Scowen

Robert, That letter is an "s", deutschen Cheers Don

I'm sorry but I would not be happy with this in my collection. It does not match any of the accepted designs of this badge. There may have been two makers, Wittmann as you mentioned, & Hoffst?tter, Bonn. Both makers designs are very similar, the crossed skis & Edelweis are made in one piece, not riveted together as this one is. Also, the H.J. rhombus should be enamelled not painted (remember this was pre war & intended as an award for leaders or instructors). Also, there should be two sets of attaching pins not one. Sorry, Don

The only reference that I can find to this is in Angolia's "Labour Organizations of the Reich": "Since the RAD was a national, rather than Party, organization it's uniforms and insignia were not subject to control by the Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM-National Supply Agency). They were, however, legally protected. Only authorized makers could supply the RAD. This authorization was indicated by a license or regestration mark (Zulassungseichen) depicted by an inverted triangle enclosing the letters FADJ and later RADJ with GES. to the left, and GESCH. to the right." So that implies anything other than this is incorrect...... This also poses the question as to the so called Type II badges/pins of which all that I've seen so far do not have the triangle at all, only the Ges. Gesch. Are these earlier than the Type I's thus too early for the mark (the original 1st design RADwJ brooch worn until 1937 never had such a mark) or are these fakes????? Cheers Don

Joe, I'm glad you pointed this out. I only noticed it when putting up the extra shot & wondered the same thing. I'll have a check through my books to see if there is a reference to this. Cheers Don

I've added a better shot of the double Assmann mark to my post above.

You wish is my command Robert, I've started two threads & added their Icons on the database thread. Cheers Don

Type II

Post your RAD Honour pins here, for now both type I & II's This type I interestingly double marked for Assmann & Söhne.

As requested post your Arbeits Dank pins here, lets see how many makers we can find. For now we'll have both red & yellow versions, if needed I will split later. To start, here's one of mine, maker marked ESP. Cheers Don

A nice bag of tricks you found yourself Nick. Can't help with that last one, been through all my references & there's nothing like it I'm afraid, sorry. The SS civil pin isn't really my area either, but I wouldn't be comfortable with one that didn't have a makers mark & serial number....... Nice looking yellow Arbeits Dank pin, is there any sign of the pin being replaced? I've only seen pinbacks of these before. Cheers Don

Welcome to the forum John I never tire of seeing these. I'm going to get me a cased pair one day I swear Cheers Don

Two nice pictures there Doug, do you still have them? Cheers Don

That one has sure been through the wars.. Cheers Don

My we see the reverse please Doug Cheers Don

Looks OK to me but we have a buckle forum Doug if you want to make sure http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showforum=141 the guys in there know better than I. Cheers Don

Nice little badge Doug, now you'll have to find the rest of the set I've changed the date in the thread title for you. Cheers Don

Well seeing as no one has replied yet I'll set the ball rolling & see if we can flush anyone else out to respond.... These are a couple of badges which split the collecting community down the middle depending on your views as to how they should be marked. One group (to which I suscribe) believe that these were early badges & so should not have RZM markings. The other group believe that the production of these badges continued well after the election of AH & that they were sold officially to commemorate the success of the Party & to continue to raise funds, thus would be RZM marked. I think until more evidence either way is found the discussion will rage on & it will be down to personal opinion as to whether they are good or bad. Apart from the RZM markings, I cannot see any red flags that would cause concern. Cheers Don

Finally, when you look at it from the side, it's as flat as a pancake. All of the originals I've see so far are gently curved. Below left suspect fake, right original. [attachmentid=62133] [attachmentid=62134]

Here I think that we have a fake large version marked for Aurich. It feels wrong in the hand & has various differences when compared to others. Unfortunately, I do not yet have another Aurich to compare it with. As you can see, the pin is very crudely attached, but this could be down to it being a replacement. The centre of the starburst is not under the letter "L" as with the others. The lettering has little or no pattern under the blue enamel, others are ribbed in some way. Below left suspect fake, right original.

Rev

Another "B" size marked for Enders Oberrahmede

A good question Joe. I'll give Mijke a nudge as he has a nice collection of these including the two piece, perhaps he'll post them for us. Cheers Don

Thank sounds logical. So who took in & brought up the adopted children & those Aryan looking ones "kidnapped" from occupied territories, the RDK? Here's a beauty of a cup on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. Cheers Don

I think that the yellow house is a private residence, many of the houses have rooms to let for a couple of nights stay. Can't say about the KdF connection but it sounds likely as it has all the hallmarks for a place of culture & German history. I guess it's about 30 miles as the crow flies east of Nuremberg. Cheers Don

Rothenberg ob der Tauber (above the Tauber River). It's a beautiful ancient walled city, I think possibly the oldest complete on in Germany. It suffered some damage due to bombing in the war, but has since been restored. Here's a similar view from earlier this year. Cheers Don