Gordon Craig

Alex K, There should be no extra/new holes because this Luftwaffe badge is on the hat instead of a Heer badge. They would fit in the same place. As to what colour your piping is I still can not tell. It looks pale blue on my screen and there was no such colour ever used in the Bundeswehr. It is much too light a grey for Heersfliegertruppe. There were two darker blues which are hard to tell apart but nothing that looks like what I see on my screen. It could be white for music, otherwise I have no idea. Regards, Gordon

Alex K, Heeresfliegertruppe were part of the Heer and wore Heer uniforms so the chances of them wearing a Luftwaffe cap badge just don't seem reasonable. The colours on the Heer cap piping with the luft cap badge look odd to me. The piping doesn't appear to be grey. Looks blue to me. The Heersflieger grey piping is very close to the cap colour and shouldn't stand out as such an obvious colour difference. In addition, although the Heersfliegertruppe adopted the cuffband with the stylized wing on it that was worn by the Luftwaffe they adopted it in a different background colour, dark grey instead of blue. Another reason that wearing a Luftwaffe cap badge just doesn't seem logical. I've posted photos of my Heersfliegertruppe visor cap and a comparison of the Luftwaffe armband and the Heeresfliegertrupp cuffband. Be interesting to hear what Uwe has to say. Regards, Gordon

Alex K, I apologize for my mistake. Uwe is correct. I went back to the site I looked at before and I was mistaken. Regards, Gordon

Alex K, According to the Bundesehr site, Kampftruppenschule 1 was the original name of the Panzertruppenschule Munster when it was first formed in 1956. It is not clear from their writeup how long this name stayed in use. This cap looks too new to be from that time frame though. Officers visor caps from the 50s were much darker in colour than this one. I don't think a cap this colour would have seen use much before the mid 60s if that early. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Thanks for the photo. Nice to see an BW officer wearing his 57 awards where it is not a posed picture. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Sorry that I didn't respond sooner. Just saw this now. Seems I am not getting emails anymore re posts to the GMIC. I'll PM you with my address. Regards, Gordon

Daniel, I collected Hungarian artifacts when I lived in Budapest but have not bought much since I returned to Canada. Due to space problems, my Hungarian collection will need to be reduced drastically soon. I enjoyed working on your medals and documents. Haven't done any research/translating in Hungarian for some time. Shows just how rusty my limited Hungarian has become. Regards, Gordon

Daniel, To a Hungarian collector a very interesting grouping. DR BÁNSCHÁK AUGUSTON was one of the founding members of PEK (MAYGAR POLITIKAÍ ELÍTÉLTEK KÖZÖSSÉGE - HUNGARIAN UNION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS). I have not been able to find out much about the cross with PEK on the obverse but it would obviously have been associated with PEK in some way. The document associated with this award is the one framed in green leaves. Perhaps when I can find time to translate the document and do more research I can add something more about this medal. PEK put up a monument to political prisoners and I'll post a picture of it. It is located near the Petofi bridge on the Buda side of the Danube. The round medal with "MAGYAR SZABASÁGHARCOS MAYGARORSZÁGÉRT" (HUNGARIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS FEDERATION) printed on it is presented by this organization. It is easy to see which document this medal is associated with. Again not a lot of info on why this award was given but I'll keep researching and see what I can find. The best known monument to the Hungarian Revolution (October 23, 1956) is at SZENA TER on the Pest side of the Danube. Pictured below. The last medal, which is a state award, is "A MAGYARKOZTÁRSASÁGI ÉRDEMREND KISKERESZTJE" (ORDER OF MERIT OF THE HUNGARIAN REPUBLIC - SMALL CROSS -(POLGARI TAGOZAT) CIVILIAN DIVISION). The civilian division of Hungarian awards is indicated by the green ribbon. Awarded by the President of the Republic and was instituted in 1991. Awarded for the first time in 1992. You have the green case this award comes in but I do not know if it contains everything the award is given with so a picture of it as well. Regards, Gordon

The award for Outstanding Achievement was in the form of a cross and the first ones issued were 60 mm in diametre. It was worn on a 40 mm ribbon. There were soon complaints against the size of the cross and the diametre was reduced to 39 mm. The cross comes with an DIN A4 award certificate in a folder. The original cross was smooth on the back. The smaller cross has written across the back "FÜR BESONDERE VERDIENSTE" ("FOR SPECIAL MERIT"). These pictures are from the Gesellschaft web site. There is no comment on the site as to the difference of colour of the two crosses. I do not own one of these crosses yet.

Das Auszeichnungen der Wiener Unteroffizieregeselleschaft: On 2 March 1994 the Executive Board of the Unteroffiziegesellschaft decided to issue medals to members for outstanding achievements and contributions, with an honourable character, and a different set of medals for long service. The statutes were revised on 3 March and this resulted in some changes to the respective medals. The medal I have added to me collection is the 25 year long service medal, in gold, as awarded from 1994 until 2004.It is a round medal with a diametre of 36 mm. It has the UOGW crest on the obverse and "25" on the reverse surrounded by oak leaves closed at the bottom and open at the top. The medal recognizing 10 years of service is of the same design but in silver. When the ribbons were worn alone there was a miniature of the medal on the ribbon. Pictures from the Gesellschaft web site showing the first type (1994-2004) long service awards and the second type (2004 until today). Note the change in the text on the second type of medal. The second type is 40 mm in diametre and was issued in three grades. Bronze - 10 years; Silver - 15 years and Gold - 20 years. The ribbon now has a coloured stripe on each edge of the ribbon in the colour of the award.

IrishGunner, The history etc of this medal was new to me as well. Thanks for your comments. Regards, Gordon

An award from the Bund der Tyrol Schutzenkompanie. Written around the outside of the badge is "BUND D. TIR SCHUTZENKOMPANIE-LEISTUNGSABZEICHEN". I have been unable to find anything on the web about this award.

Another medal, possibly for a shooting organization, although this is just a guess. It could be almost anything. The wording on the banner is unreadable to the point where I can not even take a guess at what it says.

Gentlemen, Recently I bought a large lot of mixed badges. About half of them were Austrian from a variety of organizations and time frames. Some I have identified and other not so here they are for your consideration. The first one is the Kriegserinnerungskreuz - 1939-1945. This award was presented to Austrians who were members of the Österreichischer kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB) who had serviced in the armed forces in WWII. It was the only WWII related award that was allowed to be worn on their uniforms by members of the Bundesheer (BH). The Österreichischer kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB) continues to exist and is formed mostly of serving and former members of the BH. First up is the medal from my collection. Most of these awards were made of bronze but they exist in other material including some in plastic. Following that, a medal that I found on the net with a distinct black finish which is probably not made of bronze. It is made by the firm of Schwertner. The medal can be found with a plain back or as is the one from my collection with a decorated back. Next a picture of a BH soldier wearing his medals including the Kriegserinnerungskreuz - 1939-1945 last on his medal bar. Last but not least, a ribbon bar as worn by a veteran of the BH. It would not have been worn this way on his BH uniform as it contains WWII Wehrmacht ribbons. These last two pictures were provided to me by Peterm. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Interesting album of the Deutsche Marine. The badges Ehrentitle identified for you was awarded for a specific number of hours at sea and came in bronze, silver and gold. The post war organization of ex Kriegsmarine sailors that did mine sweeping following the war were in the GMSA (German Mine Sweeping Authority). Immediately following the war they wore their Kriegmarine uniforms with the insignia removed. Eventually they were issued navy blue uniforms virtually identical to the British WWII army battle dress. In 1947 the GMSA was disbanded because of complaints from the Russians that the Allies were trying to create a post war German navy. The majority of these men were then enlisted by the American navy and continued to do the same job but as civilians based out of Cuxhaven, Germany. The sailors in this album are wearing Deutsche Marine uniforms and are not connected in anyway to the GMSA. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Since no one has spoken up in this forum re this album and your offer, if it still stands I would like to acquire this album for my collection. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Yes there were some states whose police wore blue uniforms after the end of WWII. An obvious statement considering the Niedersachsen uniforms you have pictured above. They are probably late 50s early 60s as you have guessed above. Berlin wore blue for many years and only went to green when police uniforms were standardized to the same colour. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, Very nice ribbon bars. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Something that I forgot. It is difficult to tell from your pictures what size oak leaves are on the shoulder boards of your tunic. There were two different sizes and I've illustrated this below. The early larger oak leaves were worn with a 19mm star. (measured diagonally across the points of the star) The later, smaller, oak leaves were worn with a 17mm star. You can find the different sizes worn together so it is not all that big a problem if you put 17mm stars on the earlier oak leaves. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Numerous comments here that may lead one astray. The Prussian is correct in post #2 when he said the verbandsabzeichen on this uniform indicates the wearer was serving in the Zentral Militarische Dienstaellen. (ZMilDBw) This term is no longer in use. The ZMilDBw was under the direct command of the Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. At times it has also had the title of "Staff of the Central Military Departments of the Federal Armed Forces". (I've used English here to simplify things). As an officer serving in the ZMilDBw he would not have been assigned to a specific unit. If the card in the pocket of this tunic belonged to the oberstleutnant who wore it he probably had a general staff position before his posting to ZMilDBw. When he left his i. G. position he would have taken down the i. G. insignia and reverted to the arm of colour of his normal occupation. The term used on the card may simply have been done out of courtesy to his training. While we are at it we should discuss the specific collar tabs and shoulder boards worn by an officer serving in a General Staff position. They were of a different design to that of the normal collar tabs. Rather than explain the difference I have posted pictures below of an officers tunic serving on the General Staff of the 2. Panzergrenadierdivision. Regards, Gordon

Jock, These embroidered officers cockades are hand made. A well worn hat but then it appears to be an early one. Thanks for showing it. Regards, Gordon

Jock, Yes please. Women's uniform have been ignored by most male collectors for years and they are much harder to find than men's uniforms. I'd be grateful for any pictures you would care to share. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, A helmet that I have had for some time but I don't believe that I have ever posted it here before. These early helmets were painted a much darker colour of grey than those issued later on. They also had the tri-colour shield on the left side. The liner was very similar to the Wehrmacht M31 liner except for the manner of attachment to the helmet. Of interest to note is the way the chin strap fits around the ears and the leather pads preventing the metal parts of the chin strap from touching the face. The helmet is date to 1960 as you can see in the pictures. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, A cap that came in a box of goodies last week. A nice early woman's overseas cap for an officer. Oak leaves are embroidered in silver with with a large metal cockade in the centre. Condition is very good and the size is small as is normally found on women's caps of all types. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, This cap came in a lot of headgear that I bought a few weeks ago. I am researching it before I part with it. What can you tell me about this cap? Time period worn, uniform that it was worn with, rank of soldiers who would have worn it etc. An estimate of value would also be appreciated. Regards, Gordon