Robin Lumsden

Another view................again........SACHSEN !!

This is presently for sale in Germany.

It is advertised as Braunschweiger.............but I think it is WEHRWOLF !!!

I thought, it could be a sport shirt badge

Or a swimming badge...............if these are meant to be 'waves' ??

I wonder if there are words on the three chevrons ?

........ here we are beginning to talk about the black skull patch again.

Remember...............this was the ORIGINAL subject of this excellent thread...........before someone changed the title !!!! :speechless:

I think the black TK may end up appearing in a photo like this............

The key to identification is the coat of arms...........

Having seen several of the original Flammenwerfer patches, it just does not measure up.

Hello Chip.

Personally, I don't think the black TK is necessarily flammenwerfer-related at all.

It is more likely (IMHO) a Freikorps or similar item, based on the flammenwerfer TK.

Anyway, we all agree to differ on this one. Suffice it to say, I'm happy with it in my collection..............and I'm difficult to please.

Maybe the guy making them, slow painful one by one and by hand in front of the TV just could not be bothered anymore as they did not bring as much as he expected?

As long as no tools or production line has to be set up, the amount made depends on how many the maker can be bothered to make.

I once set out to make wooden display frames, ended up making 3 out of a planned 20-30, then just could not be bothered.... could stop anytime as it was all cottage industry.... :-)

Oh, Chris.

You are SUCH a tease!

I've never seen a helmet like this either........until now.

Maybe the guy just got fed up after painting one of them! :cheers:

Never seen that one before.

Robin, could this badge on your picture be one of these(as shown)

Hello Paul.

I don't think so.............wrong shape at the top for the SSOS, I think.

18 months later.

Still only two have EVER been seen................. :cheeky:

Here is the full photo.

Taken in Halle.

Home of the Wehrwolf.

Here is the armband they are wearing.

Early Wehrwolf ????

Who knows ??

When photos like this turn up, it is only a matter of time before one comes along showing the RARE, original black skull in wear !!!! Then everyone will want one. :cheeky:

So.

Who are THESE guys ????? :jumping:

Let us order some buckles here!

:cheers:

Robin, what's your take on the commemoration of Col Hale's friend Gen Wolfe KIA thus a skull and bones badge for Hale's newly raised regiment? Is that just a good story or the real reason?

As many British units and soldiers had served in Germany during The Seven Years War (1756 - 1763), it is probable that they saw the Prussian totenkopf emblem of Ruesch and Belling and revelled in its associations of piracy and plunder - perfect values for a light cavalry unit. Indeed, down to the present time, the 17th/21st and QRL regiments are still commonly referred to by their own men as 'The Tots'. The Wolfe/Hale connection is a good story, but I think the Prussian connection is a more plausible one.

Robin - hang-on to that plate -

Will do!

Robin might have the answer...

Various countries used the skull and bones badge way back, but I think the Prussians were the first to really 'popularise' it.............i.e. others (including the English) copied it from the Ruesch and Belling outfits, with whom they had come into contact during The Seven Years War.

Are you by any chance turning your home into an ossuary?

Heaven! :jumping:

The 1841 badge posted above is strikingly similar to the two badges that started this thread!

Uhmm, yes! What about the early 17th Light Dragoons helmet badge, Col. Hale's choice, the two-piece one with the skull below the bones?

Ja! Tell me where I can get one and I'll have it! :cheeky:

Got this today.................lance cap plate, c. 1880.

Here's the big embroidery by the convalescing soldier. It's a work of art, really.

Only £30 off eBay.

I had it framed up.

Cigarette card from 1939..............

I also have the two badges that started this thread, and a large (3' x 2') embroidery of the badge made by a convalescing soldier in a military hospital in 1916.

Am I missing anything (not the modern QRL stuff!!!) :rolleyes:

Cigarette card (silk) from 1916..........