Chris Pittman

Interior shot

Close up of the eagle

Here is another view.

I wanted to share some photos of one of my favorite hats. This is an early cap with the early white on gray insignia. I enjoy this cap a lot because it has a lot of character and it is like a sort of "time capsule", I am sure it is just as it was when it was issued and worn before WWII. I welcome any comments, I would also be interested in seeing other hats with this insignia combination.

This appears to be a helmet that was post-war reworked by the Norwegians. The traces of decals that you saw were likely Norwegian decals. I think the best thing you could do now would be to remove all the paint, then repaint the helmet with a correct color. Chris

Hi Paul, I have seen other examples of the Mitglied plaque but I have never seen another Blockwart plaque. I found these locally in antique stores, years ago. I used to be very lucky with picking stuff up at flea markets and antique shops but this has become more and more difficult.

Here is the back of that plaque. I would love to see more of these if they are out there. Both of mine were inexpensive when I bought them, I have seen a few others offered at prices that were simply too much.

Here is the other door plaque I have, this one for a Reichsluftschutzbund Mitglied (RLB Member).

Here is the back.

I have a couple of these Luftschutz member plaques. I assume they were mounted on the doors of homes so the neighbors would know who to turn to during air raids. I have seen other variations of these as well. If anyone has other variants or facts on these, I would be happy to learn about them. This first one is for an RLB Blockwart, or section leader. This shows signs of period use. The front shows patina, apparently from exposure to the elements. The protected reverse side is clean.

Your photographs are very beautiful! You are lucky to have some of the equipment items of your grandfather, they go great with your impressive display.

Very nice gear in this thread, great stuff.

Great items! I really like the display with the Mantel, a great combat display. Chris

Paul is correct, this is a fantasy item.

Kev, the trousers could be real. The graphics of the stamp are different from known original SS-BW stamps I have seen, but of course more than one stamp must have existed. These stamps are often added to fake uniform items to make them seem more authentic so I am always suspicious. Here are two good dealers that sell original armbands at reasonable dealer prices: http://www.therupturedduck.com/WebPages/Cl...ge.htm#Armbands http://www.lakesidetrader.com/cloth.html I will try to post some of my Wehrmacht armbands in this thread when I have time.

I also believe that the SS-BW stamped armband is a fantasy. The stamp means SS-Bekleidungswerke and does not make sense on an armband. It makes more sense in a pair of trousers but I am suspicious of the stamp shown on the trousers in this thread also. I believe that the printed SS armband with the stamp inside shown in this thread is a postwar fake as well. This type of circular stamp was intended to be used on the outside of an armband, as seen in the first yellow armband posted in this thread which is a textbook original. The yellow "Waffen-SS" embroidered armband is different from what I would expect to see but I am no expert on those. Sincerely, Chris

The shovel and carrier are East German surplus. The bayonet with the reproduction frog might be worth $75. The ammo pouch is worth about $25. Tough to put a value on the helmet. To me, the fake decals hurt the value a lot. Most reenactment units would not allow converted Swedish uniforms to be worn. The low cost reproductions from Asia have reduced the prices for this converted stuff that used to be used. Converted Swedish uniforms have no real value anymore.

There are thousands if not millions of repainted helmet shells out there. An original helmet with original paint has value and is collectible. A repainted shell has no collectible value.