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Had a great dig on Sunday with some group members. Site is a location we had dug last year, so we knew what to expect from the site. The army blew the crap out of all the ammunition stored at the location at the end of the war. They dug a big pit, piled stuff in it, then blew it up......once a day, every day, for two weeks! Had some great finds from the dig, with some items being quite common for this site, (mine fuzes and 40mm bases), but others less so. In fact, I added some rather rare cartridges to my collection this weekend! Everything before cleaning. And now after cleaning...... No 152 safety cap, No 17 transport caps, 2 inch mortar transport cap, plus one I can't track down. Most interesting in this picture is the PIAT fuze holder, which is of the smaller type I had not got an example of. I have now! Nicely marked No 17 transport cap WD arrow and 1941 dated fork Bottom sections from 40mm Bofors shells, all nicely marked and WW2 dated. No 3 fuzes for the British Mk V anti-tank mine. Nicely marked and dated...... Bottom left the tip of a nose fuze, probably from a 40mm along with two wingnuts off 50cal ammo crates. 50cal bullet on right and then 50cal cartridges. But WAIT! The two far left are very slightly different to the rest....slightly narrower and the shoulder begins too low down for it to be a standard 50cal...... They are only bloody 50cal VICKERS cartridges !!!! AWESOME!! Never found one before, not got one in the collection, now have 2 Left to right......30cal die-cast drill round, made by Triang. 303 drill, (no percussion cap and no flash holes either). Next German 1940 dated 7.92mm and lastly American 30cal. 20mm Oerlikon cartridges.....or at least what's left of them. Hope you like the finds Steve T

Lovely example with all matching numbers and wooden magazine cap.

For me, a quick Ebay completed listings search is good enough to determine a buy or not. Smart phone and a minute or two gets the job done out in the field. Then it's fun to learn as much as I can after getting home.

I collect anything which takes my fancy, but specialise in steel helmets and British WW2 cloth insignia....

Many pictures but I hope you'll find them useful! Cheers Manu

Oh Wow! I acquired these from the son of an RAF Bomb Disposal Officer a few years ago and have been meaning to get them framed. After a bunker clearout last week,i found them and took them to said framers. Got them back this morning. Some have stains on where they were repaired years ago with sellotape,but i think it adds to the character? Cant wait to get the place decorated,these are in the living room as ive no room left in the bunker! Enjoy!

if you've seen my photo post ref Gen Dempsey, this is the 2 SAS lots I purchased with it, a hand written letter from Col Brian Franks to Lady Dempsey expressing the condolences of the regiment upon his death and an 8 page dossier typed by David Stirling outlying the history of the regiment, believed to be used as part of the push to keep the regiment post war, Dempsey was a big advocate of spec ops groups and as I'm sure your all aware was the first col commandant of the SAS

IN Dayton Ohio . hooked on grenades for now...

Love it...

I love the looks of luger

Awesome piece

I have quite a selection of marked cutlery....... (this is about 10% of what I've got.... )

Hi Daniel, Yes to the untrained eye these tropical breast eagles would all look the same, but when you have examined the real tropical eagles in hand, then the fakes stand out much more and I hope that this thread helps a few fellow collectors out along the way D

Hi Daniel, No problem D

love the ww2 fork , it would look great in the field section of my collection, its a chef thing

id sell anything including the dog, but you would have to prise my collection from my cold dead fingers

Oh my word, what a find, but I know the feeling of having to sell a decent lot, did the same when my four came along, but that SS buckle and belt is sweet, and I,ve a soft spot for KM dress daggers, I got one off my uncle but will never sell it, it has some very good provenance of the Ship it came off, plus a letter from him as to how a German officer gave it to him in Emdon Harbour at wars end.Those EKs would fetch a tidy sum as well

Now that you two have started a bromance, I expect to be invited to the reception, See Waff I told you he would have a pink fit when he saw them, thats another pint he owes me, but I,ll get all the abuse , AS NORMAL, but if you had a full size poster of Harvey the Rabbit, there would be a shudder in his nether regions.By the way, I,m still waiting for my copies of those record books and instruction manuals!!!!

Examples........

Oh....................my..........................goodness!! Those are just totally AWESOME! I was very VERY lucky a few years back to be given, at no charge, and big stack of papers from an old soldier who was in the RAOC. When the guy asked if I wanted the papers, he said there were a 'few bits'. What I got was all the soldiers exercise books and a huge pile of ORIGINAL RAOC lecture notes on everything from small arms ammo to grenades, mortars and artillery shells, as well as German ammo. Also in there were typed notes on fuzes, gaines, boosters.......the works! I'll swap you scans of mine for scans of yours

Have to agree, these are very nice, the one thing about German Medals and awards are that they are colourful and well designed and depict the reason for issuing

Thats ok Waff I wont patent the idea, not until you,ve made your first million anyway

With Respect Brigadier, BOG OFF!!!!

Cheers Len,it will be a struggle to find the striped ones in this condition nowadays.

I'm not an expert, but when @PmMeYourCats was considering it my mate checked it out, just by pics, he's a big time pickelhaube collector.

Hi Daniel, These are not hard to find but it is nice that you got it from your grandpa D

Well done pal I've just seen I'm a Brigadier! Happy days!

One of my favourite items. Tropical Luftwaffe Flak tunic. Has had period repairs and was veteran acquired over 25 years ago. A friend who is a dealer bought it from the veterans family then and sold it to a collector. The collector has had it since them, only coming up for sale last year. I couldn't afford it 25 years ago although I loved it at the time... The only annoying thing about it, the tunic was manky 25 years ago, a real been there tunic. The collector washed it... Good grief, why? Just why???? Anyway, when my dealer mate bought it back in again last year I knew I had to have it... Love it...

Lovely!!

Hutch, I often think the same! Dave,the letter says "Anzio" but I also think it was picked up somewhere else but we'll never know for sure!Me....I love to think that it comes from Cisterna!

Now I am going to share some photos of original tropical breast eagles from my own collection. 1/ These two photos show the front and back of an original early cotton Heer tropical breast eagle. The early eagles details were more bold when compared to the flatter eagle detail of the later rayon/cotton based versions.. 2/ Another early tropical breast eagle still attached to a part of the tropical uniform. This eagle was stitched by hand to the tropical blouse and it is typical for late 1940 and early 1941. The reverse shows the original hand application and the top part of the key hole stitching for the breast pocket. 3/ A later tropical breast eagle as removed from a captured member of Gebergsjager Reg 756 in Tunisia. Note how the eagle was straight machine stitched to the tropical field blouse. 4/ Points of interest on an original to compare with the best fake available now. The reproduction has four wing feathers and an original has five, please compare the red highlighted areas on the fake and orginal photos. It is also interesting to note that the fakes chest feathers continue onto the upper part of the eagles wings and this is something you will never see on an original.

Collecting a wide variety of WW2 memorabilia, from Kriegsmarine to SOE......medals, caps, helmets, badges, boxes.......anything WW2 that catches my eye.

It didn't sit in the case, it was a separate loading round.

My late war army pattern tunic issued to the luftwaffe

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.

The MCN in no way condones, supports or will tolerate the digging on or removal of articles, military or otherwise, from sites which are in contravention of the military or civil laws of any given country. We will not allow any items that appear to have been dug illegally to be shown in this forum. Before posting here, be aware that ALL posts will be reviewed to ensure that the recovery work shown has been done legally. Any posts in this forum that the staff suspect is showing illegal activity will be closed until the poster can provide evidence that the work is being done legally.