Cool war stuff

[DayWalker]

I thought you guys might like this. I have said here before about how my 17 yr old nephew lovesmilitary things and he wants to be a fighter pilot in a few years (which with is A+ average in school for the past 10 yrs and military knowledge he may do so).

So I started Christmas shopping early this year. For him what I'm doing which I think he will like is I am buying a bunch of patches that are directly taken off WWII soldiers uniforms, and other stuff from WWII and I am going to build a shadow box to put all this stuff in ton give him.

So far In have 6 patches from WWII uniforms, a Garrison cap which was unissued but has the 1945 tag in it still, and a radio plate from a Battle ship which has the DEPT of NAVY 1942 on the tag.

I still have more to get,as well as build the shadow box but I think its a good start and he will like it. It's alll 1942-1945 stuff.

[Astro]

That's an awesome idea! Keep an eye out for special eyeglasses that could be worn over gas masks. They're fairly common.

[EarlHickey]

I also collect, I have an itch for the german metals and things from WWII

[langkah]

EH
I have my Dad's leather cap and goggles he wore in the B-17s as an engineer gunner, German binoculars, WWll K-bar and sheath, love letters and cheesecake self-photos from various English girls, lots of photographs taken from the air of bombing runs over Germany, and photos around England during the war, lots of coins from that era from across Europe and my prize is the crowd photo taken in front of a B-17 with the men of his bomb group. He looks about 16yrs old there.

While travelling in Germany I found if you asked the right way at antique stores you could often come back the next day to view what they had kept in secret. Relics from the war are prohibited, but there are lots and lots of boxes buried in lots and lots of yards.

A friend bought a copper sheathed box from the '38 Nuremberg rally with the markings you'd expect to be emobssed. They were gifts for high ranking officers, and there was a letter with it identifying the owner, a leader of porcelain industries after the war. My friend bought it for $40e, and collected an army manual for machine gun operations and placement from those dark days.

Though expressly prohibited by the goverment, I saw 2 original copies of Mein Kampf for sale in a scrap shop and cafe near the Moenesee, where English bombers destroyed the dam with surface-skimming bombs and drowned about 2k civilians.

Himmler's uniform coat hangs near his chair and desk and the death's head silverware and plates are still on display at his castle at Wewelsburg, lots of material available in that area if you ask the right way. Throughout Germany are still signage markers that you'd think would have been taken, or at least taken down.

If you're into that stuff you could haul quite a bit back with you, but there's a good chance you may lose it to your friends in TSA.

[Sarge1CD]

I have lots of newer military stuff. Once I figure out how to post pictures I will.

[thisisme]

I also collect.
I did a battle tour following Manstein's movements during Barbarossa. We toured the entire eastern/southern front. Tanks still lie in farmers fields and are simply plowed around. This is especially evident near Prokhorovka(western peeps would call this battle Kursk.)
The highlight was buying an Iron Cross First Class from a young boy with a mind for business and a metal detector in Volgograd(aka Stalingrad).
Volgograd moved me beyond words. Evidence of man's depravities are still seen everywhere in the city. My avatar is Mother Russia, a testament to my trip and my vow to enter sobriety that I made at her feet 6 summers ago.

[Ghostly]

Very cool thisisme...thanks for sharing.