Martin W

Stephan, too bad about the photo but a great piece of history on your grandfathers service. Regards,Martin.

Stephan, yes they are great looking.The Blockade Breaker badge is one of my favorites and you have one by one of the premier makers of kriegsmarine badges,Schwerin. Do you have a photo of your grandfather wearing a Blockade Breaker badge? Regards,Martin.

Stephan, great set of photographs.I can only repeat what i said before about the badge,an original zinc Schwerin,IMO. Regards,Martin.

Andre, a very rare and unusual badge.Nice find, regards,Martin.

Hi guys. first of all i think the badge does have the nice details of an original.We are looking at an image that has been enlarged about four times the size of the original badge and this can distort the crispness of the detail a little.The hinge,catchplate and maker mark are correct for this badge.Most importantly is the evidence of "bubbling" on the obverse and reverse which is very common on period zinc badges.I have not seen this on a reproduction. Best Regards,Martin.

Stephan,IMO this is an original Schwerin zincker. Regards,Martin.

The badges posted below belong to Joe Slavick.Joe has written an excellent book,"The Cruise of the German Raider Atlantis"These badges IMO are all made by Juncker and they were given to Joe as gifts by Auxiliary Cruiser crewmen.The top badge was from an Atlantis crewman and he received the award on 12-31- 41. Regards,Martin.

My first issue arrived today.Great photo's,most previously unpublished.And as an added bonus an article about the rescue of the crewmembers of the Atlantis. "The Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis sunk-Submarines to the rescue" The magazine has a great layout and nicely illustrated. Thanks,Gordon. Regards,Martin.

Richard,despite the "salty"look they are both very nice badges.I have three nice Schwerins but one of these days i would like to add a GWL to my collection.Nice find. Regards,Martin.

Nicely photographed Marc.Great use of the available light.I do not like flash either.Mind you it would take a lot of power to light that subject. Regards,Martin.

Thanks Gordon,i meant to post the reverse also.Here it is: Monsun,that is a great photo of the U-boat and Auxiliary Cruiser badges in wear.

Great photo's everyone.It is an area i've just started to get into as a collector,mainly Hilfskreuzer related.This it the only photo i have that shows the U-Boat badge.It is a Hoffman press photo of Atlantis Commander Bernhard Rogge,Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock,U-96 and Reinhard Suhren,U-564 being awarded their Oakleaves. Regards,Martin.

Tidy,i'm baffled.I still think it looks like an original from the obverse view.The hinge looks original but perhaps resoldered.I cannot comment on the double maker marks.I have never seen this feature before,maybe someone more knowlegable can help here. Regards,Martin.

Very nice Jan Arne,a bargain. Regards,Martin.

Tidy ,i still think it is a good one. Can you do close up pic,s of the hinge straight on and the maker mark?There appears to be another "f" above the maker mark "fo".Very unusual.I might well be wrong and maybe someone can correct me but i would not expect this "flaw" on a reproduction. Regards,Martin.

A better picture of the hinge would help but IMO looks like a good badge by Frederick Orth with soldered fittings.F.O also produced a badge with cast in fittings.Pity about the damage. Regards,Martin.

Jacky, my father and his brother,my Uncle Don are the only surviving war veterans in the family.I'm sure that their medals will eventually come to me but i hope not for a very long time. Just talked to my Uncle Don in Kent.He was in the Paracute Regiment in WWll and served in the Territorials for many years after.He told me he has the following medals: 1939-45 Star France and Germany Star Defence Medal War Service Medal General Service Medal,with Palestine Bar and two Territorial Army Medals,one with two-Six Year Service Bars. Dad has the two Korean war medals and the Cadet Forces Medal I would also like to find out what medals were awarded to my maternal grandfather.We know he served in WWl with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and he rejoined the Warwick's just before the outbreak of WWll.After he made it back from Dunkirk he was dischared,probably because of his age,and joined the Pioneer Corps and served with them until the end of the War.Then he just took off leaving my grandmother and three daughters.We figure he probably sold his medals for drinks as they were never found after he passed away in the 1960's.I do have photo's of him from both Wars but i am interested in doing a little more research but i do not know where to start. Regards,Martin.

Ed,here is a close-up of the medal bar.I found out that Uncle John did not go into combat until about 1943-44.Would this have something to do with him not having the 1939-45 Star?

Cap Badge.

uncle John C.1953-54.

This is another group of medals i am very proud of.They belonged to my uncle,J.D.M.Dadswell,Royal Corps of Signals.Again they are framed and hang next to my grandfathers medals.My uncle passed away a couple of years ago and having no children my aunt Betty gave the medals to me.The General Service Medal is the only one engaved,2329589,CPL.J.D.M.DADSWELL,R.SIGS.In WWll he was assigned to the Parachute Regiment. Regards,Martin.

Chris,it does say 20th Bde.The images i downloaded from the Archive are not that great in quality. Regards,Martin.

Chris,i did.Here's the card. Dave,thanks so much for the link to the archive.Appreciate it. Martin.

Chris, i do not have his medal card or battery number,but i will ask dad later in the week.He is at a Royal Tank Regiment reunion all week in Lowestoft. The reverse of the 1914 Star is marked as follows: 66258 TPTR.J.H.Westley. R.F.A. Thanks,Martin.

Thank you all for your comments.Tony you are correct he did finish his career in the RA as a W.O.1.My mistake,i was going from the information engraved on the medal(MSM).He retired from the regulars in 1937-38.Dad told me in the years leading up to WWll they lived in Worcester as grandad was a gunnery instructor for the QOWH. According to dad when WWll broke out grandad joined the home guard and was battery commander of a AA unit in the area of Woolwich.So i was wondering why the WWll Defence Medal is not added to the Bar? Chris ,if you could point me in a direction to the "Mons-la Cateau"histories i would be more than happy to research. Best regards,Martin.