Harrier

Bob, I know it must be very hard on you to have all that old stuff cluttering up your house - why don't you just send it to me? I'm sure you'd feel better not having to look at it! Best, Harrier

Wonderful piece, Bob!

Thanks, Mike! Merry Christmas, Harrier

My nephew has asked me what this is and I have no idea. Any thoughts? Thanks! Harrier

Thank you, gentlemen! Gablonz ended up, after May, 1945, in the Russian Zone of Occupation, did it not?

No thoughts from our "badge gurus"??

A very nice Juncker cross. :D

Can these be linked to any manufacturer by their style of wreath or hardware?

Sorry, Stijn! I did not mean to imply that you said that ALL the pilots you met still had their original badges. What I meant to say (and what I think you did say)is that, of those whose still had their badges from the war, the badges they had were the ones originally awarded to them. Is this not correct? And if some had replacement badges (obtained during the war) because they lost their original one, did they get them from the LVA (the official LW store which had the monopoly of sale on these badges from sometime in 1941 until late 1944, when private sale was re-authorized, and which would have stocked badges from Juncker and BSW because those particular companies had the contracts to supply the LW directly)? Again, I did not mean to misquote you, but I looked at your book before writing, and also at your numerous posts on this subject here, on GCA and on WAF, and that was the impression I honestly had of what you had said. I am happy to be corrected if needed. Best regards, Harrier

Reverse.

Stijn David may well be correct that the glider pilots he interviewed (who all seemed to have been able to have retained their originally awarded badges)had only Juncker and BSW made pieces, which would make sense if those two companies had the contract to supply the Luftwaffe with award pieces. Being officially awarded and being manufactured are, however, two entirely different things. By the way, this type badge, as with the Juncker and BSW badges, is also routinely faked, which might explain why they pop up so frequently. In reality, when you look at the number of fake Juncker and BSW glider badges, it is fair to say that real versions of the ball-hinge may be as rare as the real versions of those types.

Well, here's another 'story' for you. Picked up from an American vet more than 30 years ago.

There is a running thread on WAF (http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263920&highlight=living+knights+cross) keeping tabs on who is still alive and who has passed away.

From the limited photos, this APPEARS to be an original enlisted ranks tunic with insignia for an officer (major of Flight) added. The added insignia (again, from what I can see) appears to be original. The collar tabs are in a strangely low position and the shoulder boards are not well-sewn into the seams. In hand, more could be detected, but right now you have what appears to be a real tunic with real insignia. Who knows when they came together?

Original. :D

Charlie, Welcome to this forum and thanks very much for that nice detailed shot of the eagle on your cross, which I agree is NOT crude or ugly at all. Sorry to have used your photos. They were posted originally without restriction on another forum, I believe, and I had them in my data bank. In retrospect,to have been polite, I probably should have gone back and tried to find them as originally shown and acknowledged you as the original source! Best, Harrier

No slight at all intended to Pete...just trying to figure out if this could be, in fact, appropriate.

Would medical personnel have had the "Line" star insignia on the sleeve, even as officer aspirants, as shown on the piece from Collector's Guild?

I think I was too conservative with the "bit on the low side" language... :blush:

I would think that's a bit on the low side if it really is the only one.

Alex is right. There was a very interesting thread posted very recently on WAF in which actual production guidelines were published. These showed an actual step in the process where, after assembly, a "masking" template was placed over the frame and the core was re-sprayed to improve appearance. Certainly such a process could easily lead to a very small degree of "overspray" onto the interior bottom edges of the frame. I wouldn't worry about your cross.

Unless I am missing something, this looks like a good Gebruder Wegerhoff, Ludenscheid (GWL) badge.

Reverse pin color. Those are some great clasps you are showing!

Here's the Silver FB&L which looks like a Bronze.

I have a silver Bomber by F&BL which I would have sworn was a bronze, but for the pin. I think you may be on to something that some manufacturers used a finish which faded to brown, rather than to gray. Harrier