joetauchretter

Hello, In my opinion this is a post war fake . I am not a fan of the accepted hollow back badge myself , but If I rember correctly that badge was stamped hollow back and by the looks of your pictures I would say this is a cast badge . Also I agree that the catch looks post WWII . Best Regards, Joe

Hello, I am not a hat collector and every TR hat or tunic I have ever owned had the size ink stamp in an even size or was so faded or worn to the point that I could not read it . This hat looks very nice and old but the hat size looks strange to me . The stated hat size is 57 1/2 , since the hat and other clothing dimentions use the metric system would'nt the hat size be ink stamped 57.5 ? Best Regards, Joe

Hello, I think it may sound nice that " A Christian Navy " would have a small swastika on KM badges, but I believe artistic proportions and a sense of balance is more true . If you where to put a huge swastika found on many LW badges and place it in the eagle's talons it would crowd out the image of the boat used on that particular badge. One of my favorite KM badge is the auxillary cruiser award , try putting a larger swaz on that and the entire viking ship's sail would be nothing more than a swastika ! I think the designer's had more interest in the details in the boat depicted such as the viking ship with globe , a destroyer , S-boat , U-boat battle ship etc. In my humble opinion the KM badges have more realistic balance than the other branch's awards . Best Regards, Joe

Hello , From these pictures , in my humble opinion I think this badge to be a repro . I do not like the crossed ribbons at the bottom front and the stamped " 800 " on the back . I also do not like the end of the pin near the hinge , it looks like it is split where the hinge pin would go through . Just my opinion though. Best Regards, Joe

Hi Gordon, I'll throw my hat into the ring first ! From these pictures the badge looks like a Maybauer ? Best Regards Joe

Hello, Well , after buying every book on the K-men I could find I think I have the picture that I have been searching so long for ! These beacon lamps seem to have been worn by k-men using the linsen / sprengboote . I think these would be used after the boat crewjumped over board so they can be seen in the water so the pilot boat can pick them up . Best Regards, Joe

Hello , I just received a new book on German U-boat crews the other day . This new book is called U-BOAT COMBAT MISSIONS by LAWRENCE PATTERSON . This book is packed full of great color and black and white pictures , most I have never seen before ! There are lots of pitures of uniforms and equipment etc and I find this to be a great book on the daily life of a u-boat crewman . I would give this book two huge thumbs up if they had shown some nice pictures of a tauchretter , but no....... the same old color photo of an incomplete tauchretter from the u-boat archive that everyone uses in their book ! I recommend this book to all u-boat collectors ! Best Regards, Joe

Hello , This is the 1957 version of the Kampfabzeichen der Kleinkampfmittel . You see these all the time on ebay and even some books on German WWII medals but this is incorrect ! The original WWII version had smooth fins and the post war 1957 version has the ribbed fins . I believe anyone in the Kleinkampfverband could earn this award but as it came very late in the war and the loss rate was very high few were ever awarded . Best Regards, Joe

Hello, Nice pictures ! I really like the tauchretter photo If you ever want to sell any pictures that you have showing a Dr?ger tauchretter please let me know ! Best Regards, Joe

Hell0, In my opinion , judging by these pictures this looks like a nice original piece to me Best Regards, Joe

Hello , Here is a picture of a woman named " Ilse D. " wearing the EK II and a ribbon bar for 5 or 6 medals , a well decorated woman ! This picture was found in the newspaper K?LNISCHE ILLUSTRIERTE ZEITUNG . DATED 3. August 1944 . If you like a better picture let me know and I could email it to you ! Best Regards, Joe

Here is a picture of the front cover . best Regards, Joe

Hello , Has anyone read the new book " U-BOOTE CREWS " by Jean Delize yet ? I just got my copy today and I had high hopes for it , but Gordon's Torpedo Los blows this book out of the water ! Some nice pictures , but many of the u-boat badges look bad to me ! This book has lots of B/W and color pictures of u-boat crews and their uniforms and badges etc . Most of the pictures I have seen before , I see many error's but still an interesting book to look at . best Regards, Joe

Welcome to GMIC and thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the book. I don't think the glasses you refer to were unique to the U-Boats, or even to the Kriegsmarine. These could be used as sunglasses but were also used inside the boat by crews about to go on watch at night, to protect their "night vision" when leaving the (relatively) bright interior of the boat for the open bridge in total darkness. Unfortunately, space considerations alone prevented inclusion of many more interesdting pieces of kit in the book. Given free reign I could have ended up with 2,000 photos, 800 pages and a book weighing 4 kilos ! Regards Gordon TIME FOR VOL. TWO !!! Best Regards, Joe

I must agree that this is a bad, cast repro in my humble opinion . I do not think this is an original badge with a replacement pin as the badge shows a lack of detail and has too many pock marks just like a cast copy . Best Regards, Joe

I do not think you could upgrade this item . It looks brand new and unused ! Best Regards, Joe

Wow , That is one very rare toy you have there Can we see more detailed pictures of the breech , how was this line thrower loaded ? Best Regards, Joe

Hello, In my opinion these are reproductions as the materials used and the method of construction does not look like any pre 1945 shoulder board that I have ever seen . Best Regards, Joe