JimZ

I am attaching the following webbing set for your attention. It is British as issued in Malta plus some other bits and pieces that came along over the years. Interestingly the set (which feels quite dusty) has remains of what is known as Malta blanco..... This consists of a mixture of specific white/light grey clay which is mixed with water to form a very fine sludge. When painted on the webbing this dries and turns white. The set must have been blancoed some time at the end of the war or just after it as it does not show any dirt on it and has been left to lie there. I had obtained it many years back and serviced its fitings which were in dire need of cleaning. The set, like many others seems to have a variety of stamps and marks, some of which are illegible due to age. I have blacked out the background to clearly show the items.....

Would Oberfeldwebel in flakartillerie have worn similar Cap? And was this used all year round? Jim PS - I'll post some pics of mine regarding an OFW uniform and other group items that I have in a months time when we are re-united.

Looks like a nice variation 3 on the whole. I do notice that the tips of the stars cannot be seen from the reverse. In my experience this is usually the case with this as well as the rivets being silver in colour not brass coloured. Could the gold star have been replaced? Jim

MMM.... Ribbons! I cannot say I would ever advocate changing or cleaning the ribbons!! I have my Kiev anniversary ribbon which is in absolute tattters and faded but I would not change it ..... let alone for a higher medal than that! The only time I have ever bought replacement ribbons was for those medals that came without their suspension or ribbon and which I wanted to, of course "make intact" once again. I careful tabs of the few medals that have had this done to them, just to make sure that I know the original condition in which they were received. Thankfully this does not happen all that often. But when u have, an order that came without its suspension and ribbon, it is a real pity for display purposes not to have it on its mounting! Jim

Carry on ...... Jim

Mine was in fact given to a Soviet veteran who passed away just over a year ago. Having been unwell for some time and also not having been much a fan of the communist regime inspite of his participation in the great patriotic war, he never had the reason to wear these medals ever since the collapse of the USSR. This medal hence remained tale quale! Packed as is, it tells another story, about those who fought for their country and subsequently, had to live under a regime which the could not really believe in - a regime which this veteran always referred to as Red Fascists! (Not publicly of course and only to his very inner circle!!!!) I must personally admit that the plastic packing does not do much honour to the medal or the veteran. Its not like the magnificant medal cases we can see in other fora. Its a cheap plastic (and very disposable) cover for a not so high quality medal (like all other commemorative medals) made to pay nothing more than lip service to the veterans of the GPW. At least the 1985 OGPW, was something a little bit more substantial, albeit nothing more than a symbol of a fast declining ideology. Discussing this particulsar medal has brought to my mind some of my discussions with this veteran and his feelings about these matters which I thought I'd share. Jim

Hiya guys! Thanks for the information especially Simon. You filled in quite a few grey areas.... especially "#54 Leading Seaman (Sonar) LS(S) badge" I can assure you that nobofy before ever could give me any info about it and the best hint was that it was some submariners badge! So cheers for that! It is a pity that I had sold many of these off before I was a member of the forum. It would have been nicer to hold them knowing exactly what they were! But at least I still get some sort of closure as a result of these posts! I guess there are quite a few RN guys out there and yet, the RN threads seem to be quite slow when there is probably so much info just waiting to be posted out there..... Jim

No comments on the grounds that part of the order (serial number) has been concealed. Jim

First I ever heard of a "button boy"..... may I ask what that is? Jim

The topic of whether to restore or not is in my opinion much deeper than that! My ideas are: If the enamel is flaking and contact and handling leads to even more damage, then the approach should be STABILISE the damage!! If the enamel is TOTALLY gone, say in the case of an OGPW arm which is seperate from the rest of the enamelled parts, then PROFESSIONAL restoration will restore its beauty without being invasive and without damaging the order or the remaining enamel content. If the enamel has been PARTLY damaged as in the case of many red banners, then no resoration should take place as this can only fudge up the existing enamel. Of course I have never had any orders restored in spite of my ideas on the subject. The reason being that they were probably worn that way and perhaps, the damage they incurred is an integral part of their battlefield story. Jim PS - As for the polished down cavalier set, my heart aches!!

Try blacklighting and see if it remains undetectable! I have an order or two were the enamel was professionally restored. Invisible to the eye, the restored parts glow yellow under the UV! Its worth the "investment"! Jim

Hiya Ardent!! Could you expand on that a little bit .... what exactly does electronic warfare include? Jim

Ok.... feeling better so here goes - No fishing for hints yet! Its not that hard Jim I was a free thinking officer, who believed that you cannot cage an eagle! I am infamous for my deed when I looked East to go West. My journey was almost painful but free of charge! My new friends took care of the shipping and handling. My old ones I left nothing but costs! QUESTIONS 1) Who am I and what is my rank? 2) What was my job description and station? 3) Why am I so infamous? 4) Why was my journey almost painful? 5) What was the shipping and handling I left my new friends and what were the costs to my old friends?

Not this spicy ukranian stuff which is vodka with pepper and honey! A killer! I get shivers when I even remember the bottle! I am half tempted to ask who was the first Soviet to be drank under the table by a European!!! It sure was not me! All I know is that the hangover is not half as bad as the ones I know from drinking wine or whisky! Why is it that once every 2 years I think I can keep up with them and their vodka!! I have someone in mind for the quiz .... But let my head clear out first before I even try to formulate the question Jim

Hey guys!! Christian thanks for your congratulations! Here are a couple of the links that I used! http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/scalar_t...calarwar03a.htm http://www.cheniere.org/misc/interview1991.htm I'll be back with my question on Monday as I have guests (russian) at home and in all honesty, I just had a lovely sushi dinner with too much Nemiroff vodka:D In the menatime Frank might send some more links Za nashe ee vashe zdarova!!! Jim

MMM - from our friend Rokas http://cgi.ebay.com/RUSSIAN-ARMY-GOLD-ORDE...1QQcmdZViewItem Jim

The former Soviet Union had a long history of psychic manipulation programs using techniques such as psychotronics ? the use of radiated energy. At the 1978 SALT peace talks, the Russian President Brezhnev suggested banning such weapons. Although no public admission of this was made, the Soviet?s research was clearly worrying the US. And there was good reason to be concerned. In 1974, Dr. Vlail Kaznacheyev, Director of the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Novosibirsk believed that he had demonstrated death could be caused by beaming ultraviolet rays from a distance. For 20 years he has been directing highly unusual experiments with twin cell cultures. These experiments are vital to understanding disease and healing on a more fundamental basis than is presently utilized by orthodox medical science. The Kaznacheyev experiments (several thousand) in the Soviet Union proved conclusively that any cellular disease or death pattern can be transmitted electromagnetically, and induced in target cells absorbing the radiation. In the experiments, two sealed containers were placed side by side, with a thin optical window separating them. The two containers were completely environmentally shielded except for the optical coupling. A tissue was separated into two identical samples, and one sample placed in each of the two halves of the apparatus. The cells in one sample (on one side of the glass) were then subjected to a deleterious agent - a selected virus, bacterial infection, chemical poison, nuclear radiation, deadly ultraviolet radiation, etc. This led to disease and death of the exposed/infected cell culture sample. If the thin optical window was made of ordinary window glass, the uninfected cells on the other side of the window were undamaged and remained healthy. This of course was as expected in the orthodox medical view. However, if the thin optical window was made of quartz, a most unexpected thing happened. Some time (usually about 12 hours) after the disease appeared in the infected sample, the same features of disease appeared in the uninfected sample.This startling "infection by optical coupling" occurred in a substantial percentage of the tests (70 to 80 percent). From an orthodox medical view, these results were unexpected and unheard of. In 1974, Robert Pavlita, a Czech engineer, showed he could kill insects at distance by using psychotronic devices. Soviet scientists were able to kill goats at ranges beyond one kilometer. More importantly, this technology is reputed to make it also possible to simply pull out a personality-structure from a person, without his or her consent, and insert another. Or to alter a given personality structure by just "altering and re-recording the software". This technological possibility, of course, will certainly be noticed by would-be egomaniacs and dictators, for it can yield the ultimate mind control. It will also be possible to provide direct input inside the mind, surreptitiously, from a distance and without the knowledge and consent of the individual affected. This can be beneficial if it's just "instantaneous telepathy" - instantaneous communications, so to speak, and if it is desired by the recipient. It can be however be highly detrimental if it is undesirable material, or if it's a forced internal change, or enslavement, or used to overwhelm and destroy the mind, or used to jam the body's immune system, induce virulent diseases en masse, etc. Unless the present inhumanity of one human for another is overcome, future wars are likely to take on aspects that stagger the imagination. In 1975 Brezhnev called these new mass destruction weapons of the future "...more frightful than the mind of man has ever imagined." He should know. When he made the statement, the Soviets had already been inducing diseases in persons in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for nearly 30 years. Hopefully this explains what was meant by Brezhnev, who was responsible for developing these weapons and where he was based! Very interesting subject indeed! Sci-fi becomes reality indeed! Think Orwell's 1984 and Clarke's 2001 - Space Odessey.... then start to think beyond! Big brother is more than watching you Jim

Well said again Dan! We all have what if's.... but yes... sometimes a what if is better than losing good money on a fake... especially when venturing towards the higher end!!! Jim

I like the x-ray analogy!!! And I reckon it makes lots of sense. Yes red cross.... Gloves are important even when handling medals, docs, uniforms or anything that can absorb oils. I think many collectors underestimate the importance of this. Jim

I happen to have one that is part of a group of a relative of mine. Whereas I would like to mount the goup for the best display, I have not got myself to remove the medal from its plastic case. After all that is how the veteran in question kept it. My solution will be to buy another one and display it in stead of the original sealed medal. Of course the original medal will be retained and logged in my database as belonging to the group. Perhaps ethically the best solution possible. Jim

Ok... a question I have which maybe someone can answer. A good way of saving information for posterity is of course, to scan the documents in question. But can scanning actually damage old docments? Of course a single scan is all you need as then you can replicate as many electronic copies as you want without ever having to expose the document itself.... but this once.... when the document is exposed to the bright light of the scanner....... especially if the document is VERY old, say even a couple of hundred years old. I have never scanned docs myself, always deciding to go for a pic taken with a camera and weaker lighting. I would assume no damage would be caused by the scanner! But I still would like to know! Anyone? Jim

Christian Can u post full pic of reverse pls. Am interested in seeing extent of 'damage' to reverse. Cheers! Jim

Very well said Dan. Books are the key.... and as much hands on experience as one can possibly get! Like you back in the early 90's, collecting soviet was almost blind till the advent of the red bible. It only started to get better years after that. As for lansknecthe's comment.... well.... in this particular case anyone involved in selling or buying is disturbing as how such an item can ever be considered authentic and original is way beyond me! Jim

It is in fact the machine gun that changed the face of modern warfare and tactics like no other invention ever did. It just snowballed after that. Jim

Chris.... Each time i pass by a certain street I find myself thinking of you... Agreed... barf barf!!! But i thought that if I'd send you a pic I might exorcise this demon....so here goes... Yes I know its through the window and yes I also know that there are way too many reflections. But you have a keen eye so I thought why not. Now... having a chat with its owner, he says its Swiss circa 1911. Does not mean much to me but maybe it does to you. He also said something about CHF2,500 but then again, I do not know if he was speaking about this baby or some other baby! We were speaking french and his french was rustier than mine...... the other option was german.... mine is non existant So misunderstandings could happen! Hope u like it anyways ..... and if u can tell me something more about it (apart from "I want it!!") I'd appreciate. Jim