Spasm

And the SS officer's name - A. Muller (with an umlaut) quite a common German name. You'd be surprised that there isnt that many SS officers with that name at that time. I hope its the one on the Eastern Front and not that one in the Polish concentration camp.

the date of 08.10.42 is inscribed ("Is that date the correct date?" I hear you ask - I believe in the early part of the reich these were only given out on soltices but later ones were inscribed with other dates) along with H. Himmler

Now focusing on the inscription on the inside of the ring

All the correct runes are present and its been well worn

You can just make out the join in the band in the fuzzy background

The ring looks a bit yellow due to the lighting, its a very bright silver

Gents and Gentesses Have a look at this and you can play the investigation game. I bought this a couple of months ago from a 'reputable' uk dealer advertised as an original. I knew there was no way it was an original because of the price but it's a pretty good copy. The pictures were taken just now under a normal room light (dark here in Londinium) so they have no depth but I have focused in on the details quite well. The rings looks to be multi part with a join in the band behind the skull and the skull looks to be a separate part (as one would expect in an original). There are no 'bubbles' one sees with cast copies and in the hand it feels and looks really good. There is, however, one mistake which is plain to see. Have a look and see if you can tell me what's wrong.

Yep, still looks like a good one to me. Assuming you now have it, how tempting to try to find it's original owner. Although I believe there is no full list, there are some places worth having a look. Rick research, a member here I believe, has the full list of party numbers for the Gau (district) of Hessen-Nassau - ask him nicely and he will probably look up the number for you. The SS Dienstlaterliste also would contain party numbers which can be accessed by the people who have a copy (fairly easy to find on t'tinternet). Worldwarmilitaria have a forum dedicated to the Golden party badge so may be worth checking there against their known list with members. I expect the Gents here would help too. Let us know if you get anywhere

Gents The detail of the stamped numbers on the August Bickel. They are exactly as shown in Ralf Siegert's - The Service Daggers of the SA and the NSKK - book on page 73, he calls it a "stamped service number". But he doesn't detail what the numbers signify only that the number belongs to the dagger and does not identify the person. However the "15" must relate to a Brigade or Sturm as the dagger in his book is also stamped 15, is Gruppe (Gau) marked Fr and is an August Bickel. He also states that only weapon masters had access to number stamps which is why most numbered daggers are engraved with any personalised numbering. So, I therefore think I can say that this particular Brigade/Sturm/etc stamped their daggers before or at issue to the individual. Any ideas which one? I'll let you know if I find anything.

A transition dagger from F.W. Holler / RZM M7/33 with hanger marked 1941 which is some time after these daggers but could've been replaced at the time I suppose. Still great coloured handle with alluminium eagle and plated crossguards (not as well made as the earlier daggers)

The inscription side

A full Rohm with a great coloured handle

You can perhaps just make out the stamped number on the lower cross guard - 15/22077

Chaps and Chapesses, Thought I'd let you have a look at these. Check out the colours of the handles. The August Bickel is numbered and blowed if I can figure what the numbering means. I've looked up Brigade 15 who seem to have been based in Itzehoe which is nowhere near the Gruppe (Gau) mark Fr for Franken. maybe its the Standarte or Sturm number. Anyone have any ideas?

Mervyn All the stuff is from 32 Btn SADF (disbanded in '93), Camo Beret (with 1st type balkie bar). NCO's belt. Service Book. Pro Patria medal. Metal insignia for stepping out and a cloth one that I should really stitch onto something one day. Cheers - Spaz

Thanks for the welcome. Are you sure it should be there? It seems to be more of a colonial content. This gear is from the Border Wars in Angola during the 70s I'm happy to put the picture there if you are sure.

Stuff I dug out of my trommel. Just for you gents to have a look at.

AlecH It looks pretty good to me for several reasons: Fuess badges have 7 laurel leaves on each side rather than the 8 on Deschler badges The lettering in the enamel looks good (even from the poor quality photos) the I almost comes to a point and the dash overlaps the L almost touching the S. I can't see the H well but it looks to have very thin uprights. The pin plate has a rounded C rather than a "thin" upright version found on copies Are there the two dots of the umlaut within the letter U of Munchen? (I can't quite see on the photo) - they should be there. The only thing "wrong" that I can find is that the stamping on the pin plate is normally off centre - up and to the left - where this one looks spot on centred. Not a bad thing just something not seen on most gold badges by Fuess. Overall I would say it's a good one Best of luck Spasm

Ooops, sorry, forgot to say the same markings apply for the NSKK daggers as well Spaz

First ever post, so hope it comes out right: There were 30 different territorial SA groups but only 23 of them marked the bottom cross guards (Gau markings) of their daggers. Only early daggers were group marked - late period RZM marked and mid period double marked (RZM and maker's mark) blade daggers were never "Gau marked". The markings are as follows: BO - Bayerrische Ostmark B - Berlin - Brandenburg Fr - Franken Ha - Hansa He - Hessen Ho - Hochland Mi - Mitte Nrh - Niederhein Nm - Nordmark No - Nordsee Ns - Niedersachsen Oe - Osterreich (before annection of Austria but some were involved with the SA) Om - Ostmark Ost - Ostland P - Pommern Sa - Sachsen SA - Sachsen (note capital A on some daggers) S - Schlesien Sw - Sudwest Th - Thuringen W - Feldherrnhalle (interesting one to look up this, I'll leave that to you) Wf - Westfalen Wm - Westmark The other 7 areas were Alpenland (A), Donau (Do), Kurpfalz (Kp), Sudeten (Su), Sudmark (Sm), Weisel (We) and Wartha (Wa). None of these areas were marked on the daggers as they didn't exist until they were annexed to Germany, by then the marking of the cross guards were dropped. There are maps available to show where all the above areas were and are vaialble on some websites about daggers - go have a look around. Be careful, these daggers drag you in as holding one is history itself in an amazing object. And all for 7.5 Marks when they were new. Cheers - Spaz