PKeating

Who issued the certificate? PK

I was amused by the assertion that Panzerpope was forced to join the HJ. Rubbish! Nobody was forced to join. People were not even pressurised. One volunteered because one wished to be in the Hitlerjugend. Oh well, the Vatican has a safe pair of hands at the helm: contraceptives remain illegal. PK

That's one of the most amazing EK documents I have ever seen. PK

Ed, I doubt it sincerely. The Guant?namo risk, I mean. The US Constitution obliges citizens to overthrow tyrannical government by force of arms if necessary. However, I do not reside in the United States. We've discussed the Stolen Valor thing to death on this forum and others. Nothing has been done about resisting this legislation, despite all the huffing and puffing. It's only a matter of time before similar legislation is passed in Europe and elsewhere. Apart from anything else, our glorious leaders take the view that any transactions they cannot tax must be prevented. Government has been trying to tax private sales of collectibles for years. In France, for example, you cannot pay in cash for anything bought in an auction house for more than ?600,00 because of laws made, they claim, to combat money-laundering "by criminals from the former Eastern Bloc". The real money-laundering is done through the same private, off-shore banks in which our tax-fed leaders hide all the money they steal from us. If anyone believes that laws preventing trade in militaria have nothing to do with trying to stamp out untaxable commerce, they are very na?ve. I expect some readers will sneer at this post but the sad fact of the matter, as we can see, is that extreme violence is the only way in which one can influence politicians and the shady people financing them. If you don't believe that, then ask yourself why so many of our own terrorists are on the loose. Ask yourself why the PIRA won in Ulster. Violence works. History proves it. That 90% of Westerners have lost their bottle is the only reason every lamppost in the street outside our houses doesn't have politicians and their accomplices dangling from it. Now, how much was that CMoH? PK

You're all labouring under the mistaken impression that our politicians have the people's best interests at heart. Debate does not work. It is a waste of energy. We need to start thinking seriously about the people who are telling us what to do. These are the wankers none of us wanted to talk to at school, usually for bloody good reasons, and now they're cracking the whip. People ask me why I always look so grim when riding my motorbikes. It's very simple: I am wary of looking as if I am having a good time because I know some superannuated c**t will want to legislate it out of existence if he sees me enjoying myself. That's what this is: the meek have inherited the earth and they're finding all sorts of ways of imposing misery on people. We really need to start thinking about killing these people. Killing them is really the only sensible thing to do. Think I'm being extreme? I'm not. I'm telling it how it is. The West needs a serious shake-up. Here we have tossers spending our money on "make-work" legislation while our society is on its way to Hell in a wheelbarrow with a crooked wheel. We wish to remember and render homage to men who fought for us but these people wish to prevent education, pride in our past and anything else that stands in their way of their agenda, which is to wreck Western society. Rant over... PK

Hallo! PK (Jackeen)

The officer who recommended the EK1 for AH was Leutnant Hugo Gutmann. Check out this webpage for some interesting information: http://holocaust-info.dk/shm/2_uk.htm. It gives some interesting information although, being somewhat partisan in nature, seeks to downplay Hitler's entitlement to the EK1. PK

Sorry to muscle in for a moment on an EK1 thread but having studied the magnificent Wagner EK1 posted just above by Marshall, I think this EK2 must be by Wagner as well. I have always considered this cross to be an example made between c.1895 - c.1915 because of its overall 1914 look. So, is this EK1 from the same time frame or have I been mistaken? PK

Darrell's cross is actually a really nice wartime example and quite rarely seen. The examples one sees far more often are postwar, like the one offered by Niemann. $80.00 is high for something that was churned out by the bucketful for the collectors' market from the 1960s to the 1990s. I'd pay maybe $30.00 tops for a postwar version if I wanted one. For a wartime example? Well, it's true that Italian stuff doesn't command high prices but it would be worth more to me than a 1939 EKII, that's sure. That said, Darrell's example has damaged enamel with clumsy touch-up attempts so that would bring the price back down. As a damaged medal, it is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. I would not turn my nose up at it, although I might see about removing the modeller's enamel or whatever some fool used to try to fill in the dinks. PK

It won't violate any copyright. This is a free website and, in any case, you'd be posting the image for the purposes of sharing information so it would certainly fall under the 'fair use' proviso contained in copyright legislation. The debate about 1870 EK1 by Wagner notwithstanding, you bought a cross widely accepted as an original piece, published as a benchmark example in one of the acclaimed reference works on the Iron Cross. If the cross is OK, then you have to take the view that you paid tomorrow's price to have something special today. PK

How about a BSA M20 500cc motorcycle in the hands of members of I./Fallschirmj?ger-Rgt 2 after the capture of Leros in November 1943? PK

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but the group seems to have been incomplete and some of the awards had been added. The silver badge was genuine, of course, and so were the documents. So was the aluminium badge although the case looked like a copy. Some documents that Haug would surely have had were missing and a couple of people have mentioned that other pieces were not with the group when it came out of the family. Don't know how true that is. It's still a cracking group but not worth ?46,000.00, plus the 20% commission. The guy will be lucky to see his money back if he ever needs to move it on. The market for this stuff is very, very limited. Perhaps half a dozen potential buyers in the world at most. It's like SS-FJ groups. PK

The Haug group estimated at ?12,500.00 in the Hermann Historica auction that just took placed realised ?46,000.00. The group included Haug's .800 silver Type 2 Army Para Badge and a cased, worn aluminium example. That's ?46,000.00 plus 20% fees. Maybe I should think about reinsuring some of my FJ groups, including the Scheu SS-FJ lot. Jesus! The world has gone mad. The buyer must have really, really wanted the Haug group because it wasn't even complete. PK

Amazing that people go to the trouble of forging documents that are good enough to catch out the unwary but don't bother doing simple research as described by Chris in checking the date of capitulation in Togo! I see this in WW2 documents as well. Was offered an 'improved' Fallschirmj?ger group with an EK1 document recently, handsigned by an RKT who simply wasn't anywhere near that location on or even around the date of issue...because he had been dead for three months. Would have bought it for the genuine docs had the bandit not wrecked the soldbuch by adding the EK1 entry. Well-executed signature, nonetheless! PK

You should buy a cell phone with a better camera. But yes, it appears to conform to the type of cross associated with Ernst L Muller of Pforzheim. Hard to be definite with these images but it's probably a '76'. PK

The fact that you didn't pay much to begin with should have rung warning bells. No such thing as a free lunch where dealers are concerned. PK

http://www.sual.com/news/?id=387 Could this be the chap? PK

Or maybe not at all... In the same league, I think, as G?ring's onyx-centered Grand Crosses of the Iron Cross 1939 in their silver box? PK

I woud want to examine the bronze plaque fitted into that case very, very closely before thinking about making a bid of more than ?4.500,00 for a decoration said to have been given to P?tain by his staff in 1926. PK

Now, that is indeed a rare thing. I think Nivelle was to somr extent scapegoated, don't you? Oh sure, he gave the order that unleashed the hellish carnage of the Chemin des Dames but he was not extraordinary given the attitudes of the officer class of his generation. P

True, Chris, he did improve the lot of the common soldier after the 1917 mutiny but he also decimated the ranks of units involved. The 1917 Mutiny was sparked by the Nivelle Offensive, named after General Nivelle, who was P?tain's commander at the time. The offensive is more commonly known by the reference le Chemin des Dames. The Mutiny eventually affected 50% of the French Army and the High Command gave P?tain a free hand to resolve it. General Nivelle had spoken publicly of his battle plan for the new offensive and the Germans were consequently waiting for it when the poilus climbed form their trenches on 16.4.1917. The French suffered 100,000 casualties in less than twenty-four hours. Reports of the senseless slaughter spread throughout the army and soldiers began to refuse to obey their officers. This soon turned to outright violence. On 28.4.1917, a battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment mutinied, refusing to enter the front line. After ringleaders were shot and mutineers imprisoned for long terms with hard labour, the battalion went into battle and was almost annihilated. Following this, other units started refusing to fight. One of the things that particularly spooked the High Command was the involvement of loyal veterans in the mutiny. The units for the most part remained at their posts, working-to-rule in the defensive r?le, but they refused to fight. All-in-all, some 40,000 soldiers are estimated to have mutinied. At this point, the High Command ordered the "Hero of Verdun" to put down the mutiny and gave him absolute carte blanche. P?tain addressed the problem with more intelligence and foresight than some of his fellow generals might have deployed. Whilst being seen to be harsh with "ringleaders" - he had most of them shot - and whilst refusing to agree publicly to the demands of the mutineers, P?tain certainly did improve conditions for the common soldiery. He also declared large-scale, continual frontal infantry assaults obsolete, stipulating that assaults and offensives must in the future be supported by tanks and other forms of support. This reassured the soldiers of what was, essentially, a citizen's army comprising conscripts who objected to the feudal attitudes of an officer class totally out of touch with the modern world. However, make no mistake: Philippe P?tain put down that mutiny with ferocity even though he employed the carrot-and-stick stategy with the men who were not shot or jailed. PK

Philippe P?tain was made a Commandeur de la L?gion d'Honneur on 10.5.1915. This is the class worn around the neck. He also held the M?daille Militaire. He would have received, doubtless, service medals with clasps for any overseas service prior to 1914 but I cannot find any reference to colonial service. P?tain appears to have been the consummate staff officer whose career from 1878 to 1914 appears to have been rather uneventful and boring. Here's a resum? I found on the internet: 1878-1883 Sous-lieutenant - 1? affectation au 24?BCP de Villefranche 12/12/1883-1890 Lieutenant - 1? affectation au 3? bataillon de chasseurs de Besan?on novembre 1888 - entr?e ? l'?cole de guerre 14? promotion 1890 Capitaine ? la sortie de l'?cole - affect? ? l'?tat-major du 15? CA ? Marseille. 1892 - affect? au 29?BCP ? Vincennes 1893 - ?tat-major du gouverneur militaire de Paris 12/07/1900 Commandant - affect? ? l'?cole de tir de Ch?lons. d?but 1901 - affect? au 5? RI ? la caserne de La Tour Maubourg ? Paris ?t? 1901 - professeur-adjoint ? l'?cole sup?rieure de guerre ?t? 1903 - chef de bataillon au 104?RI ?t? 1904 - 1907 - professeur ? l'?cole de guerre ?t? 1907 Lieutenant-colonel commandant le 118? RI ? Quimper 1908-26/06/1911 - titulaire de la chaire de tactique de l'infanterie ? l'?cole de guerre 31/12/1910 Colonel 26/06/1911- commandant le 33?RI ? Arras 1912 professeur de tactique g?n?rale ? l' ?cole de cavalerie de Saumur 1914 commandant par int?rim de la 4? brigade ? Saint-Omer 24/07/1914 - d?cision de prendre sa retraite Ao?t 1914 - Commandant la 4? brigade du 1?CA. 27/08/1914 G?n?ral de brigade 02/091914 - Commandant la 6?DI 14/09/1914 G?n?ral de division. C'?tait alors le plus haut grade. 20/10/1914 - Commandant le 33?CA 10/05/1915 - Commandeur de la L?gion d'Honneur 21/06/1915 - Commandant de la II?arm?e 25/02/1916 - la II? arm?e est envoy?e ? Verdun 02/05/1916 - Commandant du groupe d'arm?es centre ? Bar-le-Duc 27/04/1917 - Chef d'?tat-major g?n?ral, poste cr?? pour lui 15/05/1917 - G?n?ral en chef des arm?es fran?aises 19/11/1918 Mar?chal de France For the First World War, he would presumably have received the Commemorative Medal, the Victory Medal and probably the Combattant's Cross. He received the Distinguished Service Medal (Army) - pictured above - from the United States in 1918 for his leadership. The British probably gave him something too. The Russians might have decorated him before the Revolution for Verdun: many soldiers of the Western Allies received Russian decorations for distinguished service on the Western Front. On 305.1949, the following article appeared in TIME magazine under the title Hollow Men: P?tain is honoured in the room dedicated to the Marshalls of France at the Les Invalides museum but his career is described only up to 1939. While his intentions in signing the Armistice with Germany were honourable, the old man was surrounded by some rather unpleasant ultra-rightists who appealed to his bad side. The "Hero of Verdun" was also the hardline martinet whose Romanesque decimation of several mutinous French units during the War of 1914-1918 was referenced in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory. P?tain was a product of his age and his generation, an arch-conservative Catholic. This informed his pleasure, for example, in passing anti-Jewish legislation. His generation had never forgiven the Dreyfuss Affair. And yet, for all that, he did his best for France under the circumstances in which he found himself in 1940. The Vichy government was the legal authority in France, although many French people are in denial about this. P?tain dreamt of the departure of the German armies in France and it was his stolid attempts to rebuild the French Army - I am not referring to the LVF or the Charlemagne Division here - and a speech he made when conferring the regimental standard on the newly-formed 1? R?giment de France in 1942 that infuriated Hitler and prompted the occupation of Vichy France by German forces in July 1942. PK

I think the insignia is for a Flak-Artillerie NCO. It could be pink but it is hard to tell as photographs can play tricks with colours. One veteran who wrote about the heavy wool RAD uniforms they were issued for the Berlin ceremonies was Adolf Galland. Apparently, they had the hottest July on record that year and the legionnaires were sweating their balls off. Your sidehat certainly conforms to what one would expect, with the German-made NCO tresse conforming to the pattern specified by Luftwaffe regulations but gold-coloured in line with Spanish regulations for NCO insignia. I am sure some legionnaires brought home caps, tunics and insignia they wore in Spain but most of them turned their kit in before they returned home. The excellent condition is logical as these uniforms were only worn a few times. Obviously it is hard to make a definitive decision without handling a piece but if this were a fake, then the faker was both intelligent and well-read. PK

The uniforms worn by returned Legion Condor veterans in Berlin in 1939 were requisitioned for the parades from Reichs-Arbeitsdienst stores to try to emulate the deep tan uniforms worn in-theatre by the Legion Condor. Legion Condor ranks followed Spanish practice, with every legionnaire being bumped up a rank for the duration of of his tour in Spain. The branch-of-service colours for the Legion Condor were as follows: Flight Crew - gold-yellow or "cavalry yellow". Flak-Artillery - red. Signals - light brown. HQ/Staff - black. The tank crewmembers of the Imker-Verb?nde, drawn from the Panzer-Lehr-Regiment, may have used a pink backing as on this schiffen. The gold tresse would appear to be correct as the only NCOs who wore cap and breast insignia, if I recall rightly, in silver were interpreters. PK

Another. Does anyone else have any African-American groups or related insignia? PK