Avitas

Thanks Larry, I think we're due for some thunderstorms tonight over the mountains here in BC too. Any opinions on the shield? Cheers, Pat

Hello Gents, Here is another of my pick-ups from my trip to Vancouver Island last month, a slightly beat up denazified KM Minesweeper badge for a really affordable price with the maker mark of ?? , just recently determined to be the logo of E.Ferd. Wiedmann/Frankfurt. It is a zinc alloy and is showing some zinc rot thanks to the denazification process and a couple other small trouble spots. It has a very small amount of gilting left on the oakleave wreath, but otherwise it is in fairly decent shape. I read in Chris Ailsbys book that ?? is one of the more common accepted marking for this badge, and I am pretty confident in its originality. There are many nicer examples out there but this one has character and has obviously seen some hard times after the war, maybe a post-war POW camp example, but who really can tell for sure. Any opinions are greatly appreciated on its originality or any more info about it. The pics will show up when Larry gets a chance to post them for me, so hang in there until they show up! Cheers, Pat

Another mystery solved! This is great to know as I have a GAB and a KM Minesweeper with this mark. Hopefully eventually more and more tidbits of info will come out and solve some other mysteries as well as more and more items from attics etc. come out to shed light on this relatively hard to find area of expertise (thanks mainly to all the burning of documents etc. during and after the war in Germany). Cheers, Pat

Hello Gents, I am posting my pics of my first Heer Krim Shield that I picked up on my recent trip to Victoria, BC. I have always liked the arm shields and I hope to also pick up a Narvik soon. This one is magnetic on the shield itself and the backplate, and has a bit of rust on it and some tarnish. All in all, it is in pretty good shape with some original cloth still visible (top part) and the grey army cloth between the metal is pretty rusty, but I don't mind not having a mint example as long as it was actually worn. I would guess this was a worn example that was torn off the jacket as a souvenir as it is a little bit bent and the cloth is almost all torn off. I don't dare pry the reverse prongs up to have a look at the remaining cloth but the wool is rusty around the edges. I was just wondering if anyone knew the maker of this one and if someone has a similar example to show. Also, I am pretty confident in its originality, but if it is not for some reason, please let me know, but I picked it up at the biggest militaria store in BC and they have a good reputation so I am not too worried. Larry will post my pics for me (Thanks again Larry, you're the best!) as I am still computer challenged and unable to post pics, so they might not appear for a couple days, but have a look when Larry posts them. Cheers and lets see yours! Pat

Once this is finished it will be a monumental display! I can't wait to see it expand and hopefully we can create a very thorough database. And Nick, please feel free to use any of my pics of tinnies and stickpins for it if you need to (I'm still in computer limbo so I can't post any more pics as of yet). Once again, this and the other picture databases are an awesome idea and keep it up! CHeers, Pat

Hi Greg, I know there were a couple Imperial war badges produced (the tank, flight, and submarine badge are a few examples) and they were of a similar design as the Third Reich badges, but they were extremely rare and you don't see too many real ones around. In the TR era they expanded hugely on the idea as another effective form of morale boost for the soldiers, as now every division and specific role had a badge of honour, giving them a much more personal feel. One could argue they were just another form of propaganda, but if so, very effective. Many career soldiers didn't care less about the badges, but I think for the majority they took pride in their badges. I am sure there are more examples of war badges from pre-ww1 (maybe someone has an example?) but they are obscure and nobody took the idea to the level of the Germans (they still do it to this day, with many specific qualification badges and achievement badges that resemble the original ww1 style and ww2 styles). There is a bit of my limited knowledge, but check out the Imperial forums for the ww1 German badges! Cheers, Pat

Thanks Fred! I was pretty confident on these as the dealer I got them from has always sold me good stuff and they seemed to be of the right quality, so thanks for the confirmation. Still waiting to get a new computer so I can post my recently acquired items (Krimschild, a couple buckles and tinnies etc) but hopefully soon I can be back up full swing, one way or the other. Cheers, Pat

Thanks Curt for the information, I too have been skeptical of it (I picked it up cheap at an antique show) and since then I have been a bit doubtful on it as well. But you never know, maybe some more info will come out on the SS-DRK armband and it will turn out fine, but until then it stays in the "fantasy" drawer. Cheers, Pat

Come on, somebody's got to have one of these out there! Or I could be mistaken, these might be harder to come by than I thought. Any ideas or examples of this Meissen medal or one similar to it? I've come across a few on some dealer sites (some painted, some not) and mine appears to be legit compared to those ones, and I paid a similar price to the ones advertised. Not a lot of info on these out there, and what little there is is buried under all the other "Meissen" brand name pottery and china that is on the web (and I don't think the company, that is still operating, wants this TR association advertised all that much!) making it difficult to find a good reference. Cheers and thanks, Pat

Great cap badge! The DRK symbol is quite easy on the eyes, I picked up a stickpin in the type 4 pattern from Don and it is one of my faves for sure. I guess now I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for one of the cap badges! CHeers, Pat

Many thanks Larry! Thanks for posting the pics of my Meissen made red clay medallion for the campaign in France. Can anyone help out as to determining authenticity and with more background info on these pieces? ANy help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Pat

Hi there, I just picked up a Meissen made (famous German ceramics and pottery maker) commemorative medal for the conquer of France and Paris 1940. On the obverse? is a tank coming over a hill with a swaztika above it and the inscription around the edges "Zur Erinnerung an den Feldzug in Frankreich" with crossed swords at the bottom. On the reverse is a picture of the Eiffel tower with Luftwaffe planes flying past and the inscription "Einnahme von Paris 14. Juni 1940" around the outer edge. I am sorry about having no pic, I will try to get a scan over to my friend to post the pic for me. It is made of a reddy-brown clay ceramic? (I am not an expert in this field) like the one posted earlier on the forum for the capture of Singapore. I am basically just looking to see if anyone else has one of these to post for this specific medallion or any of the Meissen made ceramic non-portable medals made to commemorate Axis military victories. Also, any information about these awards is very helpful and I was wondering if these are faked often, and maybe how to tell a fake if there are many. Cheers and lets see your examples! Pat

Hi there, The pics are a little fuzzy but from what I see it looks OK, I have one from the same maker posted elsewhere (I would post a pic but I am temporarily unable to post pics until I upgrade my computer situation) on the forum. I don't think there were many fakes (compared to other items) made of these badges so it should be safe. Cheers, Pat

I saw a brief story on the sports channel about hockey legend Conn Smythe's engraved ww1 Victory medal was for sale and the Canadian government is trying to make it stay in Canada. This medal is truly a piece of Canadian history and I for one don't know why the Canadian government doesn't just buy it for the national museum! Conn Smythe was a legendary early Toronto Maple Leaf hockey star of the 1920's and the award for MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is named after him. I dare not estimate what this will bring in on the free market and I was wondering if anyone else had heard this and had more info on it (maybe a bidder??!?). Cheers, Pat

I think it is true that many of the hollow-backed tinnies used this soldering method as the manufacturing method as my collection also is mostly of this type of pin attachment for the hollow-back tinnies. The solid ones rarely use this method from what I have seen (and some of the ones I do have that are soldered have been determined to be fakes) as they mostly use the backplate style attachment. Nice Nurnberg tinnie by the way! Cheers, Pat

Very helpful thread, I learned the hard way about cast copies. To see many examples of cast badges have a look at the majority of my Kriegsmarine and early Heer badges, some have pretty good details (like the anti-partisan badge) but there were still casting lines around the edges, which is never a good sign. After acquiring a few originals over the last couple years I can now distinguish between them much better, after seeing the quality of originals (My first 10 badges were all cast copies from the same crooked dealer at the Kelowna flea market, buyer beware!). I look forward to more examples and details to help beginner and novice collectors become more aware of all these cast copies! Cheers, Pat

I was just admiring this badge in Warlord's book a month or so ago, what a great find Rosenberg! There's just something about the balloon badges that is so appealing (not to mention the rarity of this specific DLV badge!). I don't suppose anyone else owns an example to show? Cheers, Pat

Thanks guys, and yes I have thought about getting it researched. I am just a little leery of the method, but maybe I'm just paranoid! In any case, hopefully I will get some information to go with it someday to make it a complete piece of history. Cheers, Pat

I have heard on the other post on this unoffical medal that these were just made by local Italian merchants by contract (maybe by individual army groupings?), which would explain the variations. I really liked this medal when I saw it and picked it up instantly as the offensive of 8th army and the North African/Italian campaign is one of the most significant military actions of the century, and my favourite study of the war. It just fits in nicely with a set of militaria from the Italian part of the war. If anyone has some further background on these types of unoffical Italian campaign medals please lend your knowledge, and show any further variations if you have'em. Cheers, Pat

It is funny that the queen is still the "head of state" for so many countries, yet has no real power, guess it's just "tradition" now but I for one would like to see the queen of England out of Canada's chain of command officially and make the "Commonwealth" awards a historical topic. But back to topic and sorry if that was too political, sometimes I can't help myself! There are definitely some interesting Indian and Pakistan medals out there, and I wonder if anyone else has some obscure Commonwealth nations medals to show from ww2 or earlier era as these would go along nicely with this thread and be a help for newer collectors to see the wide range of nations that make up the "Commonwealth" niche of medal collecting. You don't see much on it, even on this site which is quite good on the British and Commonwealth side of things. Cheers, Pat

Nice set of New Zealand badges Chris! They don't come around too often here in Canada, the one I posted is the only one I have seen in all my travels to antique stores and shows here in BC. Picked up an RAAF cap badge recently though, as Aussie badges are pretty rare up here too. I was talking to a dealer in downtown Vancouver and he mentioned that the NZ, Aussie, and Canadian cap badges are gaining more of a premium now as they are a bit harder to find for the world market. Anyone else notice this trend? ANd thanks Leigh for the information on the Reg de Montagny (star and maple leafs) badge, and it may have a connection as it is a French Canadian regiment and they have ties I believe. Finally to Pylon, I did notice that the drawings were all size accurate in the cap badges book which is very handy, and my copy is falling apart as well, I had to tape it together! I have a backlog of newly acquired Canadian cap badges to show once I get my system upgraded (who knows when! Dang money issues!) so hopefully that will be soon. Maybe Chris should start a thread on New Zealand badges? THanks for the help and comments, Pat

Thank you Leigh for your great insights on these badges. It is not often you find someone of your precise knowledge of cap badges! I buy mostly Canadian regimental cap badges so your expertise on the British regiments is very helpful. Hopefully I can post my new badges soon and I can receive more of your comments on the badges. Cheers and thanks again, Pat

Hi there, Had a couple nice finds at the last antique show in Vernon BC and picked up an early Gordon Highlanders cap badge with the "By Dand" separated, which I think places it in ww2 territory, but any help on dating it would be great (can't upload pics since the site upgrade, hopfully soon!). I also picked up a "Liverpool Scottish- The Kings" cap badge with maker mark of "J.R.Gaunt, London." Mostly Canadian cap badges show up at these shows but the odd Brit or Aussie one shows up (just picked up a ww2 RAAF Royal Australian Air Force cap badge, how rare are these?). Thanks for looking and any comments are great! Cheers, Pat

Hi All, Just a quick update on a few of the newer ww2 era Canadian cap badges I have picked up recently (sorry-no pics yet- my situation is still in limbo with posting pics). I am extremely happy to have found a Canadian Black Watch badge (Royal Highland Reg. of Canada) in really good shape and a nice Royal Irish Regiment as well. I also found a nice BC Dragoons 3 piece collar/cap badge set, an Ontario Regiment collar badge, a Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps cap badge in mint shape, a Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps badge (in regular cupal metal, not plastic, is this ok?), a Royal Canadian Dragoons cap badge, and a Canadian Women's Army Corps cap badge. The old collection of Canadian ww2 cap badges is filling out and now being aided by a very handy reference book called "Insignes Canadiens- Canadian Badges 1920-1950" by Daniel Mazeas, and it is long out of print. It has very precise, life-like size sketches of pretty much every Canadian Cap and Collar badge from 20's to 50's and has been very helpful for anyone needing a good reference book on Canadian cap badges. If anyone has an unknown badge they would like me to look for in my book please feel free to post it on this thread (as long as it is Canadian of course!). Cheers, Pat

Hi Christophe, Unfortunately my old computer is preventing me from uploading pics to the site after the software update, so I cannot post the pic and I don't have the time to type it all out right now, maybe PM Warlord and see if he has it on file (he is the author). I did not see the Turkish award on the list though, he has them listed by country and Turkey is not mentioned. Hope that helps and if there are any more you would like me to check the list for I would be happy to do so. Cheers, Pat