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A nice British WW2 helmet i used to own. Rough texture with insignia. Picked this one up in a local antiques shop.

My first helmet.

The best way to look after the "Potato Mashers" or " Spud Handles" is a gentle brass wire brush on the metal parts, especially if you are lucky enough to find one with the bottom thread as this is made from Aluminium + 100 years underground, many are rare to find complete with this ...so be very gentle as some of these Ally bits are thin & very fragile. The top cap/ thread for the canister to screw into is steel so it can have a steel wire brush...but be careful as those I sell, some have the original green paint and being too rough...will lose it! The wood handles can be gently washed (if dirty - I sell them as normally "out of the Ground" as these are more original, but my sellers usually wash the soil off. They must be left to dry slowly, or the wood will crack...then once dry maybe two coats of Linseed Oil on the wood and if you want on all the metal parts, as this gives a "New Look" to your superb collectors item from WW1. Just to mention...that as the Germans were slowly being overwhelmed by Allied soldiers, hundreds of "Complete Spud Mashers" by their base (Screw Cap & Ally End Thread) were sunk into a bed of concrete substance, and left to go solid in the concrete mixture, as there were just too many to carry back to their own lines and too much to carry back in boxes,as they had no transport or horses to carry them, so some have the "mix" on the base...They were also frightened that the British would take and use these against them so their only way of trying to "Ruin" them was this....Strange but True!....IanB

Hello, My name is Peter Timney. Some of you may have seen me knocking about on the fb groups. I am MCN newbie, was never on the old forum. I live in Cumbria in the north west of England. I have been collecting militaria for the past 7-8 years. I would describe myself as a 'low budget' collector. I don't have alot of stuff but enjoy the hobby and the history behind the items. Have been collecting allsorts of bits and bobs but over the last year, i have took an interest in hitlerjugend items and met some good friends along the way. Regards Peter

Hello There, Is this original and what on earth where was it displayed...on the .........Reich Chancellery....Maybe the Russian decided to take it??? Great Item....IanB

Good to have a central forum online again, will be posting some serious items later. Well done Lenny,,

Old skool forum for me anytime. I shall see if i can get some of the good old boys from over at BOCN to sign up.

Its good to see old names back.

Please be aware that any pictures of live ordnance posted in this forum will be deleted. MCN does not condone the handling of live ordnance in any way. Every year, live ground dug ordnance from WW1 and WW2 still kills and maims people every year. Live explosive ordnance should only ever be handled by fully trained explosive disposal experts. MCN will also not tolerate the showing of illegally held items. For example, many types of live cartridge and even projectiles are illegal to possess without the relevant licence in many countries. In England, possession of any intact pressure bearing component (section 5), is also illegal. All such posts will be fully reviewed to ensure items are held legally.

It's a return to the good old days!!!

You see, I'm soooo busy making this the best place for Militaria collectors, I have to have a King Rib supper delivered to my desk...

Welcome to the new MCN forum, it's a rehash of our old forum. Unfortunately, I don't have the database sorted yet, but I'm working on it. I MAY be able to get all the old posts back, but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Let's make this the best militaria forum on the web. Any queries, feel free to give me a shout.

Hi All I have been finding, recovering and preserving WW2 relics for more than 20 years now. For the first 10 years, I was fairly hit and miss and went digging infrequently. In the past 10 years though I have become a lot more focused and have had some great successes over the years. I have built up a substantial collection of WW2 relics that take up an entire room in my house as well as half the garage I am chairman of the WW2 Relic Retrieval & Preservation Group, (www.ww2rrpg.com), and am also one of the presenters on the TV show 'World War 2: Battlefield Recovery' shown throughout January 2016 on Channel 5 in the UK. Over the years I am not afraid to say I have built up a substantial knowledge of WW2 relics, and it is said that I can identify a rusty piece of crap from 50 yards.......so long as it has something to do with WW2!! Look forward to sharing my knowledge and helping make this the best WW2 forum on the net! Just in case you saw the show and doubt it was actually me, here is an unpublished photo of me having a look at a Russian 23mm VYa cartridge case..... Steve T

Nebelhandgranate 39 case...

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Not really a buckle collector but pieces i have came across while looking for other things, and the prices were too good to say no. A rough looking sa buckle with some dodgy repairs, a two piece aluminium parade buckle, steel HJ buckle, aluminium r.a.d. buckle and a nice little brass nazi sympathizer buckle.

have anybody seen this pic? (from pinterest) says A British 17 pdr round lodged in a block of armor from a Tiger I, which it failed to completely penetrate.

Hi All, Here are some photos of one of my Heer tropical field blouses, it is 1940 dated and it has the original factory applied tropical eagle and litzen tabs. This is not a mint un-issued piece, but it has not been worn very much.

x

Hey there Bill, long time no see. I am seeing many of the older names as well. Sort get choked up, thinking back ten years LOL

I agree with Lenny, it is NOT about the money for me. One of my most favorite CEF medals is a single BWM and Plaque to a man who died from the drink in the UK. Certainly not near the high end (value wise) but one of the most interesting in my opinion.

That's HUGE.

You can never have too many grenades!!!!!!!! They'd look brilliant in my front room

t

That is a stunning helmet would be many ££ to get that back what what a beautiful piece to have in a collection

One word for you Mr T, "RABBITS", thats all I have to say on the matter!!!!!except that photo does,nt do you justice, you,re much uglier than that!!!!

looks like you need a rack for that box , oh! and then some M24's to put in it

Very nice

Really, I'll need to meet him.....

Cheers guys, let's get it moving...

The member above will be getting some stick from me.. hahah ^^^^^^

Nice Sticks there Lenny. ( apparently there's a member on here who has a few sticks )

Yeah thats the one

You might recognise the sympathizer buckle Lenny

Size isn't everything...

Bloody hell that's a nice one!

A sad story but one that just highlights how risky it is to handle live ordnance. http://www.lunion.fr/660587/article/2016-02-12/aisne-un-homme-tue-par-l-explosion-d-un-obus

Nice work Steve, here's an old one i have

Lenny why not make an fake valour sub section on this forum?

Cheers, we need to get it busier, but I'm loving the new software...

It's difficult to get out the way of an angry rabbit when sitting at the bottom of a 5 foot deep hole whilst digging for relics.......

Thanks Lenny, just finding my way around. Looking good mate

I have to say I thought the program was excellent, and was annoyed by the people who judged it without actually seeing it. Throughout the series, I saw respect for the fallen, warning against black diggers, and a desire to give proper burials to those hitherto undiscovered soldiers and civilians. I nearly cried at the episode with the woman and child, we need to be reminded of this sometimes. War isn't pretty or full of glory.

Oh my aching balls. I wonder just who the heck this guy thought he could fool with that photo. I hope there are no copyright laws covering this photo. I

For your viewing,, winter camo's from the front,,, 4 nice crusty ones,, nether the less been there and don't it helmets. enjoy

My collection got a bit better later... Still make me nearly cry to see what I used to have pre-divorce. Couldn't afford to replace it all now.

There;s quite a nifty feature in this forum, you can tag people and they get notified about it... You type the @ symbol, then a space and you get a dropdown of members. You can also start typing their user name and , hey presto.. @Afrikakorpsrat64 @ahrtal @Beau @Bill @BryanDavidson @Ckenney @DAK D @dtl70 @Fuze Collector @Ham & Jam etc. etc.

t

So I traded my lovely picklehaube today for an array of other wonderful things. This was included in the deal as well! Ex Winter camouflage with a part of the decal still there and a nice idea of the colours the helmet used to be.

Indeed... Sigh, I missed the MCN forum.