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Found a nice WW1 helmet shell, marked "HS 393" HS for Hadfield Ltd of Sheffield.

Boxhagener Platz, Friedrichshain, May 1945 The cemetery chapel can be seen in the middle of the first picture behind the trees

The first count of Holstein was a certain Godfrey whose only claim to fame is to be killed in an ambush by Slavic raiders. In 1111 Lothar, duke of Saxony and later emperor Lothar III enfeoffs Adolph of Schauenburg (or Schaumburg) with the county of Holstein. Geographically Holstein is the lower part of the Jutland Peninsula, that piece of land that separates the North Sea from the Baltic. Its southern border is the river Elbe and its northern border is the river Eider, or in terms of cities, it stretches from Hamburg to Kiel and from Lubeck to the North Sea coast. Holstein first appears in the historic records when Charlemagne shows up in the 770s. The people who lived North of the Elbe were the most obstinate of the Saxon tribes. To break their resistance Charlemagne had large numbers of them deported into the south. If you see names like Sachsenheim or Sachsenhausen in Franconia, these may be places where these unfortunates have been brought. Then Charlemagne invited the Slavic Obodrites, specifically the tribe of the Wagrarians to settle in Holstein. In 811 Charlemagne had confirmed Denmark in its control of Schleswig, the territory north of the Eider River. The Wagrarians were supposed to form some sort of buffer state against an invasion by the Danish Vikings. However, by 814 some of the Saxons had returned and Holstein was split between the Wagrarians and other Obodrites in the eastern parts and the Saxon population in the west. Between them lay what Adam of Bremen called the Limes Saxoniae. That was a bit of an exaggeration suggesting a sort of Hadrian’s wall similar to the Roman Limes that separated the Roman empire from the Germans. In reality it was just a no man’s land between the two populations made up of bogs and thick forest with barely any walls or fortifications. The Wagrarians were part of the Abodrites Federation, the same federation you may remember that was led by our friend Gottschalk. These Federations are relatively loose arrangements and as we will see the Wagrarians were not always aligned with the other Obodrites. As for the Saxons in the western parts of Holstein, they comprised three distinct groups. There were the Holsten who gave their name to the county, then the Stormarns who lived around Hamburg and the Dithmarscher who settled along the North Sea coast. These groups had retained their ancient Germanic traditions well into the 12th century. That means that instead of succumbing to the feudal order under some count or baron, the free peasants of Holstein bowed to no one. They organised their society through the ting where all decisions were taken, and temporary military leaders were chosen should the need arise. This system of a free peasant’s republic persisted in Dithmarschen until the late 16th century. Dithmarschen is today a part of Holstein, but had remained under the rather theoretical overlordship of the counts of Stade and later the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen until the 16th century, not the Schauenburg counts of Holstein. Interspersed within the western part of the county were some castles initially built and maintained by the dukes of Saxony and now enfeoffed to the Shauenburgs. In terms of towns or larger villages, there was Hamburg. But at the time, Hamburg, despite being formally the seat of an archbishop was not much to write home about. The first archbishop, Ansgar had built a wooden cathedral, but in the subsequent centuries the settlement had been regularly attacked and burned down by Vikings and Slavs, so that the population had shrunk to maybe a few hundred huddled around the sole church that stood on what is today the Domplatz. The major trading centres in the region were Stade, on the western shore of the Elbe and hence not in Holstein and Haithabu, the Danish trading port just outside modern-day Schleswig, i.e., also not in Holstein. The major settlement of the Wagrarier was Oldenburg and it seems that Ploen had also become at least a large village. And finally as we have heard in the episode about Gottschalk and Adalbert, the son of Gottschalk and his successor as leader of the Abodrites, Henry had based himself in Liubice, or old Luebeck, a Slavic settlement at the mouth of the Trave River just outside the modern city of Luebeck. For more, check out the History of the Germans Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict or wherever you get your podcasts from. This link takes you straight to episode 104 "the Making of Holstein" https://historyofthegermans.com/104-2/

That Wings series sounds like a hidden gem! It's amazing how many incredible shows slip under the radar sometimes. Thanks for sharing the link—I'll definitely have to check it out. It's funny how technology changes over time, isn't it? I remember when getting a new DVD player was a big deal, and now you can snag one for a fraction of the cost. Times sure have changed!

A update on two fantastic books. Among the Ranks of the Carrion Men: The Epic Story of the Thirty-Six-Day Fight in and around Belleau Wood covers the background of how the battle developed, the battle events, and the involvement of the United States Armies, 2nd Division AEF in the Aisne defensive. They suffered 8,177 casualties of which 1,879 died. This set of two paperback volumes (unfortunately it was not published in hard cover format) are the most comprehensive books about the Battle of Belleau Wood covering its operations and events from 30 May 1918 to 6 June 1918. It does not analyze tactics. The author places the reader on the front lines utilizing a chronological narrative, utilizing first hand accounts and testimony of the Marines detailing their tremendous sacrifices at Belleau Wood. The author uses many never before seen sources such as oral histories, unpublished family letters, and WW I Marine’s written notes or short stories, newspapers, family members archived photographs and stories, USMC records and archives, meetings with other military historians, burial files, unit histories, vintage maps, and service record books to compile a narrative of the USMC company grade officers, sergeants, corporals and privates who participated in the action. The two volumes are 6x9 inch economical thick trade paperbacks produced by Lulu press. These were privately published. In an effort to keep the price down, the books have a lower quality glued perfect binding with the many pages (over 400) lacking staples or sewn packets. They are held together by glue and are less durable and will crack with age. The maps are small and difficult to see. I would have preferred full page maps. However, with a copy of the BELLEAU WOOD FRONT LINE PROGRESSION BATTLE MAP by Battle Archives, all is fine. There are many pictures of the soldiers and marines sourced from old books or newspapers of the time. Some have a grainy look, most look fine. All maps and photos are black and white. I would have hoped such significant key reference books would have been offered in hard cover, but both volumes can be rebound as hard covers. Each chapter has detailed end notes and cited references. I found a great map source to print out and use for the many place names mentioned in the books is found here: MCA Marines.com battlefield study package Belleau Wood https://mca-marines.org/bsp/bsp-europe/belleauwood/ These maps includes woods, farms, towns, roads and hill numbers as well as topographic elevation lines. Volume I of Among The ranks Of The Carrion Men with its black cover on the second edition is a paperback published in 2020, has 428 pages and has ISBN 978-1-387-98197-7. This first volume covers the events of the battle from 30 May 1918 to 5 June 1918. The first edition was published in 2018. Volume II, a first edition, has a brown cover and is also is a paperback that was published in 2020, has 598 pages, and has ISBN 978-0-359-66543-3. This second volume covers the events of the battle on a single day, 6 June 1918. There are over 500 pages devoted to the events on this single day. These are the two best books on Belleau Wood battle I have read. A MUST READ. I actually have two sets of this reference. One as a working copy with notes in the text, and one I keep clean and will get re bound as a hard cover. Here is an example of a master area map that I printed out and added notes and page references for the first volume so I can follow the locations as I read. I reduced it almost too small so it fits folded into the book for a handy reference. Each day has it own map published in the book, unfortunately they are small and do not show surrounding towns. See an example of 3 June's map found on page 270. I also added larger fold up maps for each day. 3 June, page 270

Arrived today - Kriegsmarine Kadett Matrosengefreiter Sculterstückauflagen, 3. Marine Artillerie Abteilung Württemberg, Schirmmützen Kokarde Preußen, Gefreiter ab 1916 Kriegsmarine, Offiziersknöpfe, "Kriegsmarine 1940, Aluminium

the picture is worn where the moustache would be but I think Keitel too

I thought Keitel, but is there a moustache?

I will have to check these other movies out; they look quite interesting.

That is a hard to find DVD and goes high $25-49 as new. You have to watch out for what edition you have, some DVD prints are (93min VHS), 156min. Anniversary dvd, 206 min. Blu ray DVD, and an uncensored version DVD at 4 hours. The original 1981 move was 173 min. The 4k blu ray is also 173min. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_the_Desert

I live rather close to Langenlebarn and a friend of mine lives ontop, what he believes, to be a former german FLAK position and wanted to know if there is any possible way of finding out if that is true. Potential documentation of german positions around the Airfield itself perhaps?

Oberst, später Generalmajor Hans Herbert Witthöft. Kommandeur 86. Infanterie-Division, XXI. AK, General der Sicherungstruppen Heeresgruppe B, Befehlshaber Venetianische Küste

I've got that film, Lion of the Desert I think it's called, always good to see Oliver Reed, they don't make actors like him anymore

First one for me too.

Hi Craig, welcome to the forum, you need to be a member before you can post pictures. So you should now be able to post the pictures. Would love to see the Pathe newsreel too, I did not know that existed. So I think you must be my cousin? My Grandmother Jean Bell presented the Victoria Cross to the City of Glasgow with my Aunt who I'm guessing would be your Grandmother? Kenny

After some research, I found out this is a re-bagging or reissue of the 1993 Classic Toy Soldier company (CTS) Korean War-U.S. Marine set by BMC. It is safe to assume the entire series by BMC called the CLASSIC TOY SOLDIER COLLECTOR SERIES is a reissue. A quote from the German BMC set: Web source information in quote below about the Korean War set, this is an active for sale link so I can not ID it. About the BMC , American Hero collector series Korean War Winter Battle Marines.

Hi for Kenny Andrew. My name is Craig Dempsey and am Tomas Calwell’s grandson. i’m (hopefully) posting two photos; one of the clock given to him by the people of Carluke in appreciation of his VC (which now resides with me) and the other of the illuminated address given to him by the Lanarkshire territorial Forces association. I hope yo find it interesting. By the way there exists Pathetic newsree footage of his return to Carluke. Seems I can’t insert the images. If you are interested email me and I can send them. Craig

I generally only collect a single sample of some of the Plastic toy soldiers. I do favor the six inch original 1960s Marx plastic soldiers. I just recently ordered a sample bag of BMC, 60cm, American Hero collector series Korean War Winter Battle Marines. I am not sure if these are recasts of CTS older figures or something new. They are marked CTS. They are bottom signed, but are different from the normal BMC soldiers. The Russian WW II Classic Army Men Collector Series are approximately 54mm in size and made in the U. S. They come with 36 slightly smaller and thinner plastic cast soldiers with six different poses in a bag. They are not bottom signed, but they have a circular mold mark unique to American made toy BCM soldiers. These red brown Russian soldiers were originally introduced in the 1960s in olive drab green by Louis Marx Company as Allies in some of their famous WW2 Battleground Playsets and the six inch tall figures. The pose is the same. The bottom mark is somewhat similar to the original Marx maker's mark on their six inch figures. This Russian BMC set is an example of a reissue of the Marx figures. Vintage Marx soldiers came in groups of six poses for German, Russian, American, Japanese and then other figures that are rarely seen. See Marx reference: http://marxwildwest.com/6-inch figures.html#modern_military . In contrast the BMC Korean War Marines are 60mm in size, well made, and are bottom signed "CTS 2019 CHINA " The are made in China and listed from Dong Guan GD China. There are 16 soldiers in a bag with eight different poses. These I plan to keep intact and will not open the bag. I generally buy one bag as a sample of the size, quality of the cast, and overall quality of the maker's soldiers. I also want a sample of the company makers' mark. These 1/32 soldiers are very robust and detailed in thee casting. Some of the better collector plastic 1/32 scale contemporary post 1980s toy soldiers include two major producers: BMC- post 1991, and the Armies in Plastic- post 1984. Armies in Plastic is bottom signed and easy to identify. Then there are smaller companies like the TSSD San Diego soldiers, Austin Miniatures, Plastic Platoon made in Russia, Mars, Classic marked CTS, and LOD enterprises. There are many other contemporary makers, some that reissue the old 1950s plastic soldiers made by Marx, Tim-Mee, Lido, and MPC. You can really go nuts when collecting plastic toy soldiers. I tend to collect mainly the lead Barclay and Manoil soldiers and Grey Iron, iron cast metal soldiers of the past. But I must say this set of Korean BMC Toy soldiers is really neat.

It’s the first one for me.

BBC TV Documentary Series of the early 1960s

Erwin Rommel studies a map with his staff officers in North Africa in August, 1942

Landwehr IX. Reserve-Korps, Altona Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 9, Altona Schleswig-Holsteinisches Train-Bataillon 9, Rendsburg

Gottlieb Ferdinand Albert Alexis Graf von Haeseler Graf Haeseler, 1836-1919, was the oldest officer in the Prussian army Foto vom Kunstatelier Oskar Tellgmann, Eschwege

North Africa, Italians vs. British