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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

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

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

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

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

£20 your way.

Guys, we finally have an end to this ballhawks now and all markets will be open again soon. Can't Wait! Rich

Picked up this Reichsbahn 1st aide supplies tin with the grenade box. 1st one I have encountered. Nice addition to the railway collection.

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

I've added another M27 to the collection. This one I am very happy to have as it has nearly all of its Black/Green paint. Sadly the liner has seen better days.

Started picking at mine too. Now my beloved puss cat died,i can sort new flooring and carpets. She was 22 and things were getting grim.... It was puppy-pad central towards the end. Still miss the mogg,but it was her time i think.

Thanks Bjorn, hope to smash out a bit more today before work tomorrow. Turning into a nightmare, I have to lift all the floor glue and leveler as it needs to be smooth for the 'click' vinyl.......Ahhhhhhh!

Guys, as stated above! Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Best Regards Rich

And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours Richard, and also to all the forum members.

Ring marked S-W for Sy- Wagner Berlin.

I’ve got a few parachute mine related bits. My Gran always referred to them as ‘land mines’, but they were actually ‘sea mines’. (Try telling her that, as one destroyed the street in South London she lived in, which was some distance from the sea!) This is the end cap I have from one that was recovered from the Thames Estuary. The cap was jettisoned as the mine fell, releasing the parachute which was designed to break its fall in order to protect the delicate magnetic influence components within. – I have some bits of the parachutes and chords – I did pick up one piece of parachute that I am a bit sceptical about as it is of a different type of material from that normally seen, like that above. – I acquired this from somebody in America. They didn’t know anything about it and were not aware of the significance of the writing on it – If the writing is to be believed, then this was from the first magnetic mine that the British successfully recovered, thereby learning the secrets of how they worked. As a result, degaussing of ships could be developed into an effective counter-measure. At that time Britain’s supply lines were being choked off by these mines, so it was a major turning point, so not just related to acts of extreme bravery, but a major historical event in WW2 – hence I framed it with signatures of the men involved in its recovery. I’m always a bit dubious about ‘fake’ provenance, but I paid absolute peanuts for this. Like I say – jury is still out as to its authenticity, but worth a chance as it is documented that the parachute was recovered from that mine. I also acquired the condolence slip that was in the medal box, (no medals unfortunately!), and some photographs relating to CPO Baldwin who was one of those involved with the recovery. CPO Baldwin was killed attempting to recover another mine a few months later. Below is a hydrostatic clock from a German mine. As I understand it, if the mine reaches a depth of around 24 feet or more, water pressure going in the small hole you can see in the above photo, causes a switch to operate that energizes a fuse delay switch. The clock in this unit runs down until the point is reached when battery current is applied to the magnetic firing circuit. Basically it makes the mine become live after a set time in suitably deep water. These bookends were made using the brass ring that held one of these clocks in a parachute mine. The bookends are written on stating the ring came from a mine that fell at Newton Green, Sudbury, Suffolk. Another item I have is a clicker unit and a photo of the mine it apparently came from. This unit could count the number of times the magnetic influence occurred. So, for instance, a ship could pass the mine 11 times without it going off. But the 12th time it would go off. This meant it could be set to catch a big ship in a convoy rather than the little ones that went before it. Also the same stretch of water would have to be swept numerous times. The guy who disarmed the mine was Lt Crane, (back to camera). I’ve not been able to find a good photo of him. Here he is looking through a telescope somewhere on the Norfolk Broads with other RMS, (Rendering Mines Safe), personnel, with his hand in front of his face. Anyone would think he didn’t want to be photographed! – Below are some fingerless gloves and text book that belonged to a Lt Cdr Hodges. He got the George Medal for working on parachute mines. Every day as I drive to work I go over a railway bridge at North Sheen, S.London. Hodges worked on a mine that fell unexploded on this bridge, along with Lt Spiers. As they worked on it the fuze started ticking. These fuzes only ticked for up to 17 seconds – might be the full 17 or just tick for 1 second. Both men made a run for it. Spiers got further away and took cover behind a fence. Hodges decided not to run so far, but instead lay down in the gutter hoping not to be upright when the mine detonated. Referring to the subsequent explosion, Hodges said ‘It hit me hard, tore my coat, half wrenched off a shoe, seemed to fill me with black grit and left my ears bleeding.’ You’ll notice some of the houses around the bridge are newer! As I said earlier these mines were meant to blow up ships but the Germans realised how effective their blast was in cities. They were actually fitted with a self-destruct mechanism that would blow them up should they fall in shallow water, or on land, thereby protecting the secrets of how they worked. This self-destruction would occur around 17 seconds after the mine struck, unless in the meantime the pressure of surrounding water over-rode the self-destruct switch. These mechanisms often failed, however, when the mine hit a hard surface, despite the parachute, (which was really meant for a water impact). The mine would then remain unexploded, but further disturbance, even the slightest vibration from a nearby vehicle, or a man attempting to defuse it, could re-start the self-destruct mechanism running down the final seconds to detonation. Last item that’s mine related is this cup. I picked it up at auction for literally the price of a burger. It is engraved ‘In appreciation from the Officers of SS Salvestria 27th July 1940.’ I was fascinated to know the story behind it. Found a photo of the Salvestria – I located the Court of Inquiry record at The National Archives. The ship was en-route from her South Atlantic base to Grangemouth with a cargo of oil. Along with other ships it steamed in line up the narrow safe channel marked by buoys at the entrance to the Forth Naval base. On its final turn to approach the gate ships of the boom guarding the entrance to the port, a mine exploded beneath her, killing 10 of the crew of 57. The ship was on fire, with the stern sinking first, the bows settling in the shallow water. HM Drifter Betty Bodie went along-side and took aboard surviving crew. The Norma also came to the rescue, picking up men who were in the water. Many were injured, suffering from burns. The water was thick with oil, one of the men on the recue ships described it as ‘so thick, on going through it, was just like churning through butter’. The Inquiry concluded that the cause of the explosion was a magnetic mine. The Salvestria is one of the largest wrecks in the Forth.

Spamming should be sorted now....

Here's a video I made at the RAF Museum Cosford. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, I need all the help I can get.

Can't make out anything meaningful. Early French F1 were wick ignited, however they had totally different wick holder design (at least those i've seen). Never seen this. However E & S is known British marking - Edison & Swan Ltd. http://tgrm.foxed.ca/British Markings.html Can you make close up pictures of that wick holder separately? For "E & S" reference see first post here: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/188323-ww1-grenades-both-british-and-enemy/page/24/

Hi guys, In respect of the above, can I remind all new members to the forum, that you have to be a member here for at least a month or too before trying to sell your items, This has been a standing rule on the forum, it is a safe guard to protect the members, There have been in the past a few people who come on here, sell items then leave and then the members find out that they have been scammed. So to prevent this that is why we have these rules, by all means post your items that are not for sale so the members can see and comment, Thank you

Sure most of you already know about Mark Felton too.

OK at least you had a good time. hope you sold some items, oh by the way the spammer is back but I have deleted him again, this guy is a complete twat

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...:)

Norrie, I cannot block him, Lenny is the only one who can, I can remove his post and Flag him, but he will come back, what I would like to do is string him up by his gonads

Thanks Norrie, and no its not your aftershave , I think its mine I am going to stop buying Brut and get something better,, like Old Spice that will annoy the wife lol

Thanks both. We hope to do a bit of off the radar exploration. On a visit to the Somme Battlefields we came across an old Luftwaffe airfield and found some underground bunkers. Very interesting.

Another time we were at Bovingdon tank museum I was around 10years old. They had a sectioned AVRE Churchill they had recovered from behind Gold beach I think it was in Normandy. Off course anything Normandy wise always made my Willie twitch !, and we were stood looking in it when this little old lady came over and offered me a sweet. “ Do you like tanks?” She asked and I explained yes and fascinated with anything Dday related “oh just a second luv “. She came back pulling an elderly gentleman who obviously had false legs and was on crutches.... “ This was my husband’s tank !”. I was absolutely gob smacked of all the times and places to be there at the same time as the actual driver of that tank !. Priceless 🙏🏻

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...

Aye well, if that pair above can come back...then so can I....;) Hello chaps...:)

Got a Reichsbahn visor cockade in today. To add to my Railway odds and ends. I love trains. The cockade is an AssMann and has all pins. Just need a cap! The O scale Model railroad is being rebuilt this weekend.

Here is a nice little gadget i came across in my local area a couple of years ago. It's a British Mark one Magnetic moored mine. This mine is part of a minefield that the british placed here on the 8.th of April 1940 (The day before the German invasion of Norway in 1940) This was actually a breach of Norway's neutrality by the British, as they placed mines in the middle of norwegian civillian sea-lanes. The mine is placed up-side-down, as the Mooring mechanism would be facing down in the water By the way, this example is empty and does not contain any dangerous substances. The magnetic mine had a rather ingenious trigger mechanism. In a easy and understandeble explanation, It had an elecric coil that would detect the signature of a large metal hull (boat or ship) that was passing by, and if close enough it would generate a low electric current, wich would set of the detonators and the main charge. The main charges on these mines consisted of a barrel containing 280 pounds (127 Kg) Amatol - wich is a mixture of TNT and Ammonium nitrate, wich would provide a huge detonating effect when set off. These mines were known to detach themselves from the anchor after some time, and would be washed ashore. The good news with these mines, is that the Mooring mechanism had a very good safety function. If the wire was to break, and the mine lost the tension on the wire from the anchor, a strong springloaded mechanism would disarm the mine, preventing it from detonating. Anyway, these mines were placed in the middle of shipping lanes in Vestfjorden. The minefield is marked on the map here: In the upper part of the map you see Narvik. And on this I have marked with a small red dot, where I live. Only a few hundred meters from where the minefield started: The anchoring mechanism on these mines, were alo a brilliant mechanical patent. Anyway, my example is standing up-side-down as you can see. The top lid is unfortinently missing. I am looking for a top lid to complete the hull of this mine, so if anyone know where I can find one of these, i would be very interested Best Regards Björn

Thanks for the kind words, guys. There are still interesting collectibles out there to be found. I am always trawling second hand shops, and asking friends and acquaintances if they know about some leftovers from the war. Sometimes I get lucky Hehe, yes that is actually a dream that I have. They do show up on the international market from time to time, but they do cost about two or three fortunes. But I have already gotten permission from the wife, to aquire one, if I come across one for a price that I can afford I found a nice cannon thou, wich i bought for my collection in 2017.. It was painted in Norwegian post war olive drab when I got it. It has since been repainted in the correct Wehrmacht grey colour. Here connected to the towing hook of my wife's car

Hi Tony, I was up in the loft a while back and found one similar to to one you have but mine has the markings for the Hitler Youth, I found this helmet in the basement of Detmold Barracks, Germany, many years ago, when i was but a mear lad of 14 , I was being nosey and exploring around, as we were Army Cadets , There was also a very badly rip up German uniform but it was far to gone to save, that was in a corner near the rear of one of the Boilers, I dont why no one had ever pick up the helmet before, it had no liner, but it still had the pins , in front and rear, later I added a proper liner and used the very same pins, I had almost forgot that I had it, thats what age will do to you

Wow, that award really looks like a fancy Mothers Cross, I just read about these not too long ago.. inscribed ‘ORDO TEUT. HUMANITATI’ (Teutonic – or German – Humanitarian Order); the reverse with a circular central white enamel medallion bearing the date ‘1871’ in black enamel letters within a black enamel ring; on original trifold ribbon. The Order had its origins in the time of the Crusades during the siege of Acre in 1190 with the establishment of a hospital for German soldiers but had largely disappeared when it was revivified in 1871 under Imperial patronage with first Archduke Wilhelm and then Archduke Eugen as High Grand Master to encourage and support voluntary hospitals and medical care. This striking award is relatively rare and was not awarded after the fall of the Hapsburg Empire in 1918. the hanger is silver very good condition dimensions: only the cross 4 cm and the hanger 5 cm, DON"T QUOTE ME ON THIS, there is a good resemblance and there may have been different classes or altogether a different medal, as the man pictured is wearing a really beefed up one with all the trimmings.. Let me do some research on my end and see what I can come up with ! G

Hi All - Just joined the forum, so thought I'd post some photos of some restoration I've been doing while having a bit of spare time on my hands during lockdown. - Had these German bomb fin relics a while. – Not many of these survive as they were generally speaking ‘blown up’! These ones sort of survived, by the looks of them, by hiding in a swamp. Over half of the cone piece had completely rotted away, which in turn meant a couple of the fins were no longer attached to anything. So a bit of fabrication, and out with the welder. A couple of edges had gone thin and had rust nibbles out of them that required cutting off and being replaced with a new straight edge. A bit fiddly as I had to cut it close to a swage line that I didn’t want to disturb. Metal was paper thin and difficult to get a clean surface to weld. The original rivets survived, but any stamps were long gone. These fins are interesting as they apparently have some shrapnel damage from another bomb. Fortunately I have been able to save this feature. No idea how it got there. Perhaps this was from a blown up ammo dump, demolition area or training range, or it was sitting on an airfield that was bombed, or even came off a bomb found in the wreckage of a shot down aircraft? We’ll never know. A clean up of my welding, and a skim of filler lost most of the pits. Painted, with a tad of rust colour for some of the pits that still showed, just to keep a bit of age and stop them looking too pristine and new. So, like Cinderella’s slipper, the test was whether it would it fit its intended. –“Yes Cinderella, you shall go to the ball bearing factory.” Also turned my attention to restoring some rusty German Butterfly Bomb parts to make a presentable one. A couple of 'before' shots of the crusty drogue piece. I had a very pitted and rusty bomb casing and various other bits, fuze and spindle - So basically a bitzer that I have cobbled together. Someone reproduces the screws to hold the spindle on, which is very useful! Lots of rubbing down, fettling of twisted wings, and a skim of filler. Again, I didn't want it to look pristine, so used a modellers 'rust wash' in places. Looks better for it and has stopped it deteriorating and rusting away. Back in the day the paint was applied very crudely, so easy to emulate that! Anyway, considering what I started with I am quite happy with the end result. I know with collecting originality is everything, but I really had nothing to lose by messing with these bits.

Some of my 15mm or 1/100 scale WW1 miniatures I have recently completed. I also made the ground work and structures.

Hi there, A lot of our members use our Facebook page, and that's ok. It's convenient and handy on your phone, but I made a commitment to keep running our web forum, in the same way we started in 1998. I intend to keep doing that. However, software licence fees and hosting costs mount up, around £395 or so per year to keep the forum running. I do this because I love this hobby and am passionate about sharing knowledge. It would be really good if you could help by donating towards the costs of the forum, even the price of a cup of coffee will help. It's not mandatory but would be gratefully received. If the MCN has helped you or saved you from buying a fake or overpriced item, or if you just appreciate what we can do, please help support the forum. You can donate here... https://www.militariacollectors.network/donations/donate-to-the-mcn-2020/ Regards, Lenny

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