spionKopKid

TAB2

MAY AS WELL ADD THEM TO THIS POST!! THIS IS THE FIRST TAB, I AM POSTING FRONT AND REAR FOR 1 SINGLE TAB, ASSUMING IF IT'S FAKE THE OTHER ONE IS TOO!!

Thanks for all the advice!! I'll take some pictures and post them on gmic, I was initially concerned about doing so due to the sheer quantity of pictures !! I will post them seperately one by one (not on this thread!) Again thank you

I've managed to get a copy of the book. The fella in question is a Captain Jock McLaren, also a Major Rex Blow. I will add more after I have read it but he was awared the Military Cross twice, apartentley the citation for one was the longest ever written!! His boat was an adapted whaleboat,armed with a 20mm cannon, two 0.3" machine guns and a 0.5" aft gun. Aptly named "The Bastard" A quote from the book "Blow and Mclaren were in enemy territory for more than two and a half years. These two Australlians were raiders who never rested" And yes he did remove his own appendix! "All men trained as raiders in Australia were taught how to remove their own appendix should no expert help be available. Unfortunately, however, Jock Mclaren was without the benefits of this training, he had gone straight from a PoW camp into his own type of war. The day came when he knew that his appendix had burst. It it were not removed he would die, but Rex Blow was operating eleswhere and McLaren was alone except for a friendly Moro chief, his Filipino wife and a young native. Furthermore, he had no anaesthetic." It goes on to describe in some detail how he carried out the operation. This guy is a legend, you should read his story, I'm not sure why a book/film hasn't been written specifically about his exploits.

I've bought this lot in an auction (the whole lot together) I paid a small amount for them, taking the risk if they are all repro I can sell them as such to recover my money. Question is.... How can I get them verified as genuine/fake? I can see straight away that some are fake (wrong card type at the back etc) but I have 17 tabs I am not sure about. If they are original they can be worth a fair bit so I want to take them to a a dealer who will know for sure. (I live in Gloucestershire,UK if anybody can recommend a trustworthy dealer). Also I am not sure what the pair are second down from the left, does anybody have any ideas? Thanks for any assistance!! Sorry for the quality of the pic but I had to shrink it to fit it on the server!!

Temple-West, thanks for the reply, no worries, I have bought the knife with a whole load of third reich stuff in an auction. At a reasonable price. I'm not too bothered if it is a repro so long as just 1 thing in the lot is genuine!! From a purley academic view did the German manufacturers ever make mistakes like this? If mistakes are found on collectables are they instantly dismissed as fake?

I have acquired a HJ knife with the mark RZM M6/3 1937 on the blade. I haven't got the knife yet (in the post) to check other repro give aways. But does the fact that the blade is stamped RZM M6/3 1937 automatically make it a fake? Initially I thought it must be but I have been thinking and isn't it more probable that a young apprentice picked up a 6 instead of a 7 for the stamp at Kuno Ritter (M7/3)? rather than a forger cocking up the number? I know this kind of scenario is common on collectable auto parts, (wrong number stamped in), is it possible on this knife or am I living in a dream world??

The coastal watcher rings a bell I think he was a trained Commando but was assigned a coastal watching job in the Philipines, then was caught out when the Japs invaded. further things I remember 1) He had a phillino wife 2) He did have a small army of men (about 20 Philipinos) 3) He survived the war but died soon after in an accident (involving explosives i believe) I know all this sounds far fetched but I promise you this was how it was detailed in the Raiders book. I loaned the book from the library, part of the problem with library books, you can't then use the book as a reference!! If no one knows who I'm taliking about I'll try and get back to the library and loan it out again. I'll post more info then about him!!

I read a book a while ago and was dumbstruck. I believe it was called raiders by John Laffin. In the book was a story about an Australlian Commando who lived on a Japanese occupied Pacific Island for 2-3 years, causing utter mayhem. (firing mortars into the parade ground on the Emperors birthday for example) , he also removed his own appendix in a 4 hour operation whilst stuck on the island. When the yanks arrived he cleared an area for their landing craft. His most trusted method of attack was speeding up the river in a patrol boat whilst firing his machine gun into the Japanese ranks on parade. this guy seriously sounded like the stuff of legends, except..... I can't remember his name!! Does this ring any bells with anybody else? Who was this guy and did he receive any medals/awards for his actions?

I thought I'd update this. Peter, you were absolutely right. I emailed the museum who but me in contact with their supplier (Jeremy Tenniswood), http://www.militaria.co.uk/ He did confirm that it was one of his. Disapointed I have sold it as a fake (I'm not interested in anything not original) on ebay for the same price as the museum pieces. I slight loss financially and still flippin annoyed that somebody conned me!! Still lesson learned. Thanks your your advice, really appreciated!

The above is a picture of a repro. Admittedly it looks very similar, - but wouldn't the regimental museum still use the same dies to make them?? I will clean mine up and see what it looks like, but the alloy used seems different, possibly more copper in mine. I have a friend who is a goldsmith. I'll see what he thinks. Still clinging onto hope!!

This is my second attempt at posting this, the last one seems to have been lost somewhere!! A while ago I bought a buckle believing it to be a 2/24th Warwickshire Reg belt buckle. I have always had doubts if it is original. I have attached a pic below. Are there any tell tales signs to indicate if it is a repro or not. I have seen a relic from Isandlwana and it looked slightly different (Mine has ridges across it, the relic didn't appear to) It is old but thats not to say it isn't a Victorian/Edwardian/Georgian repro!! Anyway, here it is. What do you think? I'll add more images after posting

I Guess this is the one order by the OVS for artillery units http://arms2armor.com/Bayonets/transva1.htm I'll keep my eye our for one!! Thanks for the help

I am looking at purchasing yet some more Boer war militaria and was hoping to get myself a Mauser bayonet (Since the Mauser isn't obsolete yet i can't have one of those!!) My question is what bayonet was used with the M95,96,97 mausers? I have scratched around the internet and can't seem to find any reference. Did the Boers purchase bayonets with their Mausers? You never read of them getting close enough to use them!! Failing the Mauser bayo I could always get a Lee-Metford but everybody and his dog seems to have one!! thanks for any assistance!!

Thanks for the link but I have already checked the site and this time last year went to visit his grave in Italy. However, since then I have been trying to document his army life and as a result obtained his service records. I just feel that If I don't get all his details documented his memory and actions will be forgotten. As it stands it is flippin difficult to find documents/books on the gothic line. I had to buy an excellent book from Italy about the battle for Gemmano (where he died). Thanks again though!! Rich

Thanks Graham, fantastic infomation ,will help me a great deal!!! Rich

Some of the most decisive battles took place in the Middle East to secure the Oil fields for Britain. For example in Habbaniya,, Iraq in 1941. Had the pro- German Iraqis not been defeated the oil field could have been piped to Germany through Turkey, this is now speculative but this may have mean that Nazi expansion into Russia was no longer as important and the Western fron would have been bolstered. Most people opt for the most famous battles of the time, these are famous due to the propaganda of the day. There are plenty of important battles to be discovered accross the globe where thousands of soldiers lie forgotten and buried whilst, sadly, most people still think that WW2 was won at Kursk and Normandy.

I am looking through my grandads statement of service from WW2 (he was KIA in Italy 1944). I am a bit baffled as to what regiment he was in. He was transferred to the 2/4 KOYLI just 2 months before he died but I can't seem to fathom out the regiments he was in before. They are listed as 9th AA Res ( Assuming 9th Anti Aircraft Reserves) 14/10/41 66/80th LAA Regt 25/10/41 471/80 Lt AA 19/02/42 2/4 Bn KOYLI 01/06/1944 Is Lt AA Light Anti Aircraft? I presumed that in the KOYLI he died as an an infantry man (Gemmano Sept 1944) , but could it be possible that he was in a Lt AA group attached to the KOYLI (seems a bit odd spending 3 years in the artillery to be switched over to infantry??) Hopefully somebody can help Rich

replace "medal" with "badge" above, got a bit carried away with my first post!!

Hi chaps. just wondering why "fakes" would exhist for this medal, are the originals worth a considerable amount, I thought they were only 5 to 10 only? Just asking as i have one of these I'm looking to sell.