered any problems as yet with the minus pole sitting in the water, partially submerged.Add some washing powder, I used about half of one of those plastic measuring cups that come with the washing powder in the photo above.Plug in the charger, switch it on and crack open a cold one. Don’t let the parts attached to the plus (piece of steel) and minus (rusty object) poles come into contact as it’ll bugger up the process. After a bit you’ll see some fizzing coming from the rusty object and foam will settle on the surface. If this doesn’t happen just chuck in a bit more powder. After a while (depending on the amount of corrosion) switch off the charger and check the object. If you’re doing this inside your home and you’re married/living with someone please remember to wrap an old towel around the object otherwise you’ll get an earful from the lady of the house when she sees the mess you’ve dripped onto the floor. Once safely outside hose down the object with water, some of the crud may need a going over with a wire brush but if the whole thing doesn’t come up clean enough just stick it back in your container, switch the charger back on and repeat the process. When you’re happy with the way it looks you can either leave it as is, put an anti rusting agent on and paint it or just put some flowers in it. I put a coating of linseed oil over the body as I like the look. The piece of steel attached to the plus pole attracts the rust and will deteriorate over time, I don't know if there's any difference in the result when using plain old mild steel or stainless but I had a piece of stainless laying around so used that. You can also place the object to be cleaned in the middle of the container and surround it with several pieces of steel however, you'll need to connect them to each other with a piece of wire that's a good conductor, like copper and don't let the connection get wet. That’s about it, I think.