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Ralph has updated his blog to include a selection of sample pages from Vol II and the table of contents: http://stasidecorations.wordpress.com/volume-ii/

went out to get the mail today and to my complete and utter surprise there was an advanced copy of Ralph's new book STASI Decorations and Memorabilia Vol II in the mailbox. After I got over the initial shock I spent an hour going through the book until I reached sensory overload. There was too much to take in with one sitting. The section on uniforms particularly stood out since there were 27 pages on uniforms alone showcasing rare uniforms from private collections. The section on Stasi academy badges is likewise impressive. The section on the Wachregiment is extensive with 78 pages alone. There is also coverage of the Freie Deutsche Jugend, Juristische Hoschschule, SV Dynamo, KGB badges, wax seals and ink stamps and much. much more. There is something for every collector from shoulder boards, collar tabs and cuff titles to medals, plates, pins, as well as birthday, promotion and anniversary memorabilia and documents. It's truly amazing what Ralph has covered in this second volume. Ralph expects to start mailing out the book at the end of December. He is taking preorders and is discounting the book by $10 for those who submit a preorder now. For more information see: http://stasidecorations.wordpress.com/ Here is a photo of the two volumes together:

It looks like the full sized badge where the wings have been trimmed down. Maybe to be worn as a lapel pin?

It's hard to believe it's been nearly two years since my last post on the status of Ralph's second book. I just spoke to Ralph Pickard and his long awaited Volume II of Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia is finished and will be out at the end of December 2011. Those of you who are familiar with Volume I, an exhaustively researched study of medals and documents issued to the Stasi, will not be disappointed with this even larger and more extensive Volume II with over 350 page and 800 photos. The second volume is very comprehensive covering a wide range of Stasi topics including insignia, rank, uniforms, general officers, pay, the Wachregiment „Feliks Dzierzynski“, the Dynamo sports organization, an update on medals and decorations and much more. Ralph's book is the only major East German collecting reference in English and contains hundreds of never seen before photos. His research covers a number of Stasi areas that are not published anywhere else. Ralph is taking pre-orders for the book at 79 US Dollars. The regular price will be 89 US Dollars. Ralph's working on updating his website to include Vol II http://www.frontlinehistorical.com sometime in early November, but until then you can PM me and I'll pass your messages on to him. I've included Ralph's publisher's draft of the the cover of this book. Kevin

I just spoke to Ralph Pickard and his long awaited Volume II of Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia is being published and will be out at the end of December. Those of you who are familiar with Volume I an exhaustively researched study of medals and documents issued to the Stasi will not be disappointed with the even larger and more extensive Volume II with over 350 page and 800 photos. The second volume is very comprehensive covering a wide range of Stasi topics including insignia, rank, uniforms, general officers, pay, the Wachregiment „Feliks Dzierzynski“, the Dynamo sports organization, an update on medals and decorations and much more. Ralph's book is the only major East German collecting reference in English and contains hundreds of never seen before photos. His research covers a number of Stasi areas that are not published anywhere else. Ralph is taking pre-orders for the book at 79 US Dollars. The regular price is 89 US Dollars. Ralph's working on updating his website to include Vol II http://www.frontlinehistorical.com , but until then you can PM me and I'll pass your messages on to him. Kevin

Alf, Very nice, thanks for sharing these early sports parachute badges with us. Somewhere there is a register which indicates who these numbered badges were awarded to. Kevin

I'm doing well. How about you? The two DDR sport parachute badges you posted are quite outstanding, not something you see every day. Are they in your collection? Thank you again for the orange parachute patch I got from you last year. I also remember you posted some early West German badges on the WAF forum last year. Kevin

These two sport parachute badges of the Flug und Fallschirmsportverband der DDR (FFSV) are hard to find. They are Fallschirmsportleistungsabzeichen that were issued until 1977 and the early ones were numbered on the back and registered to the individual they were awarded to. The hangers indicate the number of jumps and are also very hard to find. The badge in post #103 appears to be a very early version from around 1957. If it is origninal it would be very rare indeed. For more infomation on these badges see this article in German: http://www.fallschir...e/?page_id=1671

Nice stick pins. They are actually often harder to find and sometimes more expensive than their full size counterparts.

Grant, This is a copy of the Klassifizierungsabzeichen für Angehörige des Fallschirmdienstes or in English a Classification Badge for Member of the Parachute Service. It was worn from 1960-63 by members of the NVA Parachute Service which were Parachute Riggers it is not a badge worn by regular parachutist's. The NVA Parachute badge was not authorized until 1967. The original badge is extremely rare and unobtainable. This version of the badge is a restrike by the original maker Prägewerk in Markneukirchen (known as PRÄWEMA) thought to have been made in the early 1990s.

Yes there is a 5 digit and a 6 digit version of the number, I have examples of both. The main difference is just an extra "0" at the beginning of the number.

Bartel says there is a version with a number and one without it. The one without a number is much rarer. If I recall correctly the speculation is that the medals without the number were issued as replacement for lost or stolen medals.

Sure, I'll send you a PM.

I believe there were two versions of this medal, numbered and unnumbered. But I'm away from my references at the moment.

Here is the first version from my collection:

Greg, I meant to say red, black and yellow, don't know where blue came from. That's what I get from trying to do more than one thing at the same time. Here is the page which shows the "gekörntem Grund" or granular base as the second version:

The medal shown in the first post is definitely not the first version, it's the second version. The first version had enameled black, red and blue colors around the state symbol.

There are three types of this medal, this version was the 3rd issued from 1956 to 1990. Here is a Wikipedia article I did a few months ago on this medal with examples from my collection: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_for_Exemplary_Border_Service

Very nice. While most KdA medals are common, this one is actually quite hard to find. Especially here in the US.

Thanks, I believe I sold it on E-bay several years ago because it was not one of my collecting areas.

Unfortunately I have a particular weakness for NVA shoulder boards and I have hundreds, probably well over a 1,000 pairs with extras I've accumulated. Altough I don't really collect VOPO, rail and other non-miliary boards, I've accumulated a substantial collection of these as well. Yet I still have several holes to fill, especially in Volksmarine and some of the Fahnrich school boards for some branches. Perhaps we should set up a collectors exchange for like minded East German shoulder board collectors who have spare sets just gathering dust.

That response is rubbish. These uniforms came from supply with the proper collar tabs sewn on. I have nearly a dozen NVA para uniforms and they all have originally sewn on orange collar tabs. There was no separate "paratrooper school" in the NVA. NVA paratroopers had extensive pre-military parachute training with the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik (GST)(Society for Sport and Technology).

Normally I'm in the US or DDR sections of this forum. But a few weeks ago I acquired a group of insignia of a US Army Sergeant Major which in addition to the normal US rank and unit patches included an unusual British patch which I believe belongs to the Army Winter Sports Association Patch. Can anyone here verify this? How difficult is this patch to find? He also had Russian and Polish para wings so I assume he served in Bosnia or Kosovo where he could have come in contact with all of these forces and brought back the insignia as souvenirs.

It's a standard generic DDR flag that could be bought in several places in East Berlin. It's likely that this flag was hung both outdoors and indoors for various events. Here is a photo of much larger outdoor balcony flags I took during a parade in 1988:

Very nice display.