Hauptmann

I agree Chris, that's definitely him. Beria was clean shaven, kind of looked a bit like Bob Hoskins who I believe played him in a movie along the way. Had those little metal framed glasses if I remember correctly. Beria was a real nasty if ever there was one. Stalin's lap dog! An awful beast who got what was coming to him. At least some folks in the General staff and Politburo had some good taste and sense of justice in them. Don't know why I didn't catch this the other night as I saw all these then. My mind was elsewhere I guess. Thanks Simon for picking up on this one... good catch! Dan

Hi WC, I too have a very supportive wife who has lived, mostly very happily with all my assorted hobbies all these years. And nice thing is, she really "loves" the Soviet Orders and such... gets that dreamy look in her eyes when it comes to that enamel... same as me! Can't wait to get the new one. Busily scheming away to make that happen as we speak. Just depends on what sells first. And yes, they're always right, even when they're not. Have a great one! Dan

YES! Those are perfect!!!! Should I send over my address via PM? Seriously though, beautiful! I should be so lucky. Many thanks for sharing those... gives me a goal to keep working towards. I'm sure some more good deals will pop up over time. Just don't know what it is... curse of the DDR ribbon bars or something. Three times I missed and they went for dirt... and very reasonable dirt I might add. And they were about the size of your larger three bars... hey, where were you those three days? Thanks thanks for sharing those. I always enjoy seeing them beautiful bars! Dan

Oh how I wish they'd come out with one... for all the Warsaw Pact countries. So much of this stuff is sooooo obscure to the majority of us mere mortals. But at this point I'm thankful to have my copy on here of Boyan's book on the Bulgarian PR Orders and medals. Sad about the pics although they're definitely good enough to give a very good idea of what's what. And for $8 you can't beat that! On the word not translating... wouldn't worry about that. Even DDR stuff... like in the references and such. Occassionally I'll come up with one that simply won't translate. Sometimes it can be picked apart and you can still figure it out. But often they were names of organizations or simply something that's a combination of Russian communist language mixed with the language of the satellite country. I mean, that other cased award I want... I translated the first word as Army no problem. But the second... nothing. But hopefully over time I'll figure it out. Thanks, Dan

Many thanks Kevin. Guess my Trapo is going to get dressed up a bit then. Guess I'll have to stay on the hunt for some army and BG bars. I'd love a medal bar at some point too if I can find one at a good price... especially one with the service medals I like with the three soldiers on the obverse. Just love those! And someday... with luck, I'd LOVE to have one of the larger sized bars... even a put together at this stage of the game as a representative example. Thanks again! Dan

Hi Mike, Well, as I see it the subject of "honor" is never It's from the film The Blue Max. It is part of the conversation between General Count von Klugermann (James Mason) and Hauptman Otto Heidemann (Karl Michael Vogler) (my avatar by the way, thanks to my lovely and talented wife Kim.) in the General's office. Heidemann took Bruno Stachel (George Peppard) to Berlin for Court Martial, only to find that the General planned to give him the Blue Max. The General was explaining "the facts of life" to Heidemann. The full quote is actually: General Count von Klugermann: Take a look outside. See that? Revolution is just beneath the surface! If that happens, everything we stand for will be DESTROYED -- unless the German officer corps stands like a rock, intact! And what is more important, untarnished. I made this Stachel into a national hero for good military reasons. If I court-martial him now, it will reflect on the integrity of the whole officer corps. Otto Heidemann: Herr General, I see now, I have notions of honor which are outdated. General Count von Klugermann: Ahh, they're not outdated! [pause] General Count von Klugermann: Stored. With care, and love, for better times. Here's a page of other quotes from the film: http://indie.imdb.com/title/tt0060177/quotes Although they missed the one where Stachel tells the Countess that the Blue Max is a piece of scrap metal worth exactly 5 Marks. I love that one! Anyhow hope this helps. Methinks it's time to go down in the bunker, dig out the film from the archives and spend a pleasant afternoon in another time and place... Dan

Hi Jens, I could certainly think of worse ways to spend the weekend then hunting for squirrels with that little jewel! Dan

Hi Doc, Many thanks! I've had it for ages. Fell in love with that beautiful case the moment I saw it. And all together it's just a joy. I only wish I could get a cased Order of Franz Joseph and one of the Red Cross decorations, also cased. I think those of two of the most beautiful Austrian Orders, especially the FJ. Dan

Hi Kevin Would they work on Transportation Police? I have one of those. How about Border Guard? And would it matter officer or enlisted? Thanks! Dan

Hi Spotter, Jens... many thanks for the info. I'm especially so relieved that my "egg" is German. Funny enough I'd never really "seen" the RF until I took the photos... don't know why but it just never struck me for some reason... and then all I could think was Republique Francais. Methinks I need to do a bit of cleanup work on some of these. They've not been out of the wood ammo crate for years! Dan

Hi Paul, ROTFL!!!! Well, let's just say I try never to be boring. Tons more yet to come. I've always enjoyed show and tell! And I'm a great accumulator as well which helps. It's like in Patton, where Bradley says "George, I think if you were promoted to Admiral of the Turkish Navy, your aides could dig into their haversacks and come up with the appropriate badge of rank." I'd like to think that I'm like that... to a point. Dan

Hi Rick, Right on target with both the site and I believe them being upside down. Assuming that's correct then (if I'm right) here's what they are... from top to bottom: 1st Medal for 5 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior. 2nd Medal for 10 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior. Medal for 5 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior. 3rd (right way round I believe) Honorary Title Activist of Socialist Labor (1969) Honorary Title Kollektiv of Socialist Labor (1962) As I'm assuming it's not: Honorary Title Meritorious Lawer of the GDR (1979) Honorary Title Meritorious Teacher (1975) Now... not sure if the bottom one is a two level bar or what... because of the order on the one pictured on the bottom I "think" they are two bars... so based on that: 4th Medal for 20 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior (1959) Medal for 15 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior (1959) Medal for 10 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior (1959) Medal for 5 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior (1959) 5th (right way round I believe) Silver Service medal of the Ministry of the Interior (1966) Medal for 25 Years Long Service in the Ministry of the Interior. Bronze Service medal of the Ministry of the Interior (1966) Anyhow, let me know if I did okay or if I messed anything up. Thanks Rick!!!! You're a miracle worker! Dan

Hi Rick, Wow... that was like "speedy delivery!" Mucho thanks! Sheesh! That is a long way from home!!!! Definitely most unexpected. I'd have never known. Mucho thanks! Dan

Hi Doc, Beautiful piece! You've tempted me now to share my cased example ahead of time. Was going to post my Austrian awards tomorrow. [attachmentid=43902] [attachmentid=43903] [attachmentid=43904] [attachmentid=43905] [attachmentid=43906] I love the rounded cases they had. And think I lucked out with the mini! Least I hope so. Dan

Hi Mike, Many thanks for the info. That's another reason I love them... they're for a Hauptman. Thanks, Dan

Hi Bob, Oh, I definitely agree with that. She fits in nicely with my Imperial awards. Have always liked her. Not too fancy... dressed up just enough to go out on the town and have fun! Thanks! Dan

Hi all, Any ideas on this one? Got it with a group of DDR ribbon bars... all for the kingly sum of $1.25 plus shipping. This just happened to be there and now I wonder what it's for. [attachmentid=43900] Thanks, Dan

Hi all, I theenk I did good the other day. I "finally" managed to get some DDR ribbon "bars". Oh, I've had a number of single ribbons... but no bars. They "always" seem to go too high. Except on three occassions where I lost track of time and three big bars (over a period of a month) went for around the $15-$25 range! But whenever I keep an eye on them... up they go like a rocket. These are, I'm sure, nothing impressive... but to me they are GOLD as they are the "first". [attachmentid=43899] No idea what the medal is... going to post that on the Soviet forum and see what we can see. Anyhow got the whole group for the kingly sum of... are you ready? No, really, are you sitting down? Don't want you to like keel over or anything. $1.25 plus shipping! I think I'll fall over for the rest of you! I simply could not believe my luck. And at this point even if they turn out to be put togethers... which for little one's like this I kinda doubt... I don't care! Me like dem! Dan

Hi all, As it says... nothing special... but looks nice and I felt like sharing. [attachmentid=43896][attachmentid=43897] Dan

Hi all, I was told once what these were but for the life of me I cannot remember... I want to say they were from Wurtemburg but can't swear to it. I just love the cyphers and overall look of these. [attachmentid=43894][attachmentid=43895] Dan

And last (for now) but not least... something just for fun: [attachmentid=43890] [attachmentid=43891] [attachmentid=43892] This is a model... a plastic model. But very complete with screw off end cap, plastic pull bead and cord, screw off head with igniter inside attached to the pull cord. I built it many moons ago and my mom painted it. Not too bad I think for a hunk of plastic and displays quite nicely. Well, guess that's about it for now. When I'm able I'll dig up some more and try to do a nice group shot. Thanks, Dan

This is one of my biggest ones, except for my Navy practice bomb which I'd already posted a while back. It stands 31.5 inches tall... the shell itself is 9 inches in length... and boy is it ever heavy! Not the thing to drop on ones foot... believe me, I know! [attachmentid=43883] The shell: [attachmentid=43884] Cartridge base: [attachmentid=43885] Shell base: [attachmentid=43886] What I believe is a German fuse or igniter: [attachmentid=43889]

[attachmentid=43878] Another favorite... German shells made into shot glasses. I saw a whole tray of these on Ebay once and tried to get them but they went to high for me at the time. Easy come, easy go. [attachmentid=43879] [attachmentid=43880] [attachmentid=43881] These are neat... the aluminum heads screw off. Again no idea what they were for: [attachmentid=43882]

[attachmentid=43873] [attachmentid=43874] [attachmentid=43875] [attachmentid=43876] [attachmentid=43877]

[attachmentid=43867] [attachmentid=43868] [attachmentid=43869] [attachmentid=43870] This is one of my favorites. It belonged to my dad and he'd take it out on occassion and show it to me throughout my childhood. [attachmentid=43871] [attachmentid=43872]