Hauptmann

Hi Gordon, Many thanks for the confirmation! I haven't had a lot of luck with TR these last few years so it's really great to hear at least some of the pieces I got are original. So far this and the screw back wound badge are good... so just need to hear on the SS cap eagle and the police cap eagle... keeping my fingers tightly crossed! Thanks again! Dan

Many thanks!!!! Dan

Hi all, I just recieved this with some other TR pieces as a gift. I've always been especially wary of SS items as it seems the vast majority seem to end up being copies. So hoping ya'll can confirm on this one way or the other.

Many thanks! Dan

Hi all, I just received this along with some other TR pieces as a gift. I'm not positive but I'm thinking this one may be a copy... but hoping ya'll can confirm one way or the other.

Any help deeply appreciated! Thanks! Dan

Hi all, I just received this along with several other TR pieces as a gift. I'd like to confirm if this is an original naval breast eagle and if so if an enlisted or officer... I'm assuming enlisted.

This actually appears to have been a hollow back originally but had a back plate added. You can see the seam in this next shot... it goes around the entire rim of the badge. As I've had no experience with these any info would be a huge help... again assuming it's an original. I don't know if this was done factory or was converted later by the original recipient or what. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping one of you can help out. Thanks!!!! Dan

Hi all, I just received this along with several other pieces as a gift. I'd like to confirm if it's original and any other info possible. This is the first TR screwback award I've ever owned.

Sorry about the broken link. No idea what happened. This should work: http://www.gowenmilitaria.com/sizing.htm Comprehensive Guide to East German Sizes The East Germans used a variety of sizing systems to measure their uniforms and uniform components. These systems differed considerably from those used in the U.S.A. and Britain, as well as by the West German armed forces. The charts below should prove useful to collectors as they try to make size comparisons. Tunics, Overcoats, Middy's, and most other clothing Chest Size: East German 44 48 52 56 60 62 64 U.S. 34 38 42 46 50 52 54 Height: East German SK K M G SG UG U. S. Very Short Short Average Above Average Very Tall Ultra Tall Rain Pattern BDU's/Battle Dress Uniforms (Note: Leaf pattern BDUs used a different system for sizes.) Chest Size: East German 44 48 52 56 60 62 64 U. S. 34 38 42 46 50 52 54 Height: East German SK K M G SG UG U. S. Very Short Short Average Above Average Very Tall Ultra Tall Male Footwear East German 26 26½ 27 27½ 28 28½ 29 29½ 30 30½ 31 31½ 32 U.S. 7 7½ 8 8½ 9 9½ 10 10½ 11 11½ 12 12½ 13 Headwear East German 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 U.S. 6¾ 6 7/8 7 7 1/8 7¼ 7 3/8 7½ 7 5/8 7¾ Pants Waist Size: East German4448/48-152/52-256/56-260 U. S.30-3233-3636-4340-4644+ Shirts East German 36 37 38 39/40 41 42 43 44 46 48 U.S. 14 14½ 15 15½ 16 16½ 17 17½ 18 19 Also here's one of his charts for belts: SIZE CHART: Maximum Waist (approximate measurement to outermost holes) SIZE: 90SIZE: 100SIZE: 110SIZE: 120SIZE: 13032"/81.3cm36"/91.5cm40"/100.4cm44"/111.8cm48"/122cmHope this helps. Dan

Hope I'm not incorrect in this but you wanted the "size" conversions... correct? If so they are metric... here is where you can find them: http://www.gowenmilitaria.com/sizing.htm Anyhow hope this helps. Dan

Hi Kai, Many thanks! It's taken alot of years but been fun putting together. Looking forward to seeing your collection as well. Dan

From: http://en.allexperts.com/e/p/pa/paul_von_hindenburg.htm Burial Hindenburg was buried in the Tannenberg memorial near Tannenberg, East Prussia (today: Stębark, Poland) against the wishes he had expressed during his life. Hindenburg always said he wanted to buried next to his beloved wife. In 1945, German troops removed his and his wife's coffins, to save them from the approaching Soviets, to Marburg an der Lahn in western Germany (Hindenburg was an Honorary Citizen of this town). The caskets of Hindenburg and his wife were found in an abandoned salt mine on 27 April 1945 by U.S. Ordinance Troops. Later that month, he and his wife were interred anew in the famous Elisabeth Church in the North Tower Chapel. He still rests there, although the church chapter recently voted to keep the lights switched off at his tomb. Will Lang Jr., correspondent of Life wrote an article (6 March, 1950) about how the United States Ordinance Troops found the coffins. His tombstone simply states "Paul von Hindenburg 1847-1934". Would love to find and read a copy of the article about how the coffins were found as noted above. Dan

Hi Gordon, Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this. I got these in about a week ago but have been up to my ears between work, travel, etc. Also many thanks for your help re: those DDR bars. Here's some pics of the case. I just did them with my digital camera but let me know if you need scans. I've included an extra just to show that it looks redder with flash than without. Anyhow hope these help solve the mystery. Dan

Rick, many thanks for the assist on this one. So happy to hear I was just about on the mark. The one thing I got wrong was it being Dublin (as in Ireland) instead of Dęblin, Poland. But at least I got the correct gist of it. I think it's a beatiful piece that Mike has. I wondered if you'd be willing to post at least some of the ones you have as well? I'm sure others would love to see them... I know I would. I tend to love these large medals especially when cased. I've gotten a few DDR and Hungarian ones and am always on the looking for more that interest me. Again thanks so much for jumping in on this! Dan

Hi Mike, No problem. I enjoy working on little mysteries like this. My first Hungarian award was purchased off Ebay as a Soviet award but the seller wasn't sure. It didn't look Soviet but with a bit of research on the wording on it, etc., I was able to pretty much nail it down. Turned out it was a rare piece too which didn't hurt. I got home about a half hour ago and tried to find more but I think I've pretty much shot my bolt on this one. I do hope some of our other members will pop in and add to this... assuming again that what I've come up with is correct. I've really curious to learn more about this piece. Will be keeping my fingers crossed in the hope that more comes to light. Dan

Hi Mike. I'm not an expert but I did some translation and research and this is what I've come up with. I may be wrong but hoping I'm at least in the ballpark: Sztandor PSP wraca do kraju = Banner PSP returns to the country NOTE: PSP stands for - Polskie Sily Powietrzne (Polish Air Forces) Medal Pamiatkowy dla = Memorial medal for z okazji = the occassion Swiatowego = The World Zjazdu Lotnikow Polskich = Congress of Polish Airmen komitet organizacyjny = Organizing Committee Warizawa - Deblin 3-7 September 1992 So it seems that this was a memorial medal to commemorate the occassion of the return of a Polish Airforce banner to Dublin to Warsaw Poland from the 3rd to the 7th of September 1992. I'm assuming both the event and the medal were produced by the organizing committee of the world congress of Polish airmen. Silly question but is there anything on the reverse? Or perhaps on the top of the case? Here are some pics and info I found on the return of banners/flags from a Polish Air Force squadron... if you click on some of the links you can see the pics: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&u=http://odkrywca.pl/pokaz_watek.php%3Fid%3D450591&ei=nvoUS8nPFIS8ngf1rtziBg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBEQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSztandar%2BPSP%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX Anyhow I hope I'm at least near the mark on this. I've got to head to work but if no one else responds when I return I'll see if I can dig up anything else. Oh, and the eagle with the wreath pictured on the medal is a Polish pilots badge. Here are some examples: http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/poland/polandpilot.shtml Hope this helps. Dan

I hope the new pics help. Dan

Dan

Hope these are better.

For now these are the only pics I have. I've requested more of just the medal and loop, both obverse and reverse. Will post if I receive them. But other than the surface pebbling do you see anything that raises alarm bells or does it look okay for the most part? Thanks! Dan

Hi all, I would be very grateful for opinions on this one. Many thanks in advance! Dan