Gordon Craig

Charles, I sent an email to the Military Museum asking about the numbering of the late issue badges and the answer was "I'll need to do some research but too busy right now. Will get back to you later." In the meantime, any information that can be collected from th Partisan Association will be very welcome. Puting it all together will take some time. Regards, Gordon

Charles, Thanks for adding your specs for your medal. Considerable weigth difference. Be nice to be able to weigh them on the same set of scales. Also, the hieght difference is noticeable but I think I only noticed that the day you bought the medal because we had only left the museum a few minutes prior to the sale. Because I noticed a hieght difference I thnk that Richard was probably correct in his measurement. Be nice to put them side-by-side. Perhaps the enxt time we visit the numismatics section of the military museum. Regards, Godon

Gents, Well I finally had time to go back to look at the Partisan badge that I thought was a fake. I think now that it could be as Hunyadi has suggested and that it is actually the last type issued. It is in mint condition and appears to be unnumbered. SO this raises a question. Were the 1966 issue badges numbered? And if not, why not? Were the badges numbered all at once and then awarded as the need arose. This seems to be a logical conclusion considering the award documents Charles and I have studied at the National Museum. Were some of the last Partisan badges produced not awarded and or not numbered and then some how found their way into the collectors field? Questions, questions, questions. The more your study something the more questions you come up with! Cheers, Gordon

Filip, Thanks for the response. I suspected the vendor was asking too much for the award. His prices are normally high. Now I know for sure. Regards, Gordon

Richard, Thanks for posting these other awards. Interesting that your awards came in a box the vendor said was aspecimin box for the army. What Charles and I saw at the museum was a red box of medals with the war medals plus some others that were regular issue types. It would be great if you would post a picture of interior of the box with all of the medals in place. I would very much like to add a box of medals like we saw at the museum to my collection. It would be the centrepiece of my Hungarian collection. Regards, Gordon

Gents, I have seen lots of pictures of the Order of Merit 3rd class but no mention of current values. I saw one for sale today and I wonder what I should pay for it? It has silver hall marks on the back. Is that unusual for a third class? Regards, Gordon

Gents, The Vitezi was reinstitued by an act passed in Hungary in 1993. This act specifically listed previous awards which were no longer to be worn and the reinstitution of some Hungarian awards forbidden by previous regimes. This act also abolished privileges which had previously been attached to the reinstitued awards. Therefore, no land would have been awarded with the Vitezi awarded subsequently. I asume this also applies to the hereditary nature of the award but I am not certain of this. Regards, Gordon

Richard, Charles, Interesting comparison of the medals. I noticed on the one that Charles has, compared to the ones in the museum, that the measurements appeared to be different but not having the two to compare at the time I couldn't be sure. IE that if you were to lay the medal on a flat surface with the head up and measure from the flat surface to the head side of the medal there is a noticable difference in height. Perhaps it would be useful for us all if both Charles and Richard would post the dimensions and weights of their individual silver medals. Also, that the medals at the museum, like the ones Ricahrd posted, are very smooth on their reverse side while the one Charles bought is not. Regards, Gordon

Rick, This is the best Internet site that I know of for Reichsbahn info. http://www.eisenbahnraritaeten.de/ The books I have were written by Hartmut Sch?ttge. I have three of his books. They are all titled Eisenbahneruniformen der Deutsche Reichsbahn. The first book covers 1946-1956; the second 1957-1967 and the third 1968-1978. Ive heard that he has writtena fourth book but his web site seems to have disappeared. There are other books in German on the Reichsbahn but I don't have the info on them here with me. Regards, Gordon

Gents, I don't have that many DDR uniforms with me here in Budapest but this one qualifies as my favouite one here. Regards, Gordon

Rick, There are several very good books on the subject of Reichsbahn uniforms, ranks etc. A big and very popular collecting field in Germany. I'll put a list together, along with some web site addresses, and post them as soon as I can. In the meantime, here is a better shot of the boards. Regards, Gordon

And the last set of three.

Another set of badges made for the same purpose.

Gents, I'd like to add to Hunyadi's pictures of the nice medal he purchased today. The only problem with the purchase was I was standing right next to him and didn't recognize what I was looking at!! At least one of us owns one of theses medals! The series of these medals that Charles has refered to is actually pictured in a book authored by Kenyeres D?nes titled ?Katonai Kit?ntet?sek a Magyar T?rt?nelemben?. Here are photos from the book;

Alex, You have an enlisted man's uniform with an officers set of shoulderboards. The U1 indicates the tunic was made in the first quarter of 1978 and looks as though it was never issued. The k, for klein, indicates a small sized tunic and the 48 indicates a size of US. 38 and European 96. It is a nice tunic for a start. Because of the unused state I would suggest that you get low ranking enlisted man's boards to complete it. Regards, Gordon

Gents, Here is the tunic that goes with the hat I posted yesterday. Regards, Gordon

Grant, The hats were very similar to those used in the Third Reich period. Especially since EREL was one of the prime maker of hats in that time period. Until the early 50's the Reichsbahn continued to wear their old Third Recih uniforms, with the insignia removed of course. They then produced a new set of uniform regulations and the uniforms changed to a more Russian form, specifically the shoulderboards, as you will see when I post the uniform that came with this hat. Hopefully later today. Regards, Godon

Gents, Just saw a thread where someone mentioned they liked Reichsbahn items. They certainly do have their appeal to me, especially the early ones. I'm going to start this post today with just the hat. Notice that the peak of the cap has been "pinched in" om both sides the way Heer Third Reich hats were often worn. The hat actually dates from around 1954. Over the next few days I'll add the matching uniform and great coat that all belong to the same person. Note the name on the makers lable in the cap. More on that tomorrow!!!! Regards, Gordon

Grant, These badges are just for the Kampfgruppen. They come numbered from 1 to 10 and in three grades; Silverfarbe; desgl. and bronzefarben. You mentioned books earlier. There are lots of good books in German but with the high number of pictures the language is not a problem for those who do not read German. Good luck on your DDR collection. Collecting even part of what is out there is a life long quest. Regards, Gordon

Gents, In case you missed these when they were on ebay here are some pictures of the leather post war Hungarian para boots. The soles are a sponge rubber with a harder rubber at the end of the heel and across the sole. The boots are not lined. There 21 holes for laces. The holes are oblong to reduce wear on the laces when being done up. I don't have a good photo of the markings in the boots, only one boot bears inspection marks, but I will post that later after some more time with my camera. The vendor sold these boots because he had a nother set. Regards, Gordon

Gents, An interesting picture in line with Hunyadi's earlier post in this thread of the Partisan Association Badge. This is a picture of Alt?bornagy P?lffy Győgy wearing this early pre official Partisan's badge on his General's uniform. Also of interest is that he appears to be wearing the badge for the 1949 Anniversary Parade below it! Regards, Gordon

And the reverse of the cap badge.

Gents, Here is an interesting cap badge that I picked up last week. It measures 41mm wide (1 9/16") and 42mm high (1 11/16"). The red star appears to have been done in fired enamel. Does anyone have a picture of this cap badge/cap in wear, or better yet, a picture of an actual cap with the cap badge in place? Regards, Gordon

Hunyadi, It is possible that you are correct. I need to go back to the market again and check closer now that I have pictures of a better set of badges for reference. The two I saw certainly did not have the crisp, clean look of the Partisan badges I have seen in the past. I'll let you know what I fidn. Regards, Gordon

Darrel, When I live in Canada my home is in Ottawa. At the moment, and for the next few years, I live in Budapest. The faked Partisan Badges I saw today were in a flea market here in Budapest. Regards, Gordon