Avitas

Hi Dan, I saw a picture of this type of insignia (the silver eagle in the shape of the helmet sticker) as an add on to the shoulder tabs for a Boatswain in the Kriegsmarine Naval Administration. I would scan the pic but it is copyrighted in the "Nazi Regalia" book by Jack Pia, done through Ballantine Books in 1971. It appears to be the same eagle that I have posted. If anyone else has this book the pic is right after the illustrations of the uniforms section on a page of Kriegsmarine items. Any thoughts out there? Cheers, Pat

Here is the back, with extremely defined letters and no tarnish, a beauty. Thanks for looking! Pat

Thanks Don, Here is a Westwall I just picked up in pristine condition (the little speck above the wall was scanner crud!) and matched it with an old ribbon I had lying around, so the wear on the ribbon is quite a bit more than the medal, my apologies, but it is nice to have any ribbon on it for presentation. This Westwall is one of the nicest I've seen and I thought I would post some pics. Cheers, Pat

and the other side...

Hi there, Here is my very worn 40 year service medal, with only guilding left on the edges and some minimal finish left on the cross itself. Someone had put a "50" on the front to make it look like a 50 year, but I am pretty sure it is only a 40-year medal. Here are the pics. Thanks, Pat

On the first bar, maybe because the HK is a combatants and the KVK 2 is non-combatants could be a reason for it coming first. All the ribbons do not glow and it could be made post war with original parts, but if anyone can help us out on this one that would be great. Thanks, Pat

Thank you Bill for the extremely informative thread! I am starting to collect cloth insignia and this will be very helpful as I am eyeing up some police eagles (many are for sale on a Canadian site right now) and I need to do a little comparing. Who new so many variations of repros existed of such a relatively small corner of the TR world. Great info! Pat

Here is the next one, with the KVK2 combatants, Ostmedaille, and 4 year Wehrmacht Long Service medal ribbons. Highly common, but I like it as I just need a 4-year medal to complete the set of full-size and ribbon bar. Both of these ribbon bars are magnetic. Hope you enjoy! Cheers, Pat

Hello all, Just picked up a couple more ribbon bars, so I thought I would post them and any further bars I get on this thread. First we have one with a ww1 ek2, an unknown Bavarian (King Ludwig Cross?) medal, Hindenburg combatants, KVK non-combatants, and a Luftschutz. Looks like this soldier was out of the army after ww1 and into the luftschutzbund during ww2. A nice little set, and any help with ID'ing the Bavarian ribbon is great! Thanks, Pat

and the reverse with close-up of the bubbled finish, nice condition all round for a late issue. Pat

Hello again, Just got this nice zincer with a bit of bubbling, but nice silvering left on it. It'll go nicely with my early version. Here are some pics. Cheers, Pat

Thanks gents I could have picked up the large version as well with the Songbook but alas I was out of money I hope to pick up some more of these as they are a neat badge, but I don't see many of the red versions around. Oh well, it'll pop up one day! Cheers, Pat

I'm not surprised as I got the Luftschutz in my first year of collecting from the notorious "bad" dealer that I got my badges from. It really makes me mad how someone would even sell lower end item fakes as the honour of some "gentlemen" seems to be lacking and degrades the hobby immensely. Thanks for the opinions guys! Pat

Nice set Paul, the ribbon bars really add to the total package, I'm in the process of snatching up some ribbon bars as well. How hard is it to find the pair you have shown? I can't seem to find any Wehrmacht service medals. Cheers, Pat

and my non-combatants with maker mark. Pat

Nice sets gents, Still need the Next of Kin (love the black finish), but have one in my sights with documentation. These are plentiful but nice medals nonetheless. Here is my medal bar with the combatants cross. Pat

Well this SA buckle is Dan's old one that was posted earlier, so I know it is a good original, but any help on the bevo eagle is great. Again, no glow under blacklight and it has good stitching. Any help out there gents? Cheers, Pat

No ideas out there on this one? It seems like a good one made of good material and die-forged (stamped? Are only hollow-backs stamped? or can solid ones be stamped as well, or is that called forging?). Any background on it (SS Heimwehr and the number ID system) and opinions on originality are very helpful. Please leave any comments you can and thanks in advance. Cheers Pat

Thanks Gary, The funny thing is I have a whole bunch of army cap badges, but no Navy! It is basically the only thing missing from the set (besides some more info on the chap) so I would like to get the same cap badge that he had to complete the set. Any help would be welcome, Cheers, Pat

I have never seen a modern day tinnie like this before, do many of them exist? This tinnie is made almost exactly the same way as the old ones from the '30's which leads me to believe it was made by a maker that was around during the war and earlier. Hopefully someone can enlighten us on this unique tinnie which is probably quite rare I would assume. Later, Pat

Ha, A case of identity theft! I am the real Pat and I'd like to say those are some nice tinnies Dan (especially the second one) and I will post on the 1984 tinnie soon as I thought it was very cool and an interesting item. Anyways, thanks to everyone for looking and leaving comments and please feel free to comment on any of the tinnies shown (especially the 44/45 winterhilfe snowflake, I've always liked that one). Thanks, Pat

My apologies on my spelling today, long drive yesterday and got in real late! It should read Haus Neuerburg, dyslexia or something with the e's and u's! Anyways, here is the partially used Raucherkarte with the late-war markings. Perhaps this city (Dusseldorf) was captured near these dates (can't recall off the top of my head) and these (the cigarrettes and the Ration card) were souvenirs traded to an Allied soldier. Any thoughts are great! Cheers, Pat

And the reverse of the package with barely visible Nazi eagle stamp in the white area of the official tobacco sticker. Any info on this item is welcomed, as I thought it was an extremely interesting piece of history. Also, how often do these come available, are they common or not-so-common? Thanks again, Pat

Hello all, Don't see many of these around, but I was lucky enough to stumble upon an almost complete (1 missing) pack of Haus Neuerburg Ravenklau cigarrettes on my trip to Edmonton. I'm not sure if it classifies as militaria, but it certainly is a "civil" item with official stamping on it. The tobacco is extremely dry and the papers all do not glow under blacklight (same with box/packaging) so that would rule out later cigarrettes being added as time went by. The package is in quite good shape with most of the official government sticker attached, and all of the paper inside is complete, just like someone took one smoke and traded the pack as a souvenir for something else, leaving it almost mint. A partially used Rauchenkarte from Dusseldorf 1945 was included witht the pack of smokes. I was wondering what brands were popular with the soldiers and if these might have been traded on the Western front to Canadian or American soldiers? If anyone has any info on the maker of the cigarrettes that would be great also. I don't have scans of the inside as I didn't want to damage the box by overstretching it, but if you want pics maybe I can did out the digicamera later. Here is the packaging though. THanks, Pat

and a close-up of the rest of the police entry line with job description...any ideas?