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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 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!!

Guys, I supoose this is the place for these, out of an old house today, a contact of my wifes, she is doing some painting work for her. Rich

Also this Austrian Balkans Campaign Medal.

Some artillery action

Cant think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than having a cold one and chatting helmets and collecting. Hope you all are well. Would love to see more collections being post! Cheers! The Afrika Rat

Hi Guys, thanks for your input.....I really do appreciate it... So, taking things one by one, Security shouldn't be too difficult, the "shop" will be almost next door to the farmhouse....which has a couple of very noisy barky dogs...plus I would put in lights, alarms etc..... Parking ??, Not a problem at all....you can actually park right outside the shop,,,cracking wee country pub about 1/2 mile from the shop...again with plenty parking...plus a little cafe if not wanting a full sit down meal... Competition?? Their is one small collectable shop in the centre of town,...but they dont have a lot of militaria...tho, I must admit to buying the odd piece from them now and then for my own collection. I would try to NOT invade on their "space" . I'm good friends with the owner, and his partner, but hopefully we will have our own different areas of interest. Re Visitors Travelling, The location is almost in the middle of the two main motorways in Central Scotland....minutes from either.... I like to think I have a some decent items, and will be for sale at the right price...this will turn me into a "dealer" I suppose....and I would like to think I can sell items at a decent price to a collector , so, when and if they decide to sell, their will be a "return" for them too. I;ve also driven 170 miles for a certain item, so why not folks driving to me.... If I go ahead with it ( to me its a massive step) I would probs open Fri-Sunday....when people can get time to visit. I'm also looking at taking the shop on for 6 months or so,to start with.... and will set up a Facebook page, plus an Ebay thingy, tho I hate that place....but it has to be done... I cant think of anything else at the moment, but if anyone has any thoughts...PLEASE let me know. Thanks guys, and many thanks to the guys who gave advice...it REALLY means a lot...:) BTW... the kettle will always be on...might even be a digestive biscuit too...:)

Just bought this Ishapore Made Bayo, dated March 1943, c/w frog..........sorry about the pics, they were the sellers.... Looking forward to its arrival...

Guys, in the mix today, as a gift so would have been rude to turn it down. Didn't know there was a small version of the SA buckle but you learn something new every day... Rich

Well now,since lockdown and no shows,i have got heavily into an ancient hobby of Railwayana. You must get in touch and i can show you a few items. best Waffy

Guys, Just found a picture of me back then, it is a bit the worse for ware due to dampness as I have never looked after my stuff. One forgets that as we get older we are too a part of history! Rich

I always wonder if they ever saw one another again.

I've seen a lot of Home Front helmets...but never seen an "S.B.S." ."S.B." is usually Stretcher Bearer..but my gut feel is that this is probably a Factory helmet (who's company initials are SBS) or possibly a post war over-paint. Hundreds, if not thousands of Companies / businesses provided their staff with helmets and they were permitted to mark them with their Service Lettering (if one of them was part of their Rescue team that would mean an "R") and the Company initials or even a logo...those who weren't part of the Industrial ARP Team had just the Company mark...like the pic here. Whilst the vast majority of "Factory" helmets are visually unimpressive (no stripes, diamonds, white etc) they can be rarer than some of the most senior ranked Wardens, Police etc helmets especially if it was a relatively small Company.....the trouble is that a lot of the company's involved are no longer in business or have become parts of larger ones and lost their war time identity. There is a possibility that "SBS" were the initials for a Service (unofficial) or role that I've not come across....and I can guarantee you that "experts" will tell you with confidence that it's "Special Boat Squadron", or "Scottish Bomb Section", or "Senior Blackout Supervisor", or "Special Bomb Squad", or "Southbourne Bus Supervisor" etc etc Your best bet is to hope that it originated locally (re the shop) and have a dig around for local companies with those initials. So, to conclude (assuming anyone's still reading this!)..it's either a Factory helmet (in great nick by the way), an unknown role (which "experts" will tell you about) or a post-war prank for a retirement party or similar. My money's on the Factory lid.

There were many variations..

But still lots of work to be done. I bought wehrmacht tires from the Czech republic. I got the wheelrims cleaned in acid. The frame has been cleaned and repainted, the brakes and brakelines have been taken apart and overhauled.

L to R, Silver, Bronze Merit Medals 10 and 5year Long Service Medals

Hey, Guys! I’m new to this site and excited to be here. In my mid-fifties, now, I’ve been studying and collecting WWII military history since I was a kid. Though most of my original collection has been “lost” over the years, I’ve made a modest effort at rebuilding my collection. I’ve added some photos of part of that collection; My Spreewerk P38 (#3666p), manufactured in May of 1944.