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Like others, I am surprised how long this topic existed before I checked it out. Very interesting things. I feel like many of the awards issued during WW1 were still awarded with a huge dose of birth elitism. Where a common enlisted person could perform a truly heroic act and receive maybe a citation or a different class award vs a field or administrative officer (nobleman) who didn't do much of anything could be issued a high award. With regards to war crimes and actions deserving of those trials: It is troubling to think of how people justify their actions and how those actions get recognized. There were many honorable people but there are also a trove of people who were despicable. Through the passage of time, history (if properly recorded and available) can vindicate or accuse those actions of the individuals. Submarines are an offensive weapon. Unable to take many if any prisoners. While the destruction of survival gear or killing in cold blood is unconscionable to survivors, I can understand the reluctance for an enemy to potentially expose their boat/crew to further attacks. The Laconia incident was a perfect example of that very thing and brought war crimes investigations. Wonder if the Germans would have won, would the pilots/crew of the B-24's been brought forth on war crimes? Some actions (airborne raids, Covert behind enemy lines operations) are by definition not able to accept prisoners. The very act of having prisoners bogs down and hinders the objectives. How many people were gunned down to press forward to achieve an objective? Philosophical debates. My favorite commanders to research on the German side: Felix Graf von Luckner (S.M.S. Seeadler) and Karl von Müller (S.M.S. EMDEN) Just my two cents. Best Regards, Justin

Here are some new additions. Batch 2. I realize that there are duplicates. But they are duplicates in my collection. That's right, I have duplicates. 😎

These tradition badges are flooding the markets. As many of these were made rather crudely, and with resources out there showing designs of these, anyone with a smattering of metal and art can create a piece like this and state the "provenance". They are probably the easiest item for someone to create and pass off as "original". Many in the collecting world know this and will always with skepticism treat these as post war created replicas. You might never get your money back. If you are happy with the item, then that is what is important. Don't invest because you think it will appreciate in value; collect for the love of the item and it's history. I love Unterseeboot collecting, there are other items that you can acquire like Mützenband from the various Uboats. I for one have found this extremely satisfying and really is not too expensive relatively speaking. The construction of the tallies makes it incredibly hard to duplicate, with a little training, you can spot the forgeries from the real deal. Best Regards, JustinG

I did a bit of research and there are two different designs for the RAO. However, I am stuck trying to figure out when the change occurred for the eagle design. Can anyone help me? Best Regards, JustinG

I find it interesting that the first one shown (Started the thread) (JBFloyd) seems to have a Brandenburg eagle appearance. This is not seen on other examples of the RAO. At least in my experience. The stamping J.Godet looks a bit strange in my humble opinion as well. Best Regards and Merry Christmas chaps. JustinG

Well, I have three Prinz Eugen tallies. I picked up a lovely tellermütze recently. It doesn't have the national cockade or the eagle as this was a hat that was used during the war and also post war, from the crew that helped sail the Kriegsmarine Prinz Eugen to become the USS Prinz Eugen. Here is my Tellermütze

Greetings, Here is a photo postcard showing the wappen for the Torpedoboot Grief (Griffin) My guess is exactly what Simi, said, that it would most likely be from the Mine layer Drache. I haven't seen the Gustav Becker markings on any foreign (Non-German) ships. (but that is not saying too much for someone in the field for only a decade or so. Nice piece though. JustinG

I agree, great set of family photos. Thanks for posting/sharing. Best Regards, JustinG

I appreciate you checking out my collection and the other fine examples posted here. One of my favorite aspects of collecting. Sometimes it seems like an underappreciated area of collecting. Best Regards, JustinG

Thanks for sharing this. Very nice. Best Regards, JustinG

Funny how when you are looking for something for such a long time and then another one comes along. They are like hens teeth though. Much like the Prinz Eugen tallies. They are few and far between. Really interesting to see both a cotton and metal thread version of this ship. BTW. This is the last named ship that had a tally constructed, before the OKM issued orders to produce only Kriegsmarine tallies for security purposes.

Here is mine from the East Asia squadron from WW1. Best Regards, JustinG

Greetings, I see you have posted in this topic as well. This has some great examples and also some precautionary warnings from members about these tradition badges. I am posting the link in-case some members don't know of this particular thread existence. Here you will see some examples of peoples tradition badges from their collections. Bottom line, if you are happy with the item, then that is what is important. Best Regards, JustinG

Great pictures Eric, thank you for posting/sharing. Is the minesweeper an epoxy or ceramic? What is the base material? Best Regards, JustinG