Romania Oakleaves, Anchors, Stars,

[Kev in Deva]

Was in town today when I bumped into an acquaintance from the local Hobby Club,

he casually asked me if I would be interested in some old pins.

From a bag he took these items, some pinned to a card some loosely wrapped in newspaper:-

Needless to say I took them off his hands.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Some times all that glitters is not quite gold:-

Never seen Gold/Gilt Militsia Eppulate insignias before.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Rears:-

Kevin in Deva. :cheers:

[Guest Rick Research]

Have nooooooooooo insignia references: were these oakleaves (very "Sturmabteilung" looking ) worn pinned directluy on collars, or on collar patches?

Hold onto those Odds 'N Ends-- amazing how hard it is to find a missing piece when you need one. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Closer view of the stars on the card:-

Kevin in Deva. :cheers:

[Kev in Deva]

Loose insignia on the grey felt:-

Ricky,

they were pinned directly to the collar

with a felt backing outline, in the colour of the branch of service:-

Red = Infantry.

Light Blue = Airforce.

Black = Engineers.

Purple = Administration.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Close up of the Gilt Militia,

appears to be a few spots of blue paint

that should clean up nicely from one of them.

Only ever seen the silver version of these before.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Greg Collins]

Great stuff, Kevin. With regard to the Militia shields... could it just be that the silver plating has been removed and we're seeing the brass? A couple sessions with Brasso could remove the silver-plating leaving a very shinny brass surface, which would dull down over time.

Lately, I've been noticing "cleaned-up" items coming out of Romania- not fakes- just tidied up originals. Buffed medal mounts, replaced ribbons- that sort of thing. Wish they wouldn't do that...

Nice Militia collar insignia, too, even if it is only one.

Edited November 4, 2009 by Greg Collins

[Kev in Deva]

Great stuff, Kevin. With regard to the Militia shields... could it just be that the silver plating has been removed and we're seeing the brass? A couple sessions with Brasso could remove the silver-plating leaving a very shinny brass surface, which would dull down over time.

Lately, I've been noticing "cleaned-up" items coming out of Romania- not fakes- just tidied up originals. Buffed medal mounts, replaced ribbons- that sort of thing. Wish they wouldn't do that...

Nice Militia collar insignia, too, even if it is only one.

Hallo Greg,

I M H O there is no evidence that the Militia shields have been "cleaned-up" the colour appears to be gilt applied to tin as opposed to brass, the Gilt Collar badges were in the same paper with them.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Rear of the Militia Shields:-

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Greg Collins]

Well, there goes my theory. I guess it was either someone at the factory playing around or there were plans in the works to provide gold shields for some of the higher ranks. Only conjecture at this point.

[Carol I]

Black = Engineers.

I think artillery also had black as the branch colour.

[Kev in Deva]

A couple of updates with regards the Militia items in gilt:-

The chap I got the items off, was at the Hobby Club last Friday 13th, he handed me a slip of old newspaper with these inside:-

Gilt Eppulatte Stars, and fragments of blue paint the same as whats on the Militia shield, apparently they are all from the same set and were mislaid.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Rear of the gilt stars:-

Comparison of a Silver & Gilt Shield:-

I was visiting a shop in town today that my wife frequents, the old couple who work there,a

man and wife are quite talkative with my wife since they discover they all come from Cugir, my wife's home town.

He mentioned a last week he was in the Militia in the old days.

On this visit and I took the opportunity to show him the pieces in gilt and he said that they were exclusively used by

ALL the high ranking officers in the Militia and from what I gather all of those officers were also members of the Securitate,

he further explained that they had gilt buttons on their uniforms.

I will be meeting him in the future and promise to pick his brains for all and any info he cares to provide.

Kevin in Deva :beer:

[Greg Collins]

Kevin,

I guess my next question would be "what denotes a high ranking officer"? The Romanians did not, so far as I can see, have the insignia differences that we have between company grade officers (Lieutenants and Captain) and field grade officers (Major and Colonels). So, were the gilt shields for Majors up or were they reserved for General officers (I believe the Militia had Generals).

Hmmm... I had always thought there was a Securitate connection that went beyond the Interior Ministry association.

Edited November 16, 2009 by Greg Collins