Martin W

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Well,i finally received a copy of this book on the Atlantis,"Die Kriegsfahrt Des Hilfskreuzers Atlantis".I have been after a copy for ages and i was pretty happy to get a first edition.The book was photoraphed and compiled by the ship's Adjutant,Dr Ulrich Mohr.It is a great photo essay of the cruise of the HSK Atlantis and the book covers the refitting,the voyage,the ships she sank,her own sinking and the return of the crew to Germany. This first edition is the most rare and i believe only 400 were printed in 1944.It has a white hardcover and was a limited run for crewmembers and family and has a complete crewlist in the back. There was another white hardcover edition printed in 1944,but the crewlist was ommited. Other editions were printed with a blue soft cover but again the crewlist was ommited.All of these books can be considered quite rare. I am posting some of the pages below ,hope you enjoy looking at this rare glimpse of life aboard a Hilfskreuzer. Regards,Martin.

Richard, whatever way the badge was denazified i'll bet it had something to do with the flattening of the catch? Regards,Martin.

Grear groupings Erik.The Woszek portrait is superb,i'm sure he is wearing a 1st pattern Schwerin too. Regards,Martin.

Richard, i have noticed that sometimes the reverse hardware on badges can be damaged during the de-naz process especially if the swastika has been hammered,even lightly,with a blunt object.This appears to be the case here,from the photo's it does not look like it has been filed down. Regards,Martin.

Picked this photo up today of a Coastal Artillery crew.The photo is dated 1942.I also picked up a nice M-35 single decal KM helmet. Regards,Martin.

Hi Giorgio, the catch on the hollowback badge is postwar IMO. Regards,Martin.

Erik. the photographs from the albums are great but those "gift photo" packages are something i have never seen before,excellent.As you mentioned i am sure they were printed for Flottilla crewmembers. Thanks for showing. One of the officers on the Hilfskreuzer Atlantis,Ulrich Mohr, had a nicely illustrated book published in 1944 that was given to the crewmembers and their families titled "Die Kreigsfahrt des Hilfskreuzers Atlantis". Regards,Martin.

Here is a recent photo pick up of a sailor wearing the fur hat,flaps down. Regards Martin.

John, a recent thread at GCA shows two examples of the Wiedeman Minesweeper badge.One has the "uu" shaped hinge and the the other has a "rectangular" shaped hinge.Two very different hinges from one maker on the same badge.To my knowledge they are both zinc badges. Regards,Martin.

Here is my grandfathers,sewn to the ribbon of his 1914 Star.It might help as a comparison. Regards,Martin.

Richard, it looks like a tombak badge.Can you post a picture of the reverse?Thats a sure way to tell. Regards,Martin.

Great looking badge Gordon.These Schwerin zinc Blockade badges that are in fine condition are better looking than their tombak predecessors IMO.Maybe because there is no guilding present,they seem to hold their finish better. Regards,Martin.

Here is another prime example of how bad the finish was on some of their zincers,the Second Pattern S-Boot.Beautiful badge,poor finish. Regards,Martin.

More great looking zincers guys.Gordon another nice looking Souval,love that Aux.Cruiser. Regards,Martin.

Some more great lookers Gordon.The AS S-Boot is as one would expect from this maker,they really hold their finish well,but the Souval is just superb.Here is another Aux.Cruiser in fairly good condition and is unmarked. Regards,Martin.

Great looking clasps Eric.Two additions i still have to add to my collection. Regards,Martin.

My favorite zincer,a Schwerin Auxiliary Cruiser.

Not quite"minty" but this zinc Schwerin HSF badge has a lot of its original finish. Regards,Martin.

This has to be one of the nicest zincers i have.A Schwerin Blockade Breaker.The highlights are frosted and the swastika is highly polished.The scans do not do it justice. Regards,Martin.