Flammenwerfer! Flames, skulls and stuff

[Thomas W]

Robin, looks like I have a genuine one.

If it is, you can have it. I found it in a box of crap my great-aunt left behind.

[bolewts58]

Robin, looks like I have a genuine one.

If it is, you can have it. I found it in a box of crap my great-aunt left behind.

Yes. That's a nice example.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi!

Does someone know, where I can get the book of Reddemann? A pdf would be ok too.

Thanks a lot!

Hi,

I have a copy, I am at the moment preparing a book which includes as much SB material as I can find with a reprint of the book in the back.

I am looking to see that I can get it printed so I can pass it on at a very reasonable price.

[Chris Boonzaier]

P.S.

It will not be a work about the Sturm Units themselves, just Sturm Unit related militaria (Militärpasses, Certificates, Photos etc) + A few period publications that no longer fall under copyright.

Thomas has covered the written parts in his books, so I would just like to add some extras to the theme for the collectors.

[The Prussian]

Hi Chris!

That is very exemplary!

In that case, I´d like to make an advance booking for that book.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I am working on it. I would like to make it affordable and at the same time divide any profits between kaiserscross and GMIC to subsadise the running costs

[Robin Lumsden]

Bolewts 58.

Thanks for your comments regarding the Ehrhardt badge.

I was under the impression that the badge I have was an original variant from the 1930s period, which has itself been faked, as per the photo below.

The top badge is struck, the bottom one is cast.

However, I stand to be corrected.

[Robin Lumsden]

Thomas W.

You are a true gentleman !!

[bolewts58]

Bolewts 58.

Thanks for your comments regarding the Ehrhardt badge.

I was under the impression that the badge I have was an original variant from the 1930s period, which has itself been faked, as per the photo below.

The top badge is struck, the bottom one is cast.

However, I stand to be corrected.

Your badge likely is die struck, but not genuine. There is also a die-struck fake of the 1st pattern Wilhelmshaven popping up periodically. It was determined by a number of experts several years ago that these were from comparatively recent cut dies and likely date back to the 1960s. The website Militaria Agent sells these well-made repros, as such, including yours for 30 Euros. The owner of the website told me a few years ago that he acquired the dies and copies of a number of Freikorps badges from a maker who produced these in the 1960s. Experienced, long-standing Freikorps collectors are all aware his story, as well.

Here is the link to exact same badge as yours on the Militaria Agent website:

https://www.militaria-agent.com/catalog/FREECORPS_EHRHARD_SHIELD_COLLECTORS_REPRODUCTION.html

There were several Freikorps reunions in the late 1950s and early 1960s; particularly by former members of Sturm-Abteilung Rossbach, III Marine-Brigade (von Loewenfeld) and the Ehrhardt Brigade. I know for example that von Loewenfeld gave out commemorative pins in the form of his Freikorps' original anchor and wreath collar badge, but with a different finish and a safety pin for attaching. It's possible that badges were reproduced for other reunions including that of the Ehrnardt veterans.

From the mid-1920s to 1934, the badge worn by the Wiking-Bund and then the Ehrhardt Brigade Verbande der SS was smaller (53-54 mm) than the Freikorps badge and a slightly different design. I've attached an example of the badge worn by the Ehrhardt Brigade Verbande der SS. Note particularly the bottom of the 'h' in 'Ehrhardt' ends in a small roundel instead of the long, extended curl of the FK badge. Many of the well-known dealers like Weitze, Phillipps, Beck, Hüsken have all misrepresented this smaller badge as a Prinzen variation of the Freikorps badge. They're all wrong. Ingo Haarcke, who arguably is one of the leading experts on Freikorps unit insignia correctly identifies it, in his very comprehensive catalogue, as the smaller badge worn by the Wiking-Bund and Ehrhardt Brigade Verbände der SS.

As there is a gap in the Freikorps record because the central archive of the Freikorps was badly damaged in a bombing raid in March 1945, there's a lot of spurious stuff and misinformation put out in the marketplace. Anytime a suspect item appears, the word "variation" is trotted out. In the case of the majority of Freikorps, they were so small and around for such a short time that there was no need for variations. In the case of larger and longer lasting Freikorps like II Marine-Brigade (Wilhelmshaven) (Ehrhardt), the variations are easily tracked and well-documented. There are 6 metal variations of the original Freikorps badge: 3 each of the 1st pattern (Wilhelmshaven) and 2nd pattern (Ehrhardt), plus a known privately-made example of an embroidered Ehrhardt version. When the Freikorps was resurrected in 1933 as a unit within the SS, a new smaller badge, as I have shown was struck and worn for about 1 year before they were disbanded. That's it. I truly don't believe there are any other hitherto unknown variations hiding in the woodwork waiting to miraculously appear.

I started researching and collecting Freikorps material in 1969. I think in the 1970s Verkuilen Ager and I were almost the only collectors of this material in North America beyond the TR guys buying Silesian Eagles and Baltic Crosses because they were in Angolia's book. There were not that many more collectors in Germany at that time either. While I wouldn't presume to call myself an expert, I've learned a thing or two in the last 45 years and am therefore 100% confident in my assessments with regards to your badge. The details and quality of original badges is simply not there.

Edited December 6, 2014 by bolewts58

[bolewts58]

I meant to add also that the font used on the Ehrhardt badge is classic old German Fraktur-type with the only modification being the flourishes on the bottom of the 'h's. The cut of the font on the original badges I've shown is precise and accurate. On your badge, as indicated before the type is wonky and obviously done by someone who does not understand typography. As my father was a typographer starting in the mid-30s and I have been a graphic designer and teacher for 40+ years, it's the first thing about this common fake I spotted.

[Robin Lumsden]

Bolewts58.

Many thanks.

I have learned a lot here!

[bolewts58]

Bolewts58.

Many thanks.

I have learned a lot here!

You're welcome. I hope I didn't come off as too strident and long-winded. I'm a university professor and it sometimes is an occupational hazard.

By the way, the skull badge of the Ehrhardt Brigade Sturm-Kompagnie is a fantastic piece and extremely rare. Nice find.

Edited December 7, 2014 by bolewts58

[Robin Lumsden]

Bolewts58.

Not long-winded at all.

I'm a bit that way myself.

I remember writing an essay back in the Stone Age, when I was a student at St. Andrews University, which the tutor marked off as ............... quote ................. 'Far, far, FAR too long !!!!'

As a point of interest, that Sturm-Kompanie pattern skull was also worn on the cap by at least one Wehrwolf man, per the attached photo.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here is a nice one....

[Robin Lumsden]

[Robin Lumsden]

Tom W.

IOU 1 !!

[Robin Lumsden]

Bolewts58.

Brian.

Do you agree with this summary, in pix, of the larger v. smaller Ehrhardt badges ???

The small one seems to be for the 1923 Wiking-Bund alone, (worn here by a Wehrwolf man), rather than for the 1933 Verbande der SS, which seems to have reverted to the standard, larger, 1919 version.

[Robin Lumsden]

Even this period booklet seems to show the larger badge for the SS ...............

[Robin Lumsden]

................ but ................ looks like the smaller one was also worn by the SS.

[Robin Lumsden]

So ................... maybe this interpretation of your own photo best sums things up ...................... ??

[bolewts58]

So ................... maybe this interpretation of your own photo best sums things up ...................... ??

I think they probably wore both; whichever one they had, especially the Freikorps vets from 1919-20. The guy in the photo above is likely an officer, which may also explain continuing to wear the large one. It's likely that the Verbande der SS took new recruits, as well who only wore the small one. The guy in the last photo looks too young to have been in the Freikorps. But, he may have joined the Wiking-Bund sometime in the 20s or early 30s. All in all, regulations of wear were probably still a bit fluid in 1933. Then, Ehrhardt went on the run after the Night of the Long Knives and the unit was forced to disband.

[Robin Lumsden]

Thanks again. Makes perfect sense.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Robin Lumsden

[Robin Lumsden]

Perhaps this design was a taste of things to come .......................

[Robin Lumsden]

I just want to place things on the record here.

Following post #1725 in this thread, Thomas W. generously gave me the badge shown below .................... for FREE !!

He even covered the shipping costs from the other side of the world.

What a gentleman he is.

Truly worthy of our 'Gentlemen's Club' .

I hope that, some day, I can return the favour.

Thanks, Tom.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Robin Lumsden

[Thomas W]

My pleasure, Robin. You got rooked. I hate getting rooked, so I was able to un-rook the rooking. To a certain extent.

Any WWI flamethrower postcard is payment enough. Doesn't have to be one that millions fight over.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Thomas W