mickey

hi all the saaf had 100 b26 marauders delivered and eventually served with 5 saaf squadrons a saaf b26 was the last aircraft of this type to be lost in combat by any user in ww2 on the 4th of may 1945, saaf b26s initally operated in north africa and finished the war in the italian campaign dubbed the widowmaker due to its high wing loading and high landing speed early in its career went on to be a capable meduim bomber great photo of bliksem by the way the photo is a usaaf b26 i like the bomb aimer/nose gunner having a fag

Thanks for the info guys

hi all this is out of my league any chance of an id

hi all I collect pre 94 south African police gear and was wondering if anyone had any info on this south African m87 Kevlar helmet I recently picked up it has the standard interior and the saphi label with what I believe is a relatively early production number of 006349 (the date has faded) matt black rather than the standard brown the info I received when purchased was possible sap issue it does not have the later attachments for a face shield any info appreciated thanks

looks like a reservist or veteran assoc type badge they normally have the army star and navy anchor combined check out Richard catalanos imperial medals and badges web site another excellent resource like gmic and the translations are given for the badges and medals

thanks guys nick I had a good look with a glass no mint mark anywhere thanks for the photos

hi all I was pretty happy to find this 8th class they are a bit hard to find with a case and a few ive seen for sale have no ribbons either are they the equivalent of the Japanese 8th class rising sun bit of damage to the case but the medal is good nick any photos in your files of someone wearing one I haven't found one yet

thanks guys

hi all picked up this photo of a diplomat don't know who he is or date nice jacket pity it overpowers the medals any idea what the 2nd from the right is

I try to find original photos of the items I collect common badges but photos hard to find

hi all just wondering if anyone has a possible id on this I thought it may have something to do with manchukio but cant find any reference many thanks

hi dan the part is called hand guard cap front 5 to 10 dollars most enfield parts guys will have it

hi all a recent arrival a documented koushou badge issued to petty officer 2nd class sato yukio a sailor who served on the carrier shokaku navy ministry document shows it was awarded showa 17 (1942) august 14 for injuries on the 15 of February 1942 while the warship was in the south sea at this time the shokaku was part of an indian ocean raid on Ceylon and her aircraft were involved in the sinking of 2 british cruisers and the aircraft carrier hermes, a later check card dated 1945 shows he was injured in the right breast and had no complications the documents also show the badges issue number 1142 thanks to rich catalano for translations. a nice piece of japanese naval history

couple more photos loyal dog monument in zushi, photo of major itaru itakura (the boss far left) and colleagues of the military dog research group in 1930

looks like a wartime made sword has the kokura arsenal mark 1936 1945 (Tokyo) machine made there are some pretty good copies coming out of china these days best to get an expert look at it first

the stamped price is the original price of the cord so now we have an idea as to what people paid for them along with all the other info this thread produced thanks nick

a recent purchase similar to nics #80 post but with metal button attachment the cost is stamped on the box 1 yen 40 sen so the nz dollar equivalent of 90 cents i believe the enamelled cherry blossom cords are faifly scarce

Of interest this was classed as a pocket pistol by tranter due to its under. 40 caliber much like the superb. 36 navy colt which did not find favour with the British military due to its lack of knockdown power hence the popularity of over 40 calibre with military private pistol purchases

HI Mervyn yes always had an interest and a small collection of percussion revolvers Mainly colt Adams and a couple of tranters

hi mervyn this is a 4th model tranter 120 bore at a guess percussion revolver the lug on the rear of the trigger disengages a sear to fire the weapon engraved model probably made for export to various british colonys in the 1860s very nice revolver that was competing against samuel colts navy and army percussion revolvers as well as the british webley percussion model

hi relic 99 check out rich catalanos imperial medals and badges website or look at the info available in the japanese forum on this website i havent seen replicas in these gk classes but im sure they are out there there is some excellent info on this site to help new collectors ps 6th class medals are pretty pricey

hi brian seeing you mentioned bases here is one of the less common, hand made I think demon face base inscribed on the inside with soldiers name nakashima with the inscription your body is lighter than a feather but duty is heavier than a mountain do your duty and come home to smell the blossoms( thanks rich c for translation)

this bottle shows the 3 soldiers crawling with the Bangalore fuse lit

I wonder if any type of balloon badge was ever issued

hi brian, thanks nick, just a few more of the less common items a bottle commemorating one of the human bombs a coporal kitagawa made at the famous hirado kiln,14th balloon regiment cup,what looks like a common crossed flag cup is to a soldier who served on Karafuto (Sakhalin) russo Japanese war era I believe items from Karafuto are scarce,and a very rare wooden 3 piece bottle to the 8th artillery thanks rich c for translations