Kriegsmarine Denazified KM Minesweeper Badge

[Avitas]

Hello Gents,

Here is another of my pick-ups from my trip to Vancouver Island last month, a slightly beat up denazified KM Minesweeper badge for a really affordable price with the maker mark of ?? , just recently determined to be the logo of E.Ferd. Wiedmann/Frankfurt. It is a zinc alloy and is showing some zinc rot thanks to the denazification process and a couple other small trouble spots. It has a very small amount of gilting left on the oakleave wreath, but otherwise it is in fairly decent shape. I read in Chris Ailsbys book that ?? is one of the more common accepted marking for this badge, and I am pretty confident in its originality. There are many nicer examples out there but this one has character and has obviously seen some hard times after the war, maybe a post-war POW camp example, but who really can tell for sure. Any opinions are greatly appreciated on its originality or any more info about it. The pics will show up when Larry gets a chance to post them for me, so hang in there until they show up!

Cheers,

Pat

Edited June 15, 2007 by Avitas

[Laurence Strong]

Sorry, we had a thunderstorm and it cut the power.

Km minesweeper obs

[Laurence Strong]

KM minesweeper rev

[Avitas]

No need to apologize Larry! Thunderstorms are forecast here in BC tonight as well. Kind of an ugly duckling, but I feel good about its authenticity, any comments?

Cheers,

Pat

[Laurence Strong]

It looks like the pin was removed and placed in backwards.At first thought to be Hermann weinstein now proven to be Wiedmann = Frankfurt

Here is a scan from my copy of Sacha Weber's book

Edited June 16, 2007 by Laurence Strong

[Laurence Strong]

The pin and MM

[Martin W]

Pat,IMO it is a period zinc badge.The large,circular catch plate is a feature i have seen on other badges by this maker.

Regards,Martin.

Edited June 16, 2007 by mwestley

[Laurence Strong]

QUOTE(Laurence Strong @ Jun 16 2007, 03:44 )

The pin and MM

Those are scan from a book, not Pats badge

[Martin W]

Sorry,my mistake.

[Avitas]

By comparing the scan and my badge I am certain it is a good one now, the pin and catch set-up are the same (besides as Larry mentioned it looks like the pin fell off and was replaced backwards) and the MM is identical. Also, the finish on the back is similar with the tiny bumps. I don't mind having the denazified example, it shows it has been through a lot!

Cheers,

Pat