PKeating

I won't go into what is wrong with this document in detail as I feel disinclined to provide help to the scum responsible for this kind of thing. All I will say is that there was never an NCO by that name in the battalion. Nor did the unit have any company commanders of that name. But someone without access to that knowledge bought these two documents, believing them to be genuine. PK

More fakes. These two lovelies caught someone out a few years ago. They were clearly produced by someone who had read Antonio Munoz's Forgotten Legions book. The Felix Steiner signature on the other document isn't good enough. In any case, "SS-Hauptscharf?hrer Sepp Blaichinger" would have received this document back in the autumn of 1944. Highly unlikely that Steiner would have issued it in February 1945, by which time the SS Para Bn was moving into defensive positions on the Oderfront. Smart...but just too smart for its own good. PK

Ah yes, here we go! It's quite an intelligent fake and clearly inspired by Schumann's Assault Badge document. I suppose this supports the argument against posting original documents on open forums but the good news is that no matter how good the forgeries and fakes are, they are never good enough if you know what to look for. I gather that the eventual buyer of this beauty paid handsomely for it but the chap who passed me the photos declined to put me in touch with the victim. The stamp was done with a laser printer. However, they messed up Fritz Leifheit's signature and got just a little too smart with the typographical errors, the small noughts in 600 being a glaring example. The attempt to replicate the dropped 's' in Fallschirmj?ger - by displacing the roller as they hit the key - was smart but a bit too smart for its own good. They failed to do it in the case of Leifheit's rank. Look at the 's' in Obersturmf?hrer. The typewriter at Bn HQ - the real Bn HQ where Schumann's Assault Badge document was filled out - was evidently out of kilter. They paid attention to the 'a', though. PK

Just to finish off, an Assault Badge document to a signaller in SS-FJ-Btl 600. Schumann ended the war with the EK2 and the CCC. He never got a document for the latter, just in case the monkey who offered his Wound Badge document for sale recently gets any more smart ideas! Schumann never received a Wound Badge! I have a picture of this fake somewhere and will post it when I find it. PK

The awards page. Before being commissioned, Scheu served with the Wiking reconnaissance detachment and took part in Barbarossa. Note the clerical oversight: his Winter War Medal is not mentioned. This kind of error or omission is quite common in the case of duplicate soldbucher like this one.

Note the Parachutist Licence (Fallschirmsch?tzenschein) number on the opening page. This corresponds with Scheu's licence, which is included in the group. Here is Page 4, with the classic entries for SS-FJ-Btl 600, which was placed, nominally, on the Order of the Battle of Skorzeny's SS-Jagdberb?nde. Also interesting is the reference to the Training Company of SS-FJ-Btl 500. Sorry about the cropping but it's the only way I can get it to conform to the 110KB limit. I imagine PC image programmes are better for this but Mac image files tend to be larger. PK

Of course, the forger gave Herr Spitt some ranks he never held. Still, I gather that this little beauty separated someone from a substantial amount of cash. Now, here is an original soldbuch, which was carried by Walter Scheu. Scheu served as an instructor with SS-FJ-Btl 500's Field Training Company and earned the Army Parachute Badge. Most of the SS-FJ were given the Luftwaffe version because of shortages, the bulk of Army badges having been issued to the Brandenburg Para Bn. After the formation of SS-FJ-Btl 600, Scheu served as a company commander. PK

SS-FJ documents are very, very rare indeed. And they are faked. Here is a fake SS-Jagdverband Mitte soldbuch to Paul Spitt, who served in the SS-Jagdverband Mitte and then in SS-Fallschirmj?ger-Btl 600. It's not strictly SS-Fallschirmj?ger but gives readers some idea of what the crooks are up to. Note the use of Walter Hummel's photograph. This error arises from an amusing episode, when the author Jean-Yves Nasse corresponded with Herr Spitt about the Gran Sasso operation some years ago. Not wishing, presumably, to disappoint Nasse, Spitt sent him a photo. The photo was a copy of this original portrait of Hummel, taken in Neustrelitz in November 1944. The old lads swapped photos amongst themselves at reunions, you see. So Hummel's photo ended up in Nasse's book, captioned as Spitt. And our erstwhile soldbuch forger clearly has Nasse's book on his shelves. PK

He was also present at the Siege of Leningrad, for which, I imagine, he received the EK2. Nice Crimea Shield mention too. All in all, a really nice 1940 campaign and Eastern Front book to a highly decorated soldier. Hollywood would have you believe that German soldiers were festooned with medals but many a landser went right through the war with hardly anything to show for it. This man racked up two Iron Crosses, foreign awards and a Close Combat Clasp. PK

They were probably members of SS-Fallschirmj?ger-Btl 500, like the man below. The portrait was actually taken when he was with SS-Fallschirmj?ger-Btl 600, which was formed with survivors of SS-FJ-Btl 500 as cadre several months after the Luftwaffe had suspended parachute training. Hummel earned his jump badge with SS-FJ-Btl 500 early in 1944. There were also some para-trained members of the SS-Jagdverb?nde. Some SS-VT officers and NCOs from SS-Regiment "Germania" went through jump-training before the war as part of an attempt to form a parachute arm of the SS-VT but it proved abortive because of a lack of volunteers. PK

People usually gravitate towards the material and effects of beaten armies. I collect certain German combat and qualification badges but my main focus is on document groups and photography. The common denominator linking my Third Reich memorabilia is that they are mainly items that were worn or carried by soldiers on campaign. Photos and albums are a bonus as they sometimes show us where these items were carried, through the soldier's eyes. These criteria extend to certain US and British badges and awards but tend to limit me to CIBs, parachutists' badges and things like that. However, nothing beats tracing a man's military history via the entries in his soldbuch and wehrpa?, entries made in many of the places where he fought or through which he passed and sometimes signed by notable people. As far as fakery goes, one has to be careful with documents and even with photographs these days, as some of the improved or contrived groups emerging recently from Germany have shown us. I have seen some very intelligent attempts - including several SS-Fallschirmj?ger groups and a complete soldbuch - involving crafty penmanship, laser and inkjet printing, blank but original documents and skilled use of Photoshop. Third Reich material has been faked since the end of hostilities. However, if anyone imagines that British and American stuff is safer than Nazi stuff, they are sucumbing to naivity. Everything is faked: German, British, American, Japanese, Soviet and even French Resistance. To become a serious collector is perhaps harder than it used to be, because the serious money involved attracts some serious criminals as opposed to the garden shed artisans of yesteryear, but it is not impossible. These forums have made it a bit easier for newbies. Mind you, I learn something new every time I surf the forums. However, all forums are vulnerable to abuse by dishonest people seeking to promote fakes or "newly identified variants" as wartime originals, especially when the webmasters and managers are in cahoots with fakers, bent dealers and their shills. This is not a problem affecting GMIC and some of the newer, more specialised websites, like the British Medals Forum, but it does sadly affect other places. For all that, though, it is worth persevering if you are interested in Third Reich material because you can avoid the pitfalls. The best thing to do is to concentrate on a specialised area, study it as much as you can, seek out serious collectors - who generally like helping serious newcomers...because these are the people to whom we will sell all our stuff when we need to finance our old age! - and exercise care when buying. Two maxims: Quality trumps quantity. Sometimes you must pay tomorrow's prices in order to have something wonderful today. PK

Hindenburg Cross is one of the common names for this award. It's also known as the Cross of Honour or Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieg (World War Honour Cross). It is perfectly alright to leave the ribbons like this. I wouldn't mount the medals if I were you. However, if you are determined to do so, you should study original medal bars to see how the tailors of the time did it. I think you ought to leave this as they are and wait until a period-mounted pair turns up. Mounted pairs are reasonably priced. PK

Sounds like a glitch with your account settings. The trouble with new versions of most forum software programmes is that they are full of bugs but the makers release them nevertheless, using customers as guinea pigs. Perhaps the Chairman could check your account settings to make sure that all your permissions or the permissions pertaining to your member group are correctly set as you appear to be blocked from viewing images, which then appear as abbreviated links, which in turn lead you nowhere when you click on them. Infuriating! The images are showing up normally for me and, doubtless, for everyone else. It could also be a software issue at your end: your internet browser might need updating/upgrading to handle GMIC's new software. Try updating/upgrading. Failing that, try downloading the Firefox freeware browser - it's available for PC and Mac and seems to cure all sorts of glitches experienced in Internet Explorer and Netscape - and see how you go with that. Regards, PK

These are real BeVo FRANCE armshields. Compare them to yours. Sorry. Hope you can get a refund. PK

John, Jody, Stop it! Minty/EF Juncker and Assmann FSA in one place? That's hurting my eyes. I salute your impeccable taste, gentlemen. These are really the only makers who got it right, IMO. Always loved that wide-eyed Assman eagle. Didn't the very early Juncker FSA have a similar bird? And yes, I know you're going to post one now, just to increase the exquisite pain of desire... PK

There is indeed, Chris. The name is Marcel Doeschler. The stamp is extremely sun-faded and hard to make out. Here is an adjusted detail from the high res scan. This is about as sharp as I have been able to make it. Miles signed the document as Commanding Lieutenant and Doeschler is referred to as "M", for Monsieur. No reference to a military rank there, which is logical as many SSU members were civilian volunteers. I wonder if this means that every member of the unit received a document and a cross. I do not believe that unit citations entitled unit members to wear the decoration but could this have been an exception to that general rule, given the specific nature of the reasons for the award? PK

These photographs were taken on 15.10.1944 when thirty-five King Tigers from s.Pz.Abt. 503 moved into Budapest as part of the German forces implementing the coup d'?tat - codename Unternehmen Panzerfaust - against the Horthy regime under Otto Skorzeny's command and direct orders from Hitler. Horthy had attempted to sue for peace with fast-closing Soviet forces. Some of the tanks entered the citadel. Here is some additional information which may be interesting to you: PK

A wonderful human being. The world is a poorer place without him. He was not afraid to express his opinions. I wish some of the people in the Vatican would follow the example of such priests. He was right about celibacy too. Having gone through Catholic schools, I can vouch for the fact that the Catholic church has attracted more than its fair share of repressed pederasts, paedophiles and sundry malcontents. Furthermore, men who might never resort to sexual gratification with other men under normal circumstances find themselves swayed in an all-male environment. It's like prison. Or the navy. Mind you, buggery used to be legal in Royal Navy after forty days at sea without sight of land. So was eating the cabin boy, or so I was informed by an uncle who was a sailor. But I digress. Bonne route, Abb? Pierre! PK

But there is no problem at all with your English! It is very, very good. I mistook you for someone I know in Paris, that is all, a friend who is half-French, half-American. You are not the same person. Welcome to the forum. PK

Just inviting him to PM me, telling me who he is and where he lives because the French collecting scene is quite small. I put it in French to see if, in fact, he actually knows the language. It is nice to reply occasionally to non-English speakers in their own language as a courtesy even if this is an anglophone forum. It sometimes makes people feel more welcome, especially new members like Frontkampfer. Of course, he could be American... PK

Est-ce tu es un collectioneur fran?ais, mon p?te? Dis-moi, ou est-ce que tu habites et comment est-ce que tu t'appelles? Envoies-moi un message. Car, franchement, je n'en suis pas s?r. Bye bye Franz... PK

What are the measurements across the arms? PK

As we see time and again, Certificates of Authenticity are often not worth the paper upon which they are printed. A few dealers have made quite a lot of money out of authenticating militaria but none of them has, as far as I know, ever been able to produce any official qualification according them expert status. Dietrich is right about the dots but the immediate giveaway, surface details aside, is the hallmark reading SILBER rather than SiLBER. It would look fine on a display mannequin but that's about it. PK

The one on the left appears to have started life as a non-vaulted cross. PK

I really must stop editing my copy so fast! Still, it says pretty much the same thing so no problem. I look forward to reading your book. As you rightly said, none of us is infallible. Perfection is but an aspiration and as the Muslims believe, only God can achieve it. PK