Kriegsmarine Bismarck question..

[Jos Le Conté]

Luft is my field,so,maybe a stupid question :

A friend of mine who's interested in the battleship Bismarck would like to see a pic or pics of a sailor who's wearing a Donald Duck cap which displays the name "..Bismarck"..

I've no clue if such pics exist..,can't imagine I ever saw one..

And...did original caps survive ?

I've seen fake cap ribbons though..

Jos.

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Jos,

Not a stupid question as there have been some statements in books to the effect that they were maybe made but never issued as by the time Bismarck was launched, named ribbons were no longer in general use. I'm afraid though that your friend would have a very long wait to find such a pic. No Bismarck or Tirpitz ribbons are known to exist.

A new two part book is coming soon, covering all German cap ribbons. first volume Imperial, second volume Third Reich up to today. Authors are probably the worlds top experts on cap ribbons. I asked one of them some years back and they also agree no such ribbons were made until after the war.

Biggest ships for which ribbons were made, and with photographic proof of them being worn are Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Luft is my field,so,maybe a stupid question :

A friend of mine who's interested in the battleship Bismarck would like to see a pic or pics of a sailor who's wearing a Donald Duck cap which displays the name "..Bismarck"..

I've no clue if such pics exist..,can't imagine I ever saw one..

And...did original caps survive ?

I've seen fake cap ribbons though..

Jos.

[Simon Orchard]

I'm not sure all Bismarck and Tirpitz cap tallies could be described as 'fake' ie. with the intention to deceive. Post-war production of course but as i understand it they were also made for the souvenir trade and for the veterans, especially the Tirpitz as there were and are a lot more of them than the Bismarck.

Talking of Tirpitz, thought you might like this. I was at the wreath laying last November at the 60th anniversay of the sinking of Tirpitz.

Edited October 6, 2005 by Simon Orchard

[Jos Le Conté]

Hi guys,

Glad to know,Gordon..

I already had some kind of feeling about the pics.

I'll give him the news,thanks.

And Simon,

My friend could buy one of those postwar ribbons for 50 Euro..

He was thinking of one as a "filler",but now I know they didn't exist these ribbons aren't fillers but some kind of fantasy items,no ?

So,Bismarck members wore the "Kriegsmarine" ribbons on their cap..!?

Interesting pic !

Jos.

Edited October 9, 2005 by Jos Le Cont