Grant Broadhurst

That,s another Beauty Darrell ! When i get a minute i,ll post my early RK .

That,s a beauty Darrell thanks for showing ! Maker marked 1957 pieces are scarcer than people think as these are really just pieces left over from the WW2 production that were being used up in the production of the new 1957 awards instead of being slung out of the factory door .

Back of one number showing screw on discs :

Shoulder numbers and shield :

Hello All , I have just been given the shoulder numbers and a shield that belonged to my Grandfather . I have been told he was a Policeman in Luton just before the outbreak of WW2 when he then joined the Military police and went to Rangoon . Are these period pieces and what does the shield represent ? Any help welcome ! Cheers Grant

Usually the left over frames have the same characteristics as their WW2 brothers in that they have die flaws , burnisherd & frosted , same pin and hinge assembly and sometimes the makers mark . When you have looked at these for a while you see the wartime production standard in the early versions start to slip to the very late stay bright glittery poorly defined horrors that came out last , it didn't happen overnight it was a gradual process from quality to crap that took around 25 years. Later frames have very poor defenition to the ribbing and poor detail in general often with a slight gap between the 2 frames and on the last examples the EK1 often has a circle at the top of the frame where they would solder a ring to make an EK2 ( using the same front frame for the EK1 & EK2 to ease production ) . You really need to handle a few of these to see the gradual deteriation of the quality going good to bad .

Hello Joe , The one shown above is an earlish one made when the wartime frames ran out and they still had good production standards , i.e. the core was still magnectic , painted before they put it in the frame and they bothered to burnish and frost the frame . When the standards started to slip the hinge was also mounted lower down on the back and not near the top as shown on the example above . So yes you can get one shown above or one using left over wartime parts .

The ribbon behind the black wound badge looks wrong to me , it is long service blue and it should be grey .

Thanks Rick , I only have one 1957 bar that was sewn directly onto the tunic . Yes it is a lot for a bar i was going to see if i could get it cheaper although for some reason a Slovak and Croat award together is suspicious to me , is this a realistic combo ? Thanks Grant

Hello All , Spotted this 1957 German Ribbon bar on Ebay i fancy buying but which awards are indicated by the last 2 ribbons ? I thought the 2nd to last looks like the ribbon for the American silver star or are they both Croatian ? Does the metal Croatian device on the last bar indicate a higher award ? Thanks in advance for any information i am totally ignorant of Croatian awards Cheers Grant Oh here,s the link : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Sounds like a person you can deal with ! Although i see a couple of mistakes in the 1957 section but we are only human

Watch out guys : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1957-Iron-Cross-1st-...6047QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1957-Iron-Cross-2nd-...6047QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

Your right David , everyone cocks up now and again Detlev made a boo boo on Fridays update .

Hi Dave , Does this Phillipp militaria have a website ? i wouldn't mind a peek . i,ve never heard of him .

Hello David , They look like a cast copy to me , i only have one set of 1957 Oaks that came from Martin Steglich and they are dished slightly and have better detail . Going off these i,d give that set a miss . That,s the trouble these days looking for good 1957 pieces , everyone is realising that WW2 collectors are more knowledgable and won't be suckered in by these fakes so they put em on Ebay and say they're 1957 versions which are going up in value and hey presto they sell em ! There,s one guy on English Ebay at the moment who,s selling what he thinks are 1957 badges with diamonds when in fact they are poor WW2 fake badges with diamonds . The modern collector pieces you can buy all day long but the early vet pieces are getting really tough to find now .

Here you go Don : http://www.stephan.de/ I have seen single parade mounted 1957,s mainly EK2,s a russian front and a 4 yr long service .

Hello Don , Yes i saw one for sale about 2 months ago from Siegmund Stefan , he was asking 65 Euro . It was a nice early one .

Nice little set of 1957 awards ! Have either of your DK,s got the coke bottle pins ?

I saw one of these on Ebay for about ?20 , i presume it,s some kind of commemerative piece ?

Rick the stamp shown looks just like the stamp on the first oversheet of my set . It says on mine : vorbereitende dienststelle fur die aufstellung der deutschen streitkrafte nr . 283 Signed by a Hauptmann u . Standortoffizier .

I have some of these award documents to one man along with photo copies of his soldbuch along with a letter stating these are replacements for his wartime ones . Dated 18 July 1958 for the EK2 , inf assault and wound badgesin silver and black . Unteroffizier in the 12 Inf Rgt 687 EK2 doc was awarded 20/7/42 stamped Wehrbereichskommando VI 1 20 Nov 1957 Inf Assault in Silver awarded 28/8/42 Wound badge in black awarded for 1 wound 2/9/42 Wound badge in Silver awarded for wounds suffered on 2/9/42 , 4/11/42 , 11/3/43 interestingly the photocopies of the soldbuch are ending with this typed statement : Die Richtigkeit umseitiger Fotokopie ( Auszug aus dem Soldbuch Seite 22 Feldwebel ____ ____ ) wird hiermit bestatigt : Munchen den 18.3.1958 ( Delica ) Hptm . I presume they were replacements for a reason i.e. going into the Bundeswehr and wanted proof for wear of his 1957 awards ?

Seen these before on another forum , but nice to see them again . Love the ribbon bars and the 2 medal bar pairs

I was in the Queens Lancashire Regiment ! Yes it is a yellow plastic diamond which is sandwhiched between the cap badge and the beret . The significance of this i was told in a class room is to denote all the battle honors that the Queens Lancashire Regiment has ( in 1988 we were told that we had the most of any regiment in the British army ) . Mind you you have to remember that the QLR was the East Lancs , West Lancs and i think the loyal North Lancs and so takes Battle honors off all the regiments almalgamated to it . There you go As for the Lancashire Fusiliers they were never part of the Queens Lancs , I has a mate in there and they recruited from the Bury , Bolton & Greater Manchester Area . The Hackle was 2 colours white and Red not claret or crimson . Battle Honours : 204 more than any other British Regiment Victoria Crosses : 19 Cap Badge Backing. The Primrose Diamond worn on soldiers' berets was introduced by the Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion the East Lancashire Regiment at Hamburg in 1945. Primrose (pale yellow) was the facing colour of the 30th Foot 1702-1881 and was carried again in 1916 when 1st Battalion the East Lancashire Regiment wore patches of that colour on their helmets and sleeves at the battle of the Somme. The backing is not worn by officers or by warrant officers class 1.

Thanks Gordon !

Hello All , I just wondered how many of the midget sub crews actually were awarded the Knights cross , i know of one man who got one . Thanks Grant