Gordon Craig

Kevin, Thanks for the aditional pictures of the museum. They are great. Looking forward to the new thread on the aviation museum. Regards, Gordon

Bodenreform was very unpopular in the DDR and caused lots of problems after the reunification of Germany. Many siezed lands had apartment buildings etc. on them by 1989 and trying to decided how to deal with this problem was a difficult decision. In a lot of cases people were unable to get their siezed land back because it would have meant depriving people living in these buildins of a home. If I remember corretcly, things were to be left as they were for 50 years which certainly did not please the original owners or their heirs. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, Awards to members of JTF2 are announced but no details are ever given. Regards, Gordon

Stogieman, This is the "Excellent worker of the Hand Crafted Co-Opperative". These "Excellent Worker" badges were usually awarded for exceeding the target amount for a specifiic period. Usually three or six months. Regards, Gordon

kapten_windu, Nice set to start with on German awards. This is the best way to gain knowledge on German medal bars. Buy a few of the more commonly seen combinations and you will gain enough knowledge to assit you when you want to buy some of the rarer medal bars. It is great to see all of the assistance that you have received from other forum members. Indicative of the way things are done on the GMIC. Good collecting in the future. Regards, Gordon

Jean-Paul, Interesting post. Thanks for letting us know about these awards and the ceremony. Regards, Gordon

Kevin, Yes they were. They also had a tunic where the back pack was built into the inside of the back of the tunic. Cheers, Gordon

A small backpack. It attaches to the tunic with metal clips and belts around the waist. It might be for a specific purpose as it has a small central pocket closed with a flap and a large pocket on either side which is open at the top but has elastic arond the exterior of the top.

The zipper open showing the handle used to pull armoured crewmen from their vehicle. The strap is sewn down the back on both sides of the coveralls and is clearly visible in the pictures.

A close up of the zipper across the shoulders at the back.

From the back.

A close up of the top of the suit showing the namy zipper pockets clips etc. used on this piece of clothing.

Panzer coveralls.

Frm the rear. The cover is held on the helmet with metal clips. The ties are then used to tighten the cover onto the helmet.

Side view.

Kevin, Here some of the Swidd camo uniforms in my collection. The pattern was a copy of the Wehrmachts last camo scheme the Leibermuster although in a different colour scheme. First the helmet cover on an M1968 helmet. The cover will also go on an M1918/34 but doesn't fit very well. Perhaps there is a different cover for each hemet. I'll have to ask some helmet collector friends about this.

Kevin, Sounds as though this is the mid 80s pattern jacket. I'd be interested in seeing your other swiss camo items. I have a back pack, one helmet cover and a set of coveralls. I'll ppost pictures of my stuff as well. Regards, Gordon

Kevin, Very nice jacket. I have never seen one with the unit badges attached to it before. I need to buy some of these to replace the ones I traded away for Hungarian uniforms when I lived in Budapest. What kind of material is the jacket made of. The 80s issue stuff was of a much lighter material. Earlier stuff was made of a very heavy material. Regards, Gordon

Greg, I don't think the Mielke received this award. Here is a list titled "Major Decoration" if he had received it ti would have been listed here. Major Decorations: Title of Honor Hero of the German Democratic Republic (two awards: 1 Dec 1975 and 28 Dec 1982) Title of Honor Hero of Labor (three awards: 5 Oct 1964, 24 Dec 1967 and Dec 1982) Karl Marx Order (six awards: 28 Dec 1957, 20 Nov 1973, 28 Dec 1977, June 1982, Dec 1982 and 1987) Honor Clasp to the Fatherlands Merit Order in Gold (4 Oct 1969) Fatherlands Merit Order in Gold (7 Oct 1954) Scharnhorst Order (three awards) Order of the Banner of Labor in Gold (8 May 1960) Title of Honor Hero of the Soviet Union and Gold Star Medal USSR (25 Apr 1987) Order of Lenin USSR (four awards: 20 Nov 1973, Dec 1982, ? and 25 Apr 1987) Order of the October Revolution USSR (8 Feb 1975) Order of the Red Banner USSR (four awards: 23 Oct 1958, 3 Feb 1968, 28 Dec 1977 and 8 Feb 1980) Title of Honor Distinguished Employee of the State Security (7 Feb 1970) Title of Honor Distinguished Jurist of the German Democratic Republic (8 Dec 1980) Order of Merit, Commanders Cross with Star Poland (Mar 1982) Merit Medal of the National Peoples Army in Gold (1957) Merit Medal of the Customs Administration in Gold (1967) Merit Medal of the German Reichsbahn in Gold (1967) Medal for Merit in the Administration of Justice (2 Sep 1965) Medal for Fighters against Fascism, 1933-1945 Hans Beimler Medal (for service in the Spanish Civil War) Ernst Moritz Arndt Medal of the National Council of the National Front Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Socialist Training in the Pioneer Organization Ernst Thälmann (1967) Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Medal of the German Gymnastics and Sports Association (DTSB) Ernst Grube Medal of the DTSB Medal for Faithful Service in the Barracked Peoples Police Medal for Faithful Service in the National Peoples Army in Bronze (1957) Medal for Exemplary Border Service (1957) Decoration of the German Peoples Police (22 Feb 1950) Commemorative Medal 30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 USSR (1975) Golden Honor Pin of Dynamo Golden Honor Pin of the Democratic Sport Movement (1957) Golden Honor Pin of the DTSB (1967) Golden Honor Pin of the German Football Association (1967) Golden Honor Pin for Special Achievement in the Huntsmanship of the German Democratic Republic (1967) I have never seen this ribbon on a ribbon bar either. In Klaus and Uwe Feder's book "Auszeichungen und Abzeichen der SED" they list this award but they don't indicate that there was in interimspange. Would you post pictures of the back of the award and the interimspange please. Regards, Gordon

Steiner, You are welcome. Regards, Gordon

Steiner, Your tunic is not DDR. It is Bundeswehr. There are two shades of blue used in the BW and it is difficult to tell from your pictures which branch of the BW Heer this tunic belongs to. The difference in the two shades of blue are small and there is often a dispute on the BDR Forum of the WAF as to which one is pictured. Regards, Gordon

Steiner, I have not done anything to these tunics yet. When I get around to that project I'll post the results. Thanks for adding your pictures to the thread. Regards, Gordon

TeaRex, Re Generals hats. There were some early hats that were very ornate but they did not last long. As for a link to the English language book, I suggest that you send a PM to Hunyadi. He should respond relatively quickly. I do not know if he has any books left. It has only been inprint just over a year so it is very possible he has some copies left. Good luck in researching Hungarian uniforms. Regards, Gordon

A lot of my Hungarian collection remains packed away from when I moved from Budapest back to Canada so I can not show you a military Generals visor cap. Picutred below is a visor cap for a General in the Fire Brigade which is virtually identical to military Generals cap, including the cap badge, except for the colour of the cap. The military cap would be brown instead of the blue/grey of the Fire Brigade. The military General's cap badge is gold as well. Regards, Gordon

A book written by two friends in Hungary. Tamas is the curator of uniforms at the Military Museum in Budapest and Sandor is a very knowlledgable collector who specializes in the uniforms of the Hungarian military from 1957 until 1999. If you go to the top of the forum you will find the English language book written on the Hungarian Military by my co-host Hunyadi.