Leaderboard

GOT MITTENS BUCKLE GROUP TAKEN DOWN BY FACEBOOK. No warning, nothing, just deleted. Thousands of members, thousands of pictures, all gone... MeWe is crap, not going through this again, I'm takling all my pics/discussion etc. back to web forums. My server, my rules... If you want to talk militaria, see you here on the MCN web forum...

Guys, This short engagement was recorded in the Ulrich Saft book Kriege in der heimat. These photos were taken post war by a young boy that used to play on the wrecked tanks, what a play ground he had! He is now in his 80s and has recently rediscovered these pictures taken before 1949 but after the war. It shows two of the tanks from the battle although he tells me there were 3 British tanks in a row in column of march and they were destroyed on the North South road that goes past the Hotel Kroepke which is still there today. those tanks were on the road circa 3 to 400m South of the hotel just before the slight bend in the road. The Tiger was further South and I will confirm the locations later. The flak was to the North East of the road described above. The old boy (Albert) has offered to walk the locations with me but he is not in the best of health. I will do it as soon as I and he can. Rich

Guys, as stated above. Rich

Guys, few more pics, this time of an exercise, the name of which escapes me but we had 'sim fix' which was some sort of laser quest stuff and the exercise was to determine if we would buy Challenger or M1 Abraham. At the time we believed it but it was apparently a forgone conclusion due to the collapse of the Shah of Iran's power base. It happened down by Wolfenbüttel South of Hannover.

Hi all, I managed to complete a collection challenge that I had set myself: complete an air force uniform for the major participants in the Cold War (minus France as has already been pointed out to me!). So we have USA, UK, West Germany, East Germany, and USSR. Still have a couple of variations (officer or enlisted) to display but really pleased with how this has turned out.

Afternoon all, Well it looks like FB has pulled the plug this time. So,lets make this online forum number 1 again eh. Waffy

Finally it looks like spring is coming here too. I've been doing som service on our 67 model Peugeot 404, and getting it ready for the summer season. We had some very nice weather last weekend, with a temperature around 10 degrees celcius - about 50 degrees fahrenheit. So me and my wife packed up somethimg to eat and the kids in the 404 and went for a small roadtrip/picnic in our local area last saturday. We had a very nice day, and the old Peugeot performed perfectly. 20210417_151315.mp4

Another Quist, 64 shell size., War time repaint, textured anti glare paint. JOSTO strap.

First and Foremost, I am an enthusiastic collector and WWII obsessed (History in general)! As a U.S. Navy Veteran I enjoy collecting WWII Era Kriegsmarine Badges and more. I am also the owner of Operation Overlord Militaria - I don't consider myself a "Dealer" as I keep Inventory at a minimum and focus my efforts on adding to other's collections and not adding to my Wallet. I am known mostly on the Facebook side of things but decided to go old school website after pages and groups started being shut down. My reputation and the preservation of these Historical Relics is the utmost important thing to me. I love being a Curator of our History and have a sense of responsibility to do it! When it comes to selling I never swap passion for profit! My goal is to bring the feeling of joy to.others like I get when a new item arrives. “THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT.” - George Santayana

I seldom if ever buy helmets,but I quite liked this one when I saw it offered.A “rautarn” M35 in great nick and 58-size.Decals can be “guessed” under the thick layer of paint mixed with dirt.

Guys, As stated above. Rich

Hi Guys, well actually it's snowing quite heavily believe it or not. Been around for a while, 51 now, cemi retired living in Bergen by Belsen Germany, ex 7 Bde. Collect German WW2 but take anything in a job lot as it comes. Prefer to swap stuff, that way it usually gets to a collector rather than a dealer or flip artist. Not really been doing much lately, busy with work and my wifes small business. Intend to get amongst it later this year when we have consolidated our new house and shop. Look forward to being a member here. Best Rich

Hi Team. Long time since I visited but life tends to get in the way of a good time. Here's some of my matched belt sets which are not on mannequins set up in 'The Sandpit'. Enjoy! Mark.

Most of face book is taken up with "Is this Real", "How Much is it Worth" and you can spend hours doing other`s work for them, So maybe a proper forum would work thats not a pack of yes men

Hi Hans, welcome to this forum. Bit quiet but I still think it will get busier when FB etc finally pull the plug, they are dyeing to do it. Best Rich

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A multi-piece constructed linen Banner/flag that measures 56" wide and 97" drop with a printed mobile swastikas in black on a white background. There are five sets of ties along the top to tie to a pole. There are a few small marks as well as obvious fading to the central disks. There is also the maker mark in the upper corner as shown in the photo. Great bring back piece of memorabilia. £250 plus p&p

For your review...DDR NVA-Wachregiment oberleutnat in parade dress...and some more NVA-Wachregiment complete uniforms

This nice Prussian Golden Merit Cross arrived today. Instituted Jan 1912 it is a three piece design and could be awarded to both civilian and military personnel. This award came in silver also.

Here are a couple of rough WW1 German canteens I have in the collection. The one with dark gray cover was one I got in a mail order auction when I was like 15. $10 I think I paid (Before the internet and Ebay!lol)

A selection of tropical pith helmets...Second pattern army was damaged by friend's son during hands on examination...appears to be easily repairable

Just got this nice Post war German Shelter 1/4 in trade. Now these use to be plentiful back in the '70's and '80's. But You dont see them very often anymore. I was happy to add this one to the collection. The WW2 ones are more plentiful! lol Infact I have a new one of those coming too.

I have a few links from a Goliath track,currently soaking in oil

Hello, Some recent entries ! A richtkreiss and some measurment tools in their pouch ! Kind regards

Rich, it turned out to be in pretty Good shape. Check it out

£20 your way.

Had I know what these were when I was a boy, I would have got my dad to bye some of these, Back in the 60s there was a market called Portebello in London, there was a trader that had about 20-30 of them on his stall and was only saying that they were cold winter boots, they wer,nt even described as being German, but they were the same as you and Richard have shown, and at that time I can now see why they were descibed as such, I dare say that no one new what they were, or who made them,if people had known then , I dont think there would have been many sales for the guy selling them, where he got them from God only knows

Model. Warning, file is BIG, 16MB. Click on it!

Hello! This account hails from the Swift Current Museum in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada. We don't have a huge military collection but we're happy to be a part of this community.

My newest addition to the family. A M1917 from the 101st Combat Engineer Battalion of the 26th Yankee Division. I don't have any books on the maker stamp on the helmet so if anyone knows how to look it up that would be great.

Here are two that I have to hand the the left one is more repair than sack and has been used post war by a mill. The other 3 picture are again of a repaired sack but they have unfotunately used the eagle part of another sack, it has also been used post war by the looks of the half hearted denazification. Rich

I have just acquired the earlier 1940 dated Gustav Brehmer to go with my display. It will take the place of its younger brother, 1941 Gustav Brehmer. Thank you so much to @DAK D for once again helping make my DAK/tropical collection, shine! The GB 40 is a vet bring back from El Alamein !

Langensalza Medal awarded by the former Kingdom of Hannover, to her sons who fought the Prussians to a standstill during the Bruderkrieg of 1866. Although a temporary victory was obtained, Hannover was forced to surrender several days later, with its kingdom and army being absorbed by the Prussian victors. Interestingly, Kaiser Wilhelm I, allowed the former regiments of Hannover to wear all honors and awards to be worn, including the medals of the 1866 war.An interesting feature of the Langensalza medal is that the recipients name appears on the edge. No doubt due to Hannover's long association with the forces of Great Britain, notably the King's German Legion, who served with distinction during the Napoleonic wars. The medals of England nearly always have the recipients name appearing on the edge.One other interesting fact regarding the Langensalza battle was the appearance for the first time of the Red Cross emblem being worn by medical personnel

Hello Val, I, hope you are well, yes I bought some great and rare French Resistance items - I had a good time in France and bought many French Resistance - flags/ brassards (arm bands) a Very Rare - BBC message Personels- book 1943 / diary of the code messages that the SOE wireless ops (while in "The Field" in France) sent to the UK via the French Resistance - some messages now translated by my teacher mate are crazy, but they were waiting for their own "Special Message" from SOE in relation to parachute drops of arms, ammo, explosives and tobacco, which most if not all Maquis were desperate for....a good English cigarette, and more importantly waiting for the call when the - Invasion would come? I will not add the French message but the translation sent but in English - The little boats have no legs/ The pencil is blue/ Jules likes Italian cigars/ The beer is good/ The woman with the beard is shaved/ To take the taxi you need money/ Archibald is eating the spinach/Fabienne has arrived well/ Jean will have twins/ The white peas are cooked/ Bebert is eating the bannanas/ The Devil plays the Lottery/ ....33 pages of these message sent to England and returned with parachute drops and information - that I don't even understand? But to actually find a diary/ book like this is virtually impossible - it has many different people writing and receiving these messages, but if caught with this book, the Sicherdienstheit ? Gestapo would have this man tortured to extreme to find his Maquis names, members, names and addresses, and more so the SOE wireless operator. if he gave nothing away during this torture - he and probably his family would all be shot. I am still looking for an MCR1 - Biscuit Radio - favoured by the Maquis. I have a friend who has x2 B2 suitcase radio's that he wanted to sell me x1 but he has put them in Museums now...so another lost chance( But I at lease have the BBC- Message Personals" diary dated 1943...which is a treasure to find! Best Wishes Val....Ian

Hi All. I'm very pleased to have finally received my winding handles to complete both these sets. (Replica from a relic) The pack misses only the aufspuler. I posted to FB groups too, so apologies if I am subjecting you to this twice! (BTW, I have a few spare winding handles, having had to make an economic number. US$110 Paypal F&F & I will pay post). Anyway, enjoy the pics!!

Also this Austrian Balkans Campaign Medal.

Hi everyone! My name is Jeffrey Shaw. I am a lifelong MIlitaria collector. My father was a Miltaria collector. He passed away in 2009 and I inherited his collection. His collection was mainly the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. My collection ranges from the Revolutionary age through to Modern current day Military. I have around 150 knives and bayonets. United States uniforms from WWI to current. Many period uniform Patches, insignia and personal items. I have been going to a event in Reading , Pennsylvania for 23 years called the WWII weekend. It is a massive event with around 2000 worldwide re-enactors , armor, vehicles, Aircraft and most importantly WWII veterans . My family has met so many veterans and heros which brings me to my collection of photos with their signatures. I am passionate about history . I am honored to be a member of this group

Some artillery action

Another display shot during one of the best events I've ever joined in the Ardennes... Theme: Runsted offensive, what else 😁 Me carrying the TornFuG - same event... Connection to Habicht was rather bad that day most likely due to weather conditions, but we managed to keep the communication up! ✌️ and last but not least for today another Maginot line event running wired and wireless comms in parallel... So it does not get boring having front line calling for a pizza etc.

The German army had long dreamed of a "Patrouillenfunkgerät" or "Walky-Talky" but the technology only came together in the late 1930's. The new generation of army valves coupled to the successful development of VHF technology meant that a compact radio with a manageable antenna length could be developed. The resulting radio was called the "Funksprecher a", shortly followed by the Funksprecher a.1 (Fuspr.a.1): The Fusp.a receiver is based on the superregenerative principle. Valve 1 (SD1A diode) acts as an oscillator/detector after which the audio signal is passed through valves 2 (RV2P800) and 3 (RL2P2) for amplification. When transmitting, valves 2 and 3 act as microphone amplifiers with Valve 1 acting as oscillator/mixer and power stage: The radio is compactly build and only takes up a small part of the radio box. As is still true today, the size of the device is largely determined by the size of the power supply it needs: This early version had a lever as a Transmit/Receive switch, which could be operated with a cable. This cable mechanism proved troublesome in the field, so with a more conventional Transmit/Receive switch this radio went into series production as the "Funksprecher a1" (Fusp.a.1). The radio operated from 120 to 156 Mhz, with the frequency scale calibrated in channels (151 to 178); this gave a channel distance of 1.33 Mhz. Housed in an aluminium box, the radio had a minimum of controls: the frequency control was at the top, with the receiver fine tuning placed coaxially with the main frequency control knob. Under that were the on/volume control and the send/receive switch. A instrument allowed the battery voltages to be checked. Under that were the connection sockets for the headphones and microphone. A small storage section at the bottom allowed the storage of spare valves: Housed in an aluminium boxThe radio could be carried on the back using two standard radio straps: The top of the box contains the hooks onto which the carrying straps are hooked, a carry handle and the antenna socket. The Fuspr.a.1 legend is painted in white on top of the box: The back of the box has a bracket to attach a bag to hold the accessories. A long webbing belt could be passed through two loops at the bottom of the box, it appears this belt could be used independently of the belt and equipment of the infantry soldier wearing the radio: The right panel opens up to reveal the battery compartment: The bottom compartment held a 2B19 filament battery while the top compartment held the standard 90 Volt Anode battery: With the lid closed, a small air vent ensures that any vapours from the 2B19 battery can be dispersed: The 2B19 is a half sized version of the 2B38 battery normally used in portable equipment: On the left side, the close panel is marked with E/S (Empfänger / Sender) to indicate where to find the transceiver: The front panel hinges open at the bottom: The folded lids slides into a compartment under the radio: The standard Dfh.a and Kmf.b throat mic were used with the set. A sectioned antenna plugged into the antenna mount on the top of the box completed the radio. A small bag for the accessories could be attached to the back of the radio. Here a similar section from a Feldfu.b antenna is shown, the antenna would have another two sections of similar length: By plugging in the headphones, microphone and antenna, the Fuspr.a.1 is ready for use. At this time (1938) the standard Dfh.a and Kmf.b would have been used: Due to the omission of the cable operated Transmit/Receive switch, operating the radio while carried on the back proved impossible without a second operator walking behind. The very few period pictures showing the set in use show it carried on the chest instead, so that the operator could operate the transmit-receive switch and other controls. Operations also proved that the aluminium housing was too weak and that the radio was too easily damaged. Battery life was also limited, so when it came to design the successor to the "Fusp.a.1", all these weaknesses were addressed. This successor is off course the Feldfunksprecher series introduced in 1941. Here are a Fusp.a.1 and a Feldfu.f side by side: Limited numbers of Fusp.a.1 were used during the Blitzkrieg campaign. We know from a surviving drop container designed to hold four radios that the Fusp.a1 was used by the Fallschirmjäger during the Norwegian campaign. When the Feldfunksprecher series of radios were introduced in 1941, the Fusp.a.1 was relegated to second line duty. From this time, the Fusp.a.1 was sometimes referred to as the Feldfu.a. Its early manufacture in relatively low numbers make the Fusp.a.1 probably one the rarest of the Feldfunksprecher variants around today.

Hiya, I had a tanker job in a recycling centre last week, the sort of place where all the rubbish is sorted, bins, skips, etc etc...anyway, got chatting to one of the guys, and he tells me, he saved a compass off the belt heading to the scrap metal skip, and would I like to see it...?? Would I ?? Geez, yes please.. Anyway, long story short...I bought it off him , for the price of a drink... Pics below...:) WW1 Verners Compass and case, made by E.Koehn in Geneva, case dated to 1916, compass to 1917.. How the hell anyone can throw things like this out is beyond me...is it a reflection of life nowadays ??

"Karl, we might be brothers, but the next time the Sergeant Major asks if there were any pedlars before the war, keep your bloody mouth shut!!!!!!!"

I am registered, but only for 2 weeks or so. @val: what list would you like to see? I don't get it very clear... Early ones? Rare makers? Else? Some special FF33 specimen will be presented in my upcoming book. For today here is an FF33 made by Siemens in 1962/63: Regards: Csaba

Indeed, FB was good whilst it lasted.. Here’s what I wrote on the FB group... The Grenades and Ordnance Group just got taken down by FB. Sorry to see the group fall, but as I’ve said before, FB don’t want ordnance on their network. It’s their network, their rules. FB don’t want any militaria groups, they more or less told me that when I was picked to beta test the paid for subscription groups. I’m a member of a Facebook Power Admin Group, a Group run by FB staff and invite only. I applied for beta testing, was accepted and eventually got dropped when they realised the groups I ran. As I’ve also said before, the original MCN web forum is there for all, it has lots of different areas, buy/sell and runs the best forum software, the best servers and the best features. It runs great on mobiles too... Of course FB is convenient, but militaria has no future on FB... MeWe is a waste of time, nobody on it, doesn’t have the advantages of FB. WAF is stagnating due to lack of investment, etc. MCN is free, it’s there even as a regrouping area. I believe this group is the best on FB, if they close it, it will be a travesty, BUT FB may take us down, we are all on borrowed time here. Can I ask you all to join our web forum, even if you rarely use it, you can visit to keep up to date if this group is taken down. I’m serious, militaria on FB has no future. The MCN web forum is here to stay. We are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the MCN. It was there before FB and it will be there after FB is just a faded memory. https://www.militariacollectors.network/forums/

This set could and would have been "one in a million",since the MP40 and pouches (with full mags) had been together since the War and belonged to an Italian Army General who had the lot in his collection of military weapons;only a handful of people have such a license in Italy and they are no more than ten/twenty individuals IIRC. Upon his death his wife couldn't keep the collection and the lot was consigned by the authorities to a friend who owned a small weapons factory where the MP was consequently liberally "castrated" (read butchered!)to render it legal....barrel holed and filled with a rod,the disassembling knob under the receiver and the extractor were welded and the bolt could stay back only by engaging the safety,but at least he has made a clean job on a matching number early MP40. The magazines became part of the factory inventory(they couldn't be detained by civilians at that time!) and instead of butchering the six of them my friend kept five in his own mouth-watering collection and welded the follower of the one that came with the MP.He’d have “demil’d” the other five but they got lost in the warehouse. I managed and get the original pouches (run of the mill "clg"s) with the mag loader though,and that sort of compensated for the butchering!😅

The Feldfunksprecher c was developed in parallel with the Feldfunksprecher b (see here) and was introduced in 1941: A quick look at the schematic shows that the only electronic differences between the b and c versions are the values of coils L1, L2 and L3: With these different coils, the Feldfunkspecher.c (Feldfu.c) operated from 130 to 160 MHz, which partially overlaps with the FuSp.a.1. Despite the overlap, new channel numbers 181 to 210 were assigned to the Feldfu.c. Note: the "c" channel numbers sit under the "b" channel numbers, despite the frequency being higher; the channel number of both b and c were chosen just above those of the Fusp.a.1 (151-178), making is clear that the new Feldfu.b and c models were never intended to be used together with the FuSp.a.1. The higher frequency pushed the design limits of the valves, as a result the power output of the Feldfu.c was considerable smaller than that of the "b" model. The range of the Feldfu.c was about 500 meters, less than half that of the "b" model. Externally, there is very little to differentiate the Feldfu.b and c models: Apart from the type plate and the frequency dial numbers, the two radios are identical. A few small differences become apparent if top of the boxes are observed: The Feldfu.c box would have been painted with the "Feldfu.c legend like on the Feldfu.b; unfortunately most of the paintwork has disappeared from the external box of the Feldfu.c. What does remain however are the feeler shapes. Whereas the Feldfu.b has a single red dot, the Feldfu.c has two green dots. (the feeler shapes allow the two radios to be recognised by touch in the dark). A Wider view shows that the green colour coding was also used for the antenna: Because the Frequency of the Feldfu.c was higher, the antenna length could be shorter, the next two pictures show the differences between the Feldfu.b and Feldfu.c antenna: The Feldfu.c has a two part antenna, with a shorter bottom rod and a whip top section. The two sections were kept together with a short leather retaining strap. The green code would furthermore be used to paint a green dot on the rear cover of the radio. Like on the early Feldfu.b, the early type of rear lid (with a simple hinge and storage compartment legend) was used: Production of the Feldfu.c was relatively short-lived, so all Feldfu.c's have the early thin rim boxes: We now have some evidence of a foldable antenna for the Feldfu.c as well. It is likely that production of the Feldfu.c was halted somewhere in 1942 before the new antenna was introduced in 1943, so the new foldable antennas were probably used as replacement items. Like all Feldfu models, the Feldfu.c came with a full set of accessories: Note that the above photograph shows the later foldable antenna of the Feldfu.b, the other accessories are identical. Likewise the Feldfu.c had provisions to attach the A-frame to the back of the radio (identical to to the Feldfu.b setup shown below): The early discontinuation of the Feldfu.c shows that it was not deemed a great success, probably due to it's limited range of 500 meters. Although I have not uncovered any hard evidence, it is thought that the Feldfu.c model was developed for the Sturmpioniere. During the Blitzkrieg campaign these troops played an important role in cracking the Maginot line and other defensive positions of the Western allies. Fighting in a relatively compact operational area the limited range of the Feldfu.c would be less of a handicap, while the close proximity of supporting infantry units required a separate frequency band to avoid overcrowding of the radio waves. The tactical requirements however evolved rapidly; by the time of operation Barbarossa in 1941 the short range would have rendered the Feldfu.c pretty much useless. It is likely that soon after its introduction the Feldfu.c, like the Fusp.a.1 before it, was relegated to second line duty. Due to the limited production run, the Feldfu.c is considerably rarer than the Feldfu.b

One other IMHO important link. http://der-fernmelder.de/ Greetings. ezesar

Hi a Lenny I have been following along with the little saga on Facebook mate and I think you got the shaft as it were ...A friend and fellow collector in one of the helmet forums I help admin just got banished for 30 days as well not positive about all the details but I here through the grapevine it was related to the sell of Third Reich Items ...I do not post much anymore on FB but keep a pretty advanced personal album of my helmet collection on my home page I for one would be willing to give the MCN another go.. Kind Regards Mark