joetauchretter

Hello , Did you view the movie clip on the web site You Tube yet ? The movie is a poor quality copy but my flashlight / beacon looks like what is hanging from the man's life jacket . I have seen a tauchretter said to be from a K-man and it had the same exact rope lanyard attached ( light was missing ! ) It is very interesting that in the You Tube movie clip the K-men in the spreng boats are wearing LW para helmets still sporting the LW eagle insignia on them ! So the K-men did wear / used borrowed LW equipment . I do hope that this is a late war beacon light , if someone could say that it is post war I would like to know the country , make and model of this . If you hold this in your hand you can tell it is very old and the battery is 100 % German and the light/ beacon was made to fit this battery . Maybe post war Bundesmarine ?

My first guess would be that this device ( ger?t ) is the tip of some type of electrical probe . Can we see a picture of the other end ? Best Regards, Joe

Remember , what I say is only my humble opinion ! I feel this badge does not have the crisp details of a die struck or pressure cast original , true zink badges can be a big problem due to the fact that zink ages very poorly . On the other hand zink is very cheap and easy to work with and can be aged with chemicals that will give it that classic " Zinker look" .On this web site and so many other sites dedicated to Gewrman militaria I see so many badges with the pin, pin hinge or pin hook missing that I consider the market flooded with them , this is a very good sign of a repro . I have tried on several original badges to break off the hinge assembly with my fingers and failed to damaged them at all , I feel a fabric loop on a tunic would be the weakest link in this story , but as there are so many badges displayed on these web sites I guess not ;-) What I find the most interesting thing about this badge is on the back where the pin hook was , look in the center of the round broken off pin hook area , right in the center of where the round wire hook was is the same coloring as the badge , this leads me to believe that that an incorrect hook was removed then this badge was colorised or chemical aged . As a display badge I like this , as I said before as long as it is not too much money . Even is proven to be original I feel a badge with all it's hardware missing loses much of it's value in my eyes . Best Regards, Joe

In my humble opinion , since this is NOT a field made piece I feel that this is a cast repro or a doctored 1957 badge . The details are very poor and the color looks incorrect with a wash of black chemical in the detail areas . On the back it looks like casting pock marks and why the date of 44 stamped on this badge twice ? And why Nantes Fr. ? Why not name the u-boat base that this was awarded at ? The dtailing around the anchor looks very poor to me and looks like a bad casting . This badge has been faked in the past and I do believe that this is one of them and should be passed up on , unless it is very cheap and you are looking for a hole filler . Best Regards, Joe

In my humble opinion this is a cast copy and aged to make it look like it is 60 years old . I like to stay away from these badges with the pin hinge and hook as this is done to cover up incorrect parts in repro badges . If you are not interested in collecting TR medals etc this would make a very nice display item , I hope the price is not very high . Best Regards, Joe

[ Hello . Here are more pictures of the various parts to this signal beacon . .Please see the You Tube web site at this URL address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OtZa4W4RlE , I believe this to show the same beacon lamp as I show here , If anyone has this film clip I would sure like a copy of it ! Best Regards,

Hello . Here are more pictures of the battery label . Best Regards,

Hello . Here are more pictures of the battery label . Best Regards, [

Hello . Here are more pictures of the battery label . Best Regards,

Hello . Here are more pictures of the battery label . Best Regards, Joe

OOOPPPSS ! Wrong picture ! Here is the picture with the battery .

Here is a picture of the battery paper label . The only shread of proof that I have that this was used by the K-men , mostly the Linsen or Sprengboote when they jumped off their boots would use these to help in being spotted by the pick up boat is a bad copy of a film clip on the web site You Tube with the title " KARL D?ENITZ " . Best Regards, Joe

Hello , I would like your help in identifying this hand held flashlight / beacon lamp . I was told that this was a very late war Luftwaffe or Kleinkampfverbande light beacon . This is made from sheet steel and has a brittle plastic dome cover on the top . It is water proof and due to it's long length and the battery in the lower half this will float in an up right position . I do not see any markings on this lamp . The battery does have a paper label and is all in german . This is very old and the battery was made for this lamp . My question is , has anyone ever seen one of these and it is 100% German but is it Pre 1945 or post war ? Best Regards, Joe

Does look like an original GWL in my humble opinion ! They must have used a cheap gold paint or something similar as the finish on these badges are always worn off , which is a good indicator for repro's . Joe

Very interesting water container ! I have been collecting Dr?ger tauchretters and other Dr?ger made items for over 30 years now and I have never seen , or heard of Dr?ger making water containers ! What color is this bag ? It does not look like the color materials usually used by this maker . Can we see some more detailed pictures of the bag and ink stampings ? I looked in several books on LW survival gear and see nothing listed or looks like this , what is the date ? very late war ? The RAF had a similar looking bag so I would think the LW would have it also .

At first I liked this badge . At first glance it looks well made and it has a nice age patina to it . After looking at the pictures I did not like the top view of the eagle's head , it looks like some minor casting defects around the head and shoulder area . As Gordon pointed out the ribbons look incorrect for this badge . This looks like a top end cast badge with some very good chemical aging . The bad news for collectors these days is that there are casting materials that will produce a badge with the exact size as an original ! Years ago the repro's were made from cheap plaster type moulds that had a lot of shrinkage . The material now on the market is very expensive but when you think about the sky high prices of TR awards it makes the price of the casting material worth it . If you use the correct metal you can now make a u-boat badge etc that will be correct in size and weight :-( the plating and poor hinge and pin assemblies still is a good sign of a repro ., this is why you see so many "originals " with missing or " replacement " pins on them ! I made a " test mule " u-boat badge with this casting material and cast it in zinc and it would pass for an original in weight and size . Since this was only a test I did not bother with the hinge and pin on the back .

I do not have a good feeling on this badge also , I would pass on this one . I do not like the pin assembly as I have seen this style on many known u-boat clasp fakes and the finnish looks poor and does not show any of the usual bubbling found on original clasps . I also do not like what looks like heat discoloring around the area or the pin hinge and hook , these areas look like someone with little skill in soldering soldered these parts on . Maybe , if it was dirt cheap it could be good for a hole filler in a badge collection . Joe

I have to agree with Gordon , I would pass on this badge . In my opinion it looks like a cast copy , the pin and hinge assembly looks nothing like what is found on original badges and the front looks like it has dark paint in the detail areas or has been chemical aged . You see these copies on eBay every day . Joe

This is a very nice looking peice of " eye candy " , as I like to call these unknown but very interesting items to hang in your collection . What is the round , red backing material ? wood or metal ? Joe

The plaque reads something like " change over switch for heating " In the top center there looks to be a " O " , in my opinion this may mean off postion . I think this brass ring at one time was around a switch on a ship and wasused for heating . I think when the ship was docked the switch would be turned to " land " and use shore based heating and when at sea the switch would be turned to " Bord " or use the ships own heating . I would think the heating system would be electric . Does the brass image of a sub rotate ? Joe

In my opinion I feel this stick pin and badge are post war fakes . True, there are few war time pictures showing men painting this emblem onto the their conning tower after completion of training there are no original war time pictures of this badge . There are many, many pictures of crews after training and commissioning but none show this badge . In my opinion these look like post war construction and plating , almost everyone that I have seen look like they were made only last week ! I cannot believe that a badge and stick pin would be produced for completing u-boat training and now ready for front line fighting . I cannot see a u-boat man who joins an elite unit such as the Ubootwaffe would want to wear a badge as this when going on the front line and showing every tom , dick and harry he had just passed his u-boat training class ! A fantasy badge/ award in my humble opinion . Joe

I just received my No. 1 edition today from the Squardron web site , Wow ! This is a very high quality magazine with great pictures . Well worth every penny ! I only wish this was a monthly magazine :-) Joe

In my humble opinion I believe this to be a crude cast copy . Poor details and crude workmenship and I do not believe the " late war " story , this is just a cover for a bad copy .