Spasm

Having had another look I would say it is hand painted due to the unequal cross, bad spacing to the bars, the central circle painted in small strokes and a very much simplified eagle. I'd say a homemade window display hanging rather than an 'official' flag - a lot cheaper too. Rather nice I think and probably period as a modern reproduction or fake would be a lot better done. Can we bin #2

Looks hand painted rather than printed. Is it your flag?

Yep, bits of grimey motorcycle, fish wrapped in tin foil with a couple of eggs (luvly when it comes out) and anything that needs a deep clean (wouldn't be any good with getting paint off). I haven't tried just dug relic helmets yet as I'm a bit nervous as I'm now banned from the dishwasher. I was caught due to the filter having some 'orrible stuff in it and then cracking a floor tile having dropped a nice clean Harley head that I was inspecting. Damn. Best thing for paint is the hot gun and/or a hard case stripper (the ones Chris likes)

Try the dishwasher with some added gunk. Works a treat as it self cleans and the admin staff doesn't notice. Until the filter gets clogged up! Tip: Keep your eye on the filter and clean out every now and again otherwise you'll be banned from using.

Pete Looks like a good thing. Didn't know that the ol' commonwealth were doing the same. From the British Legion: When Gemma from the West Midlands visited the CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium with her local Explorer Scout Unit, she wrote to us: “I know that not everyone can be remembered as individuals, but I felt it was a shame for some people to have dozens of poppies and crosses while others had no one left to remember them.” I haven't received any details yet but given the histories that some of our members have collected and having those sorted, stored and available on t'tinternet can only be good for future generations' interest and knowledge. Imagine if we had those sort of details available from several hundred years ago.

Let's help the British Legion remember the fallen http://www.everymanremembered.org/ see ya'll there

Shame that the archaeologists never had time or resource to get to the end of the bunker. It also seems as though it was never actually occupied as the forces were pulled back before the work was complete. Must have been a quick retreat as quite a lot of specialised hand made tools were discovered. A couple of German items were also discovered but only around the entrance that perhaps says that the advancing Germans although finding the bunker never ventured inside probably suspecting traps. Interestingly, hand driven tunnels and headings (without a can) are built much the same way today.

Two short interviews with WW2 SA Spitfire pilots

Here's a couple of his that you won't have in your skizzenbuch Villiers-Bocage during Michael Wittmann's tiger tank romp and an American B17 Flying Fortress being ripped apart by? Does yours have the aftermath of the Dieppe Raid?

Jock Very nice indeed. The single Hans Liska skizzenbuch from 1944 with most of his WW2 pictures. Very sought after. I have his Airforce and Army skizzenbuchs from 1942 and 1944, combined they have many of the pictures as in your single one but not all. He also did sketches for the German magazines which are pretty hard to find but I do have a few. His sketchbooks for Daimler Benz and the US Racing circuits are very expensive as a set, again, if you can find them all. Drool

Looks like its the smaller WW2 version pin. Rather than the 'big badge' http://www.rsa.org.nz/badge

Jock It'd be nice to see them. Got quite a few as well, must get some stuff into the scanner

So, anyone have any ideas what the above says, or indeed any of the handwritten notes alongside the drawings?

Efficio Welcome. We'd love to see what you've found, tell you both what they are, and what they're worth. I did leave a box of stuff in New York last time I was there so first dibs. It's a bit confusing trying to upload pictures but it's worth persevering, click the 'reply to this topic' black button at the top right and go from there. I for one, think the stuff is worth thousands and thousands at least

I've done a few adjustments that make it slightly easier to read. My inability with the German handwriting doesn't help much though. Anyone have any ideas?

Hucks The books are actually smaller than the displayed pictures here. I really struggle with any handwritten German so I can't help much. Would be nice if someone could help with deciphering some of the hand written notes. All my translations are through bing and that doesn't help that much in some cases especially when I can't read the handwriting. Would be pretty easy to scan both the books and load them into the document archive (assuming I can figure out how it works) if people are interested. As an aside, I also have the Hans Liska WW2 sketchbooks.

These two small books are fairly easily obtained in their first edition print. They cost about the same as a WW1 EK2 for them both. The second book is a bit harder to find, has more pictures with the sketches of a better quality as Ernst became better at what he did. I'd encourage anyone to go and find these two wonderful additions to their bookshelf

20th November 1942 was a day filled with sunshine. On that day Eigener fell in battle. He was thirty-seven years old. Ernst Eigener fell where he had hoped one day to build himself a house, on the Don High Road, near Kalatch. 'The stars are eternal, but men behave as though they will be gone tomorrow.' Eigener wrote these words three hours before he was killed.

Eigener's friends told how they hadn't seen him laugh. Eigener was interested in things that other men pass by without a glance or might ignore. Everything appealed to his artistic eye. He examined where most were merely bored. He watched gun fire and clouds, sun and mud, the clear nights, the Volga mist. He thought of no man as his enemy, and so dearly did he love this land that he hoped one day to return to Russia and to live in a house in the hills beside the Don. Some pages are quite beautiful but grim

Some sketches do have printed subtitles, probably added by the printers rather than the artist. Here the title reads "Enemy attacks!". A frosty glove on a mortar round is all that keeps the scene quiet.

Then came the winter and Stalingrad. It was here that Eigener was commissioned to carry out the design for the Stalingrad arm shield. His submitted design included a silo amid the snowy ruins of the city beside the Volga. In the centre of the shield a dead soldier. Around the soldier's helmet a crown of barbed wire and across the design, in bold letters, the single word 'Stalingrad'. The design was turned down by headquarters. 'Too demoralising', said the comment in the margin of the drawing.

First aid stations and the wounded

The sketches then seem to take a slight turn, a look inwards towards the hardships of the troops as the battles became hard fought and the going much slower. Defensive fox holes and slowed by the conditions.

For reference, a photo of Reichenau in a similar pose and his baton minus the shaft

A visit from General Field Marshall Walther von Reichenau, commander of the 6th Army. Note the details of his baton.