Hauptmann

Here's my German Order 3rd Class. The quality on this one just doesn't compare with my 1st class. [attachmentid=55051] [attachmentid=55052] Dan

[attachmentid=55049] [attachmentid=55050] Dan

[attachmentid=55046] [attachmentid=55047] There are no marks on the black enamel... just a bit of dirt from having sat all these years as well as some marks off the glass of the scanner. [attachmentid=55048]

Hi all, Here's my copy of the German Order 1st Class. [attachmentid=55043] [attachmentid=55044] [attachmentid=55045]

And last but not least... the mark: [attachmentid=55036] I really do wonder if this wasn't picked up at a crash site due to the blackened look of the back, the pin and catch damage, etc. If only it could talk. I hope the new scans do the old girl more justice than my previous pics. Dan

Hi all, Well, now that I've had my scanner for a bit I decided to go ahead and do better pics of my badge. So here goes: [attachmentid=55033] [attachmentid=55034] [attachmentid=55035]

Hi all, Here are my only contributions to this one. Sadly not in the best shape rust wise... but they were far worse looking when I got them. This one I got for me: [attachmentid=55007] [attachmentid=55008] And this one for Kim as she loves them too: [attachmentid=55009] [attachmentid=55010] I try to keep them as clean and well oiled as I can but the rust had already taken it's toll before they came into my care. Needless to say they pale by comparison to the other examples that have been posted. But I still like them. Dan

Hi Chris, Minor point... in the Army and Air Force it's Medic... in the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard it's Corpsman. Just wanted to say something before any USMC members jumped in. In my experience they tend to be pretty picky about such things. Dan

Hi Christophe, Even with the time that's gone by it just amazes me how few of these men are left... from all sides, when you consider the vast numbers who served during The Great War. It only brings home the fact that every effort must be made to record such history from their perspective before it's too late... not only for WWI but from vets of all wars and periods of time that are still within our grasp. Soon it will be too late. Each time one of these gentleman passes on a vast library burns down. Thanks for posting this. Dan

Hi Peter, Let me take a crack at this... I think it says... "If you can read this you are way too close! But not for long!" That's about the best I can do with this one. Dan

Hi all, Was just checking my references for other things and happened to look at the DDR generals boards. For single pip the pip is always further towards the end... at least for the Army, Navy and AF. Wouldn't this be the case for the VOPO as well? And if so I wonder if perhaps another pip should be added towards the end with the proper spacing and that these should be one higher in rank? And if that's the case I guess I'll have to be on the hunt for DDR General's pips. Any opinions would be most welcome. Thanks, Dan

Hi all, Here's one of my latest additions to my DDR collection. A shoulderboard set for a General of the Volkspolizei: [attachmentid=54972] These is the sellers pic so I'll have to do scans when I receive them. Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest additions. Customs 4 place ribbon bar: [attachmentid=54970] All long service awards for (from left to right) 5, 10, 15 and 25 years. No idea why there's no 20 year as there is indeed on for that many years of service along with one for 30 years. And a cased Medaille der Waffenbr?derschaft (Brotherhood in Arms Medal - Bronze) (1966). Hope to get the silver and gold grades at some point. [attachmentid=54971] I hadn't gotten much for my DDR collection for a bit so it's nice to be able to add these to the pile. Dan

Hi Ed, Great pieces in your collection. Absolutely love the two Held's... fantastic!!!! I can only hope to own one someday. Thanks so much for adding these in. Definitely gives us DDR collectors more heights to aspire to. Dan

Hi Vic, Many thanks my friend! I literally could not have done it without you. Out of all my DDR Urkundes this is now by far my favorite! Thanks!!!! Dan

Hi Gordon, Now see, I figured the medal would be difficult. I'd figured that it was one of the earlier issues that was later redesigned so figured it would be hard to get. I tend to see the various police uniforms, insignia, caps, etc. on Ebay all the time for fairly cheap. So figured the uniform would be alot easier. On the collective ones, could you give me a "rough" idea of what they run? Feel free to PM if you'd feel more comfortable doing it that way. I've yet to see one outside of the reference but it's a beaut. Speaking of losing... I'm so steamed. Ebay has been really funky with me this week. I just bid on a couple of DDR ribbon bars. One is a four ribbon customs bar... won that. But the important one to me was immediately afterwards... an eight ribbon bar for NVA, etc. I hit the confirm bid button and Ebay kicks back with confirm bid again! By the time I hit the button again the auction was over! I was furious! This is the second time this week that they've done this to me. Bid with plenty of time and then some glitch throws it all in the can. I don't mind losing when I'm outbid but I positively hate it when it's due to a technical problem. I just don't seem to any have luck at all with decent sized DDR ribbon bars. They either go for a small fortune or they go cheap when I get distracted or mix up the days or something. But in this case I was ready to go and it still messed me up. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever have an eight bar much less anything even close to it. And I've basically given up on anything bigger than an eight. Sigh. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Oh well... back on the hunt I guess. Dan

Hi Gordon, Many thanks! Again I'm hoping I did well on this. I've not seen enough of these Urkundes to really have a handle on values... and this is the first and only early one I've seen so really no idea here... totally new ground. But I just couldn't pass it up. It would be really neat if I could find the medal to go with this as well as the complete VP uniform for his rank... would make a great display. Another long term project I guess. Thank goodness as a general rule police stuff tends to be fairly cheap. Thanks again, Dan

Hi Gordon, I actually do have the second of those two books... would definitely like the first at some point. Finding these at a decent price is the only problem. All DDR stuff seems to go sooooo high these days. Mucho thanks! Dan

The Urkunde: [attachmentid=54858] The signature of the Police President of Berlin: [attachmentid=54859] Anyone have any idea on the name here? I hope I did well with this one. I've seen quite a few of the more modern documents and covers but this is the first early one I've seen. Managed to get it for $20.50 plus shipping. To me I think it's well worth it. Now I'm wondering how hard it would be to find the actual award to go with it... or how much it would run. Also does anyone happen to have a pic of the uniform this man would have worn or the rank insignia? And is this an officers or lower rank? Needless to say I'm very excited by this one and can't wait to see it in person when it arrives. Dan

Hi all, This is the newest addition to my DDR collection. It was actually found on Ebay by Vic (Order of Victory) who passed it on to me. (Many thanks Vic!!!! ). I managed to win the bid and can't wait till it arrives. It's an Urkunde (award document) for a Polizei long service medal dated 1955 and awarded to Volks Polizei Unterkommissar Heinz Mueller and numbered 1271. From the picture of the medal I believe it's an early type that was later redesigned. Of course I'm always open to more info if anyone knows more about this or any of my items. These are the sellers pics by the way. His name is Torsten and goes by German.Militaria on ebay. I know several of our members know Torsten from other forums. And he should be joining us here at GMIC very soon. In fact he has some information to add about this document and I can't wait to see his post when he comes on board. He's a Gentleman and a Scholar and will be an excellent addition to our membership! And keep in mind that he runs some terrific auctions on Ebay so please, check out his listings... you never know, you might find a real prize like I did! First the outer cover: [attachmentid=54853] Full shot of the inner document: [attachmentid=54854] The picture of the award: [attachmentid=54855] Serial number: [attachmentid=54857]

Hi Vic, Sorry it's taken me a bit to comment on this one. Work has been nuts. But definitely would love to see the pics if you can find them. Many thanks, Dan

Hi Coastie, No problem at all. Just took a look at it and it's a great source. Really appreciate your posting it for everyone. Dan

Hi Gordon, Many thanks for all this great info. Sounds like I'll have to keep an eye out for the shirts and ties. I'll add the ribbon bar you suggest. And of course any other suggestions as to additional awards, etc. from my collection or perhaps something I should try to get would be most welcome. I'm really getting excited about getting this one dolled up a bit. Many thanks for all your help on this. Dan

Very nice. I really like the yellow, red and silver against the green. Stands out and is very pleasing to the eye. Please post more when you have the time. I know little about North Korean militaria but as with all things I'm open to learning as much as I can. Oh, a question if you don't mind. I once saw what I thought was a neck order (no ribbon) which I have never been able to identify. It's been many years but I believe it had a bit of a red star design... but the one thing I distinctly remember is that it had a representation of what I believe was a North Korean soldier with the old style peaked field cap from the 50's (Korean War period)... similar to that worn by the soldier shown on the Order of Soldier's Honor. Does this sound at all familiar to you? Did North Korea have any neck orders/decorations around that time? If not, might you have any idea what it was? I'd probably know it if I saw it again but so far I've not been able to find it anywhere I've looked on the web. It's something that's been driving me nuts all these years. I had nearly made a deal for it but suddenly the owner decided to hold off until he found out more about it. I don't know if I lost a really good deal or something fairly common. Again not even positive it was North Korean but the look of the soldier and especially the cap he was wearing looked very much like it was North Korean in origin. Thanks, Dan

Great pics. Best closeups of the border posts I've seen! Thanks for posting these. Dan