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Guys, as stated above. Rich

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

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.

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

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

Guys, been very distracted by our spiral into despair here in Germany due to the gas situation. I have been busy trying to shift my reliance on gas to having a back up in the form of a couple to three wood burners. I have all the required products now and am waiting for my workmates to set a date to start rebuilding the existing chimneys and cleaning one out. Luckily they are qualified builders and recon its a days work! Being ever the pessimist I will plan for 3 days to cover any unforeseen issues. To give you an idea of what is going on over here right now, my pal paid €3200 last year for his annual heating oil refill, this year he paid in excess of €9000. This is quite simply not sustainable for every household in Germany and will be pushing us into an economic collapse. The knock on of which may take down the EU in its current format. Just my opinion but I think we are being fool hardy getting involved in another US proxy war, what could go wrong with that?

Here are some pictures I took last summer, going over some bits and pieces of fieldgear from my collection. This time it was bayonets and entrenching tools, that got a good going over by cleaning dust and oiling and preservation. The prices on these things have literally gone trough the roof in the later years, unfortinently. Buying one of these from a militaria vendour today is no fun at all, as it will set you back several hundred Euros Luckily, these do still show up from time to time here in Norway for a price that I can afford. Most of these I bought in the 90's .

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.

everything today is over priced. most think they have stuff that is worth a small fortune and in their mind think it is rear. sure ww1 German helmets are a scarce item and to find/get one all original and complete is hard to find but, the old saying is if you want it you will pay for it. why settle for a rusted junk shell? look and wait- things come if you are willing to wait.

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

Richard I see what you mean about WAF. What a bunch of douche nozzles. I put up a piece for review, I said I bought it. it was at an auction and I did not want any competition. One douche nozzle came on and said I was telling lies and that it was up for auction and what was I trying to do. LOL Really While E. you need an expiation? Its like looking for Arrow heads. I look spend the time and find an old Indian village and am I going on line and give out a GPS so anyone can go? Find your own stuff is my opinion. that site is full if idiots.

Guys, as stated above! €1.90 well spent! Best Rich

M-1 helmet as worn by members of the 5th and 6th Engineer Brigade during the D-Day invasion. Helmet is not owned by me. A friend allowed me to handle and photograph...

No, question isn't about testing area and we shouldn't end it either. Actually here are several sub-forums that allow so called "guest posting", without having registered account. I tested it - you just fill a form with random info, resolve captcha and you can post all that nonsense after that. It's just time to close this anonymous guest posting forum-wide and require strict registration for any posting. This is however out of my power and only @Lenny can do it.

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.

Just arrived, care of Sensai Paul Lomax. not one, ..but TWO WW2 RAF Type C Flying helmets, one is almost complete, with unissued MkV111 goggles..and will sit well with Stenuits Elevator....the other will be moved on.... Also arrived was this ICAN Flying Computer used by the RAF from 1940 to app 1945....it has the pilots/navigators notes too....another thing to go into the Mosquito Collection

I,m glad you said that Waff, If he pops up again, its your fault, and I dont have to kick my self in the arse lol

I hope this post is appropriate...Royal Canadian Mounted Police complete uniform and gear...

Excellent and Prime condition! I sadly sold my Green LW 1st pattern. I also owned a 2 tone LW 1st pattern, another one I regret parting with! I just have the one Heer at the moment.

Hi, Thanks for the replies. He was certainly an amazing chap! Next time I go to London I'll be sure to visit his statue. I"ve tried to upload some images but the forum won't allow me to. Does any one know how? Funnily enough, I've just discovered an old Queen Victoria 3 penny bit in there dated 1898!

To be honest I have never liked FB, there,s to many wombles, plus there are items on there that are sometimes just to nasty to read, but FB say it its not going against there rules then ban someone for complaining about it, thats the problem of letting some twat have to much power over people, he can do what he likes and he has idiots as staff

Its strange but if you think about it, uniforms have,nt changed a great deal over the years,its just the insigner

Overloon Museum itself is fantastic for a starters. Youll love my mate Ben Junier collection.

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 🙏🏻

Cheers Richard I was there buddy but a PMC for the US DoD so our kit is unknown to me, I’m doing a couple of mannequins so want to get them right as I’ll be doing fundraising for Combat Stress. Much appreciated 🙏🏻👍🇬🇧.

Luftwaffe tropical "Hermann Meyer" cap...

Hi Dave, Glad to be back mate...yep, its been a long time....all is good here...literally just getting over the Covid, still off work,( 6 weeks) and getting lungs checked, but that only gives me more time to be on here...:)

I cannot deny that i have been AWOL,but im hammered flat running my own business. Ive missed the craic if truthful. Was busy last year installing home bars(correct social distancing applied etc etc) Never realised the UK was a total nation of piss cans. lol

Hi all, I would like to tell you about an item that I no longer have,, Many years ago when I was about 15 years old, I walked into a junk shop that was local in Tottenham in London, I was looking around and there in a corner was a long bamboo shaft, on the top of which there was a rusty curved blade, This bamboo shaft had mother or pearl parts all the way down to the base where a metal like finial was attached, I payed a very cheap price for it about 7 pounds, I later found out that it was Japanese. I kept this thing for many years, until someone stole it at a fair where I had taken it to show it of along with some other items, Before it was nicked one of the guys at the fair told me that it was a very rare item, and its age dated back to 200 years, I was over the moon, as it was estimated at about a grand, and to me that was a fortune, I dont to this day know what it was called is there anyone who would know , or has anyone seen one before, It has been bugging me for years, cheers Dave

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

Nice grouping indeed. Here's a picture of a female RBD employee during the war. I think her armpatch say RBD Stuttgart

This one is new to the collection, and not pictured together with the other ones. I bought it for a fair price (around 160 Euros) from a family in my local area, only last weekend.

Thanks Dave There is no Troll but I have always had very good luck, when it comes to find and obtain nice stuff. Also German ww2 militaria has become rather expensive in the last few years so when I occasionally buy a new item for my collection, I am very picky of what I spend my hard earned money on.

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

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