Paul R

Rick(stogie) Those are some very unique bars. I cannot believe that he managed to fit 15 ribbons on that single bar! One day, I would like to have a bar with a wound ribbon. Those really speak to me. What is the highest number of wounds that they made a ribbon for? Rick L. Thank you for that observation. I never thought of it being a LW bar!!! Thank you for the information as well! Austrian bars are my favorite for some reason. They are not the most colorful, but I like them! Warm regards Paul Reck

backs

Some other bits and pieces.

back

Here are my next bars. The three piece Hindenburg bar is actually ONE ribbon. [attachmentid=16004]

reverse

I am feeling pretty scan happy and would like to share you some of my Austrian Ribbon Bars. The first one is a nice 8 place WW1/2 bar. I find it interesting because of the many Austrian awards. He must have been one brave soldier to receive all of these. The sad part is that because so many Austrian awards have the same ribbon, I dont think that I will ever know for sure what he was awarded. The ribbon on the back of the bar is a KVK2 button hole ribbon that was removed from a tunic. This was the way I received the bar.

Hi Marcus. What is a 'W' dealer? Kind regards Paul

back

Does this ribbon bar look legit to you? I was looking at my bars today and noticed something for the first time... I hope that I am wrong. Regards Paul

Yes he could. Either of them could be deck gunner assistants(as Surface Battle Station postions would be one of those secondary billets I spoke of earlier). The first one would be the one most likely in charge of the gun though. A man trained as an armorer(weapons caretaker/expert) would be the OberMatrose. The engineer would most likely fill the loader/ammo bearer billet during Surface Battle Stations. Paul

Based upon what I know of ships and Uboats from reading and my service onboard ships, I would guess the postions that would be on a u-boat or sub of the time would be... 1. Engineers(1officer, and techs) 2. Weapons(1 officer,armorers/techs) 3. Deck/Watch(1 officer/deck watchstanders) 4. Communications/Direction finder(1 officer/ watchstanders) 5. Operations Dept(1 officer...perhaps the XO) 6. Cook 7. Medic or Doctor Of course tasks like gunnery teams, shipboard firefighting teams, boarding teams, and other special evolutions outside the normal daily routine would be covered by certain people as secondary positions or billets. For example... boarding/Shore Party(this type of team would be used to board a ship at sea) evolutions would have three teams. Team 1 might consist of the Engineer officer, a deck Petty Officer, and the team crewmen might consist of the cook, and a deck seaman(Matrose). Team two would consist of another set of people to include one officer, one NCO, and two junior personnel... and etc. The obermatrose could trained to fill any junior postion except that of engineering... he could be a cook, deck watch stander, or signalman... The machinest mate's sole role(barring any secondary positions) would be strictly within the Engineering Dept. I hope that I am correctly answering your question.(again, I am speaking in general terms here) Regards Paul

Very nice! I bet that she is very proud of earning this prestigous award. I bet that it was not an easy feat. Thank you for showing her badge to us. It is amazing how little has changed in the over all appearance of this award. Even the card the badge is attached to has not changed that much at all... Lets see more!

Thank you for the compliments, Mike. The 8mm box is empty, yet the metal lining is still complete. I can hardly believe that SVTs have gone up that much! Mine, like yours, is a bring back as there are no importation stamps. Warm regards Paul

Mike... Sweet rifle!!! I did not even know that these existed until about 5 years ago. Mine has the same maker mark and it is an "SA" marked Finnish capture as well. As I remember, our maker mark is the the rarest.

Mind blowing collection!!! WOW! What is the maker mark and year of your SVT40? Regards Paul

Bob and Mike, Those bars are awesome!!! Thank you for sharing them. Paul

$60?!!? Nice score!

Killer bars! Could you please post some close ups of the Non-Com Brunswick bar as well as the larger bar on top! Thank you for sharing Paul

The most important picture in this case... Reverse

The goal of this thread is to post photos of known fake Luftwaffe tabs. This is a set that I found on Ebay today. The major problem I have with this tab is the backing material. Also, the gull retention prongs do not look right to me. All and all, these are pretty good repros. If you have photos of reproduction/fake tabs, please post them here along with any comments. Warm regards Paul

You have done quite well! I will in my entire life, never have so many crosses!! Paul

Neil B, Thank you for your contribution to this thread. I believe that the Oberst boards are fine. I see no problem with them. From looking at the photo (rear shot) close up, I feel that they were sewn onto a tunic at one time. I know that there have to me more Luftwaffe tabs out there. Please keep them coming! Paul

Rear of ObLt

ObLt