J Temple-West

Simply put, and unlike the US who probably has the largest open source archives in the world, Germany lost the vast majority of its records at the end of the war due to allied bombings, ransacking of ministries by invading troops and the theft of documents which were sold on the open market by German citizens. What was left, and was managed to be reclaimed is held in the Bundesarchiv and can be accessed for a fee. And of course, and as you say, there is the element that Germany has closed the door on that chapter of their history and feel no need to openly publish any documents associated with the period.

Both look original to me...I particularly like the 25....but let us see what others think.

I think that we can discount Lt. S Molinari. Anton Molinari, however, sounds like it could be your man. He would have been of Italian decent, as was another famous Molinari..Karl-Theodor, so not unusual. The date on the jacket is 1937 so he was in the Luftwaffe at an early stage at the rank of Lt...checked to see if he appears in the Legion Condor lists...he does not. So further research into Anton, and the squadrons he was in, is the best bet. The thing about the WW2 German military is that they formed, and reformed, groups/units for specific objectives which makes research a little difficult at times, but having some of Molinari's units is a good place to start as documentation usually gives what a particular unit was formed from, when and the names of the officers. Btw...any chance of posting a pic of the jacket as it may hold clues to awards...by way of loops/holes etc.

Looks like Lt. molinar - April 37 but I suspect that it's more likely to be Molinari. There is an S.Molinari in the lists, but no further info.

The list, although not a 100% complete, show the following aircrew members that fit. Blüm we know was a pilot... Blum needs more looking into to find out his aircrew status. Now it's just a matter of doing the research into squadron lost lists etc.

outstanding display.......wow!! ....will u marry me so that when we get divorced, i will get half?

Brian, after reading this thread, which gave me some incentive to get started.... I have just finished making up some display cabinets for some of the edged weaponry, that have been in boxes for years, to add to the uncased general awards cabinet. thank goodness for those woodwork classes at school.... And on the other side of the room....

I take it that you are looking for repros, as that's all they sell...looking at their website. If so, i know absolutely nothing about the quality (good or bad) of such pieces...sorry.

Hi, A.... This is how the post looks...... having looked at the server code for this image, it may be that there is a link to a social media site called mewe.com which is not recognized by our server, or the name of the image has characters which cause problems. to cut out any future problems, images should be uploaded directly from your computer via "choose files" and the names given to any image should be letters or numbers. If you have any further problems...let me know. and don'y worry, my friend.....there are always teething problems with a new venture...

Good morning, Freejack If you scroll up 7 posts, you will see that Friedrich Linden - Lüdenscheid is mentioned as an accepted maker of the army para badge. Linden is also well known maker of Luftwaffe, Heer and Kriegsmarine war-time badges.

The scratching of initials/names and ranks, and sometimes unit designations, was a common practice by qualifying aircrew. I have, in the past, managed to gather an individual's entire military history by what was found scratched on the back of a badge. I see the "HB" but can you make out what comes after that? If you can, as it may turn out to be the rest of his surname H.B...., we may be able to look this pilot up in the Luftwaffe lists.

Hi, Nack... If you are using a digital SLR, the best lens to have is a Macro for close-up work....well worth the investment. Anyway, the close-up shot of your badge shows that either it was a sloppy day at the factory or, as said, the rivets have been worked on a later date...hard to tell. below you will find a close-up comparison of your rivets and what is considered the norm. Of course not all rivets are identical due to different workers used on the finishing process and/or the time frame that a particular badge was produced. B&NL badges can be found with the usual domed rivet, ones that have the top of the rivet flattened, etc, showing a different method of finishing....this goes for most, if not all, of the manufacturers of the time. your badge-top A shot of a B&NL ROAG badge with rivets with flat tops... Hope this helps...

Good morning, Nack So, let's start with the clasp....all the characteristics of an original by F&BL. Unmarked PB...again, all the characteristics of an original, in zinc, by Friedrich Linden - Lüdenscheid (FLL). As to the B&NL PB....going on the pictures, the rivets look to be smaller than the norm, this possibly due to them being tightened at some point....but the badge, i would say, in an original. below are a couple of PB's for comparison. 1. FLL in zinc: this example has a round catch plate...yours has the classic oval type..both types are known FLL characteristics. 2. B&NL: this particular example has the hinge which is placed a little lower on the wreath..both types are known B&NL characteristics.

A closer look at the forestry bayonet, and its markings, that started this thread. markings: Unit mark to crossguard: Letter "H" stamped into spine. On a closer look, and nearly missed...the following maker marks on the frog stud which I take to be for the maker and supplier of the scabbard + a Roman numeral 3, I think.