2xvetran

I received this from a local veteran who brought it home in 1969. He was an advisor and he gave me this and a nice set of Tiger Stripe fatigues that he wore. It is a bit stiff from age and improper storage but otherwise very nice. I was hoping someone could tell me a bit more about it. Thanks,Scott.

Here are some of my Iraqi Air Force squadron badges, wings, school patches and badges and other AF items. Scott.

Some of my Iraqi ODM, getting ready to move to my new house and future collecting room. Scott.

The reverse of the anchor. It is stamped but the detail is quite nice. Scott.

Here is a very nice gilt Iraqi Navy anchor badge. It appears to be for a hat or beret but could possibly be for a tunic collar as well. Scott.

Here are a couple of Kingdom garrison caps. Scott.

I am hoping someone out there may know a bit more about these than me. I have two Iraqi Kingdom era garrison caps pictured here. The one with the green piping is made of wool with a dark blue lining and absolutely no marks of any kind. The one with the red piping is quite similar in construction but is done in a gabardine with a lighter blue lining and no markings of any kind. The badge is for a Kingdom guards unit. I am curious about the different piping, is it officer/enlisted? Or does it denote a specific branch? Thanks for any info or speculation. Scott:cheers: .

She would make one hell of a display room Scott.

I had a similar incident with a buyer in Belgium. I shipped via USPS but no delivery confirmation and no signature required. There was however a customs tracking number. The buyer received my item with customs due upon receipt, so he refused the item (or so he claimed). I never received the item and he opened up a claim and E-bay tried to charge me back for the loss... Long story short, I contacted them by phone (Paypal) which was not easy, and provided the customs tracking number to them. They verified my side of the story which was as I stated above. They told me that the buyer was protected and that I would have to pay him back. I told them to once again repeat the chain of events as described above, and that I would sooner cancel my Paypal and E-bay account than to pay this guy. They said that their policy always protects the buyer, so I changed tactics on them and agreed that the buyer should be protected and that since I had a tracking number that they confirmed as good I should be protected as well. They agreed to settle with the buyer and not charge me. It was a long and difficult process but it can be done. If you have an hour to waste on the phone, I would recommend trying to use the customs number for tracking and get Paypal/E-bay involved. Good Luck, Scott.

Since starting this thread I have discovered that the veteran whose medal I received is deceased. While I am still trying to contact the family, it would appear that the French Government makes no effort to determine if the veteran is living. Scott.

Hi Harvey, the qualifications are really simple. A servicemember must have served in France or in the air or off the coast and have it recorded on their discharge paper. So a bronze campaign star device for Normandy or Southern France for example. Then you forward the veterans info and discharge to the nearest French consulate requesting the award. It takes many months of processing but apparently they do come through. Hope this helps and thanks for the input, Scott.

Thanks Gordon, I generally let him use my account when he wants to, I just ask him to let me do the posting. I bought a fairly large batch of DDR items when they became available in 1989 and have passed them on to him as he enjoys them. (At the time of purchase it was a whim) I was curious about the DDR items.... I must admit that browsing this thread has peaked my old curiosity as there are many beautiful uniforms out there. But one can't collect everything. Thanks for the help. Scott.

Thanks to Ehrentitle and Joerg once again. While my son is less than thrilled with the idea that his uniform is assembled and not original, he has learned a valuable lesson about researching things in advance;) . I have contacted the seller for a refund and will be returning his uniform today. If anyone would like to part with one for a young collector, please let me know and I will pass it along to my son. I have been thinking about letting him set up his own GMIC account but he still has much to learn. Scott.

Hi, my son received his uniform today and the para collar tabs have clearly been added and another type removed. I questioned the seller for him and here is the response I got. "Actually that is the original insignia it came with(at least that's the way it came out of East Germany back in 1991). That is very common for the paratrooper uniforms to have had prior insignia removed as when the recruits first were assigned to the para training unit they wore the standart long style army enlisted collar tabs and army shoulder boards. Upon graduating the paratrooper school they were issued a set of paratrooper collar tabs and shoulder boards to replace the regular army one's in their current uniform. So the army one's were removed and the para one's were sewn on. Sometimes machine sewn and sometimes hand sewn. I only have another one and is exactly the same way." Can anyone verify this statement before I send the set back. I just don't have the knowledge on DDR items to help my son, so I am hoping you guys can. Itis not a lot of money for most of us, but for a 14 year old it is, and I don't want to see him taken advantage of. Thank you Joerg, for your previous answer. Scott.

Hello all, as I have stated on other threads in this section, I have a 14 year old son who is interested in collecting DDR items. He found a para uniform (EM Dress) with collar tabs and boards, and an extra set of officer FJ tabs for $75.00 USD. I let him do the purchase but I have misgivings as my knowledge of DDR items is limited to when the wall came down and $75.00 USD would have just about completed your collection:D . Can anyone let me know if he was in the ballpark here, and where these things are in value? I would appreciate it and any other advice you may have for him. He would surely listen to other collectors before he listens to dad... Thanks, Scott. I will have him post pics when he gets it.

For me it was a combination of Cold War curiosity combined with the very cheap prices of the post Cold War era. Now my oldest son likes the DDR stuff. Scott.

closer view of the SSI. Scott.

Here is my display of a 1990s Iraqi para. He wears a DPM pattern jump smock very similar to the British Dennison, even including the beavertail. The Para/SF insignia is visible on both sleeves and the jump wings are on the breast pocket. He has pattern 58 web gear and an East German/Polish para helmet that is dated 1980. Scott.

Opposite side showing flag and other insignia. Scott

A side view showing the RG triangle insignia, Captain rank and the sleeve pen pocket that is seen on most Iraqi made uniforms. Scott.

A closer view of the shirt. Scott

Here are pictures of very high quality Iraqi made DPM as used by the Republican Guard. This uniform is a copy of the 1980s style British Pattern and is completely made in Iraq (before the sanctions of 1990). It has a zipper jacket that then buttons over, as well as trousers that do the same. The uniform is quite lightweight but still very well made. This shows a Captain with M80 helmet and net, the AK/Tabuk chest rig, gold rimmed pin on Republican Guard sleeve triangles, and the red RG shoulder quardoon, Also visible are the breast flag and specials missions badge. Scott.

Mervyn, perhaps you are unaware that most of the Middle East is on the barter system . Just kidding, I got this from a pile of discarded regime items and sent it home. Later I remembered that I don't collect police items so I sold it. Scott.