This friday I visited the militaria fair in Reichertshofen. I walked there the whole day and saw great things. There were some well known dealers like Weitze and Carsten Baldes. I bought a close combat clasp in bronze from Baldes, a EKI in "verleihungsetui" from Weitze and a photoalbum from a who served in pionierbataillon 47 from a dealer I forgot. I also looked for tunics but didn't found what I want. So when I got home today I ordered a infantry waffenrock from Winkler. I never bought so many items in such short time period. I forgot the dvd with newsreel from german side. You can buy these at www.piecesofhistory.com. I watched one dvd and it's great. Good sharp film material! Carl, I told Carsten Baldes that you reccomended him to me. Maybe you can ask for a discount at your firstcoming purchase. Now my financial situation also wants me to slow down.
Great buys Volkbert--excellent! Thank you for telling Carsten about me--I appreciate that He might cut me a nice deal on something in the future. Im thinking of asking him to locate some "Loyalty To The Regiment", Crosses for me--I absolutely love those things Be VERY careful when looking for tunics to buy--especially if it is an Officers tunic. ALL Officers tunics HAVE to have striped material on the insides of their sleeves--if an officers tunic does not--then it is a fake--usually left over from early Bundeswehr supply stocks. The stuff from the 1950s--was made of the same materials as the ww2 stuff, and is hard to tell the difference between. A long time ago--I got shafted on a fake Afrika Korps Majors tunic--turns out it was a transformed British Army summer tunic with applied enlisted mans brest eagle. Ther tunic did have real ww2 German buttons on it and real majors shoulderboards--but that was it.
By the way--also watch out for tunics made with Swiss and Swedish Army ww2 uniforms. They are very similar but also a bit darker in color.
Hi Volkbert & Carl: Sorry to hijack your thread but have either of you heard of or seen Third Reich Warrant Disks? They were used as police identification.
No problem--anyone who collects is welcome on the thread--and who dont collect are welcome as well. Ive seen some Warrent Disks. Recently a member of the Wehrmacht awards forums had one for sale which is one pictured in one of Benders books. I think the number on it was 711, or something like that, but, it is a real Gestapo Warrent Disk.
Steve, I don't know what warrant disks are. Do you know the German word for it? Usually I know the German words for militaria better than the English. Carl, thankx for your tips. I check the uniform as it arrives because I couldn't see te inner of the sleeves. Does the lining thing also counts for the waffenrock? The waffenrock is the tunic for parades with no pockets on it. They stopped producing it when the war started. Can I sent you some pictures of it? The pictures are from the website of Winkler so they are not too large.
Volkbert, Do you know where a list gets published (on line or off line) about when and where these militaria shows are held? Thnx, Stevin
My greatest militaria weekend has been spoilt! I just got an email from Winkler that the Waffenrock is already sold.
Hi Volkbert--sorry I couldnt reply yesterday, but feel free to send me scans by email whenever you want. I dont know much about Parade tunics (Waffenrocks) I almost got one that was to a Wachtmeister in the 17th Artillery Regiment. The tunic was absolutely a beautiful one. It had 3 loops for awards and loops for a short ribbon bar. I dont remember if the striped material for the insides of the sleeves apply to parade tunics or not. I can ask around and see if it does if you want to know.
PS, I think the awards this Wachtmeister might have had could have been anything from: An SA Sports Badge (whichever grade) A Heer Artillery badge, and if I remember correctly--one of the sets of loops was in the center on the left brest pocket indicating an Iron Cross 1st class. The other loops were in the 4 and 8 o'clock positions. This means he could also have had a wound badge--whichever grade--and the Artillery badge, including the Iron Cross 1st class. Now--if he had not seen much activity (which I doubt greatly for a man of his rank) he could have had in the least, an Ek1, a black wound badge and maybe a Horse Riders badge in Bronze. The badges I think he would have had are: definately the Ek1 (he most likely won the Ek2 and possibly an EK1 in ww1) a wound badge (8 o'clock position) and the Artillery badge (6 o'clock position) on the left pocket. he probably saw alot of action in ww1, and saw some in the early years of ww2 and then was probably a member of a unit staff, as he would have been a bit too old for active combat throuought the war. Or he could have also been an instructor at an Artillery school for the duration of ww2--after 1940. At any rate--I wished I had bought that tunic.
Carl, thanks for your reply. If you want to ask around for the linings in a waffenrock I appreciate that. The one I ordered is already sold but I am waiting to buy one. I prefer a waffenrock for an officer of the infantry. The infantry because I decided to focus my collection mostly on infantry, at least for the tunics. And an officer because I have a army dagger and I want to attch it to the uniform. And I like the so called Feldbinde a beautiful grey green belt. I read that you know a lot about the place where to attach medals. I haven't found this information in my book about uniforms. I own the book 'Die Deutsche Wehrmacht, Band 1 Das Heer' written by Adolf Schlicht and John Angolia. Do you know where on the internet I can find information about the way to wear medals? How did you know all that information about the uniform you almost bought. Do you know the man who actually wore it?
Hello Volkbert--glad to try to help a fellow collector. Ill do some research for you on Waffenrocks and thee things to look for. All branches should be the same for Officers Rocks. Infantry is good to do something on. I only have artillery as that was the only tunic I have had an opportunity to get so far. I have a local friend who gets them on occasion, and ill check with him for another as soon as I can afford it. He usually has about 20 or so tunics and or complete uniforms for sale. The best place on the internet I have found for good info onplacement of medals on uniforms is www.wehrmacht-awards.com Just make a posting and ask questions and you will get replies from knowledgable collectors. I got my information on my tunic by just looking at what the tunic offered. For example: My tunic comes with two ribbons in the tunics second buttonhole, they are for the iron cross 2nd class (ww1) with iron cross 2nd class spange (1939) which means he won the iron cross second class in both ww1 and ww2. The second ribbon is the Russian Front medal (frozen meat medal) which means he at least saw service in russia during the winter of 1941-1942. Above his left tunic pocket, are loops for a ribbon bar--probably an 8 place ribbon bar--or more as he was a Major. Most of his awards would be ww1 awards. He most likely had just from ww1, on his ribbon bar: 1914 ek2, 1914-18 war cross of honor (for frontline fighters) possible a Hanseatic Cross from one of the Hanseatic cities he would also have at least one German state award(depending on which state he was from) and he would have had also a state long service cross, and and a state bravery medal or cross (probably a cross as he was an officer in ww1) then he would have had at least one campaign award, then for ww2, his awards wuld be two Wehrmacht long service awards (replaceing his Imperial germany Army long service award) and the ribbon for the russian front medal. I think he would have had no less than an 8 place ribbon bar but more likely an 11 place ribbon bar. This is also skipping his chance at having served in the Freikorps too. He has two loops for awards in the center of his left pocket as well. Most likely, this would be for the iron cross 1st class with 1939 spange attached to that as well. This means that he also won the EK1 in ww1 and then again in ww2--just like his EK2s. If this man won another bravery award in ww2--and at that time frame, he would have been a knights Cross recipient. If later in the war--he would have been a German Cross in Gold recipient. Most likely--this man was a Prussian. I can dig up possible awards for him later if your interested. Anyway--this is what I have learned about the man even though I have no info given to me about him. Thereis no name on the ID tag in the tunic.
Hello Everyone. I am new to this forum and wanted to find some people interested in similar interests. I also want to invite anyone who lives close to or in Pennsylvania to the MAAM WWII weekend at the Reading Airport in Reading PA. You gotta check this show out! I also have weekend pass tickets for sale to any WWII enthusiast who is going to the MAAM WWII weekend in Reading PA this weekend. IF you're not you should...It's out of this world! Check it out here: http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html Please respond asap as these will not last long at the price I am selling them for. I only have two of them. I bought four and two guys backed out. Now it's just me and my son going so I have two for sale. See you there!! Thanks.
