Staff Sgt Jock MacSplock

At first glance looking from the top this warrants further examination. The detail is crisp with worn a patina and it's in an aged box where the badge has been sitting for so long it has 'imprinted' itself on the lid. However turn it around and you'll find a typical Souval semi-broad pin and clasp. So, a tidy enough post war copy made in the 60s or 70s by a manufacturer who also made genuine pieces during the war. Basically made to deceive!

Hi Brian I bought one in 2007 that is almost identical to yours except for a lions head on the hilt. It was sold to me as an Army Officer's sword and the blank panel behind the eagle is engraved with what I understand are the owner's initials (which was presumably the purpose of the blank panel!) The blade on mine is clean and marked "Alcoso - Solingen" whereas I see yours has some signs of distress. Mine is also missing the 'cork washer' that would have sat where the hilt goes into the sheath. I paid £380 for my one 6 years ago. JM

.... who state on their website: Masterbo - there's hope yet.

AlikN - might just be the photograph, but is the centre circle concentric? The border seems a bit narrow top left? Also what's the mark coming through the black enamel on the bottom right prong of the swastika?

... and the back

Thanks Peter. Strikes me that the numerals in particular look a bit "irregular" with the "0" having an almost uniform width all the way round, unlike the originals posted above. Here's one of mine looking a bit shiny under halogen light

Seems much closer to the original than the "small 4" though - I'd be interested to know what gives it away?

Hmmmmm ... "Fake" in the context of these badges would have to mean "non period". On the basis that everybody and their uncle would have cashed in on the Olympics, the controls associated with the manufacture of souvenirs would, I imagine, have been a lot less rigorous than say for the Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM) and NSDAP items. I'm not going to be as bold as to say that it's categorically not a fake (i.e. a later creation), however it presses most buttons for me. PS While I can understand why the use of the swastika on trinkets and souvenirs would have been discouraged by the Olympic committee, I imagine the Nazi hierarchy took a diometrically opposite view given the politics behind staging the Olympics in Germany at that time.

Hmmm, looks a chunky wee chappie - is the photo distorted or is this a scale representation? It just looks a bit "wide". I don't like the lack of detail to the eagle and the wreath (on both sides). Could be because of a bit of over-polishing, but if that's the case, why hasn't it exposed the base metal? I'd expect some pebbling of the wash with age, but this one just looks a bit crude in places and I'd worry that some of that is down to poor casting. Also, on dimensions I'm not sure if e.g. the border on the LH eagle-facing side is actually bigger than the opposite border on the right? I think I'd be giving this one a miss to be honest. Sorry!

... and the EK1

The next box ...

Nice looking cross Jan. Here's one I picked up a couple of years ago that comes with a box within a box!

Hi Mike You are not alone! Here's a (poorly scanned!) picture of my one. As above, it's a commemorative youth badge from the Berlin Olympics, manufactured by CTD (Christian Theodore Dicke) who made other Third Reich items such as buckles. JM

This doesn't quite ring true. Speaking entirely hypothetically, it strikes me that if it's worth faking ?100 WWII medals then it's worth turning your hand to medals that fetch ?6K. All you'd need after turning one out is an opportunity to introduce it into the market ......

Alec As you spotted, original scabbards don't have lips so I think you're right to give this one a miss Jock

Alec I wouldn't worry about the absence of "Blut und Ehre" - the later ones didn't carry the inscription. However there's something funny about the blade on that one - has it been reground at the end following a break perhaps? I'm also not sure about the badge - the red bits in particular don't look to have the pebbling that I'd expect? I'll post a couple of pictures of my one (which I'm sure is genuine!) for comparison, including one of the RZM marks that I'd be happier seeing on the blade. Notice too how, near the hilt, the blade is graduated along the width- the one in your picture seems to be uniform? All things considered, I'd give this one a miss.

Yes - she's my sister!

Thanks Joe Jock

Thanks Guys. I've been unable to find a match either and there's definitely something funny about the tarnish (which I'm pretty sure has "developed" in the time that I've had it). The front looks like an EWE, but there's no makers mark on the back and, like you say, the catch and hinge are a bit "odd". Best bet is to sell it back to him I think, and given that he sold it to me on the basis that "they don't come much better than this" I'm sure he won't have a problem getting such a "star" piece back ..... Jock

Regards Jock

And hopefully these two are a bit bigger of the front and back .....

Cheers Don Hinge and catch ...

Thanks Eddie - a smaller version of my one I think. A head shot from my one ....

Anybody have any views on this? It was sold to me as a Police Sports Vest patch a couple of years ago, but I've always wondered, not least because the bird is facing the "wrong" way from all my other Police birds and the wreath is a bit, well, un-wreathlike! It's approx 7 inches by 7 inches Regards JM

Finally, just below the de-ac stamp on the barrel you'll see a folding stock that is hinged just to the bottom-left of the sight. It doesn't come down anymore as it was welded to the barrel as part of the de-ac. The idea with this was that if somebody was inside e.g. an armoured vehicle firing through a slot then this stock would come down on the outside to keep the barrel from coming back into the vehicle. This was so that if the soldier was hit and fell back into the vehicle, he wouldn't take the MP40 with him spraying the remainder of the magazine as he crumpled to the floor. Makes sense I suppose!