Friday 20 April 2012

WW1 second Class Iron Cross non-combatant award



 
A WW1 second Class Iron Cross non-combatant award to a Max Baier. The Ribbon is the reverse of the standard Iron cross second class ribbon. However this award is scarce because the date of the document is 1920. Its possible he was involved in some way with the conflict against Russia during that period. He probably belonged to the Freikorps (English: Free Corps) These were the German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during the period of the Weimar Germany. Freikorps units fought both for and against the German state. They formed the vanguard of the Nazi movement.
Listed on web site here
Non-Combatant WW1 Iron Cross Second Class


Scarce Iron Cross second class award document 1920

Tuesday 17 April 2012

MALAYAN PEOPLE'S ANTI-JAPANESE ARMY badge Canadian SOE MPAJA Cap Badge

MPAJA Cap Badge as used by Canadian SOE agents
The Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA) was a guerrilla army founded in 1942. It was formed to counter the Japanese occupation of Malaya. The British military, foreseeing a Japanese invasion, trained small groups of Malayans as guerrilla troops; these became the MPAJA. Men would be loaned to the British for S.O.E. to Force 136. Beginning in 1943, Force 136 sent agents and supplies, first by submarine and later by air drops. Cap badge for the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, which was formed in 1941 from members of the Malayan Communist Party to organise resistance against the Japanese occupation forces.
The cap badge came in three types: cast brass, cast silver (with red or black highlights), and cast brass with black highlights (like this example). This last type was used the Chinese-speaking Canadian SOE agents that were sent into Malaya in from India in 1943.
Reverse of badge showing crude sand casting

Reverse showing hand filled finish to edges

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Russian Imperial Flying Corps Air Force pilots badge

Russian Imperial Flying Corps pilots badge

Reverse of above badge


Side view


Thought I would post some thing from Russia. It is a Russian Imperial Flying Corps pilots badge. The Russian flying corps was founded in 1912. This is a very rare badge to find as are most Imperial Russian items. Missing the screw fitment but in excellent condition.

It is of four piece construction with screw back fitting. The first part consists of the Russian coat on arms surmounted with the Imperial crown. The next part is a pair of spread wings. Behind this two crossed swords and finally a wreath consisting of Oak and laurel leaves and tied at the bottom with a bow. 

Size  wreath 39mm, Wing tip to wing tip 51mm, Length of screw 14mm.

Aleksandr Kazakov, pilot badge just visible
lower left of photo beneath breast pocket 

Above is a picture of  Aleksandr Kazakov woh was the most successful Russian flying ace and fighter pilot during the First World War.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

WW2 German Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge


The Ground Assault Badge was instigated on  the 31 March 1942 to reward members of the German air force who were engaged in military operations in support of the army. If, prior to the instigation of this badge, an Army award badge such as the General Assault Badge, Infantry Assault Badge or Tank Assault Badge had been awarded, it was to be exchanged for this badge. The badge comprises of oak leaves, tied at the base. A black cloud at the top surmounted by a Luftwaffe eagle. The eagle was usually a separate piece riveted or in soldered on. Symbolising the strike power coming from the air was a bolt of lighting.  The criteria for award were:
 
1)Being involved in three engagements on different days.

2)Being wounded in one of the actions for which this badge could be awarded.

3)To have been awarded a decoration in one of these actions.

Below is an example of the Ground assault badge
Front of Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge

Rear showing pin attachment

1st (first) Pattern WW2 German E-Boat Badge

WW2 Kriegsmarine 1st pattern E Boat Badge:

The first pattern E-boat badge was designed by Wilhelm Enrst Peekhaus of Berlin and was instituted on 30 May 1941. It is a much scarcer badge than the second pattern as it was discontinued soon after its inception. Below is this badge. The consists a older style E-Boat ploughing through the sea. The boat comes halfway through the wreath and is finished in silver.The sea is blue/black and with the crest of the waves burnished in silver. The reverse is flat and has a horizontal pin. A small hook is attached to the top of the badge to help secure it neatly to the uniform. Also worth noting are the stubby wings to the eagle. The criteria for the award were:

1)To have completed twelve sorties against enemy  vessels or installations.

2)Outstanding Leadership. 

3)A particularly successful mission.

4)To have been wounded in the course of action, even if this was the first.


This is a good example of the rarer 1st pattern. Some light wear to the badge. The reverse has slight bubbling. But other wise great condition. All fitments intact. Possibly Schwerin type
Front of Badge

Reverse

Flat badge scalloped centre

Reverse of badge showing hook

Hinge fitment
WW2 Kriegsmarine 1st pattern E Boat Badge. This is a good example of the rarer 1st pattern. Some light wear. But other wise great condition. All fitments intact. Possibly Schwerin type.

1st pattern Eboat badge

3rd third pattern Fairbairn Sykes dagger fighting knife

3rd Pattern Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knife
 This is a third pattern Fairbairn Sykes Fighting knife. This knife differs radically from the first and second pattern. The brass and nickle plated checkered grip is now replaced with a grip consisting of a concentric ring design. The third pattern was issued in black as standard, so as not to reflect the light.

Marked 3 on the hilt
 Third patterns can be marked on the hilt as above. This one is marked 3 and refers just to the cast number & manufacturer.
Showing the concentrice ringed grip