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Here is the finished product, I used period photos to get the straps as close as I could, but for a display it works good.

Here is the type 45, 1st Contract Siamese Mauser. It gets is name as it was based upon the Mauser 98 and has many similarities to this rifle. Siam, now Thailand was wanting to modernize its forces at the turn of the century and very much envied the Mauser rifles, however they could not afford them outright, but they did buy a license to produce them, so they had copies made by various companies, this rifle was made by the Koishikawa Arsenal arsenal in Tokyo, which is designated by the 4 stacked cannon ball emblem. The main parts for these rifles were made mainly in Japan, then were sent back to Bangkok for completion under technical advisors from Japan. These rifles were introduced in 1902 with modifications and carbines issued later, and were eventually discontinued in 1950, with over 50,000 being produced. It was originally chambered in 8x50mm rimmed cartridges, however these were later considered obsolete and the new spitzer bullet was introduced, resulting in the rifles being named the type 45/46 to the type 66, this was started in 1923. Easiest way to tell if this modification occurred is to look at the leaf sights and see if they have been ground down, which you can see in the pictures below. Of particular interest is the retractable dust cover, which was very popular with the Siamese soldiers and the swiveling butt stock plate cover. I am looking for the accompanying bayonet, and when I get it, I will add to this post. Interestingly, Siam declared war on the Central Powers in 1917, and imprisoned 2 crews of German vessels in its harbors, and sent an expeditionary force to the Western front. The forces sent were around 1200 with and additional 300 or so for pilot training. The soldiers did fairly well, received decorations and mentioned in dispatches, the pilots were not finished training before the war ended. These rifles were used by those troops in France during the war.

Excellent feed back Fritz.... very interesting read about the Holstein Rgt's history .....oh it would seem that my memory is getting soft with old age !.....So not 76th Hannover Fusslier's, but 73rd !.....l read about the 73rd Fusslier's along time ago, long enough to have made the historical boo boo of the regimental number ! And frankly the only thing's l remember about Holstein is that it was once under Danish rule and the other is that there was a Brau called Holstein that had a knight on horseback logo .. obviously not much help on topic !

At what point did you get into collecting, why and how? What was that first cherished item? For me I was 14 and ordered a Swiss 1956 SIG Bayonet from US Cavalry for $15 USD. I had been buying other military surplus for a while (clothes, boots, etc) but this was my first bayonet. I wanted to collect swords but that was far outside the budget (and still is!) so I downgraded to bayonets. Luckily the Swiss make simply amazing items and I became hooked. I still have the bayonet, though I did stupid things with it back then (like tried to put an edge on it, I though all knives needed and edge and clearly the silly swiss had not done this to their bayonet for some odd reason).

Some called her an engineering masterpiece, others called her a Great White Elephant. But she was an awesome looking Airliner in her day, I'm sure we've all seen a Boeing 747 and how huge they are, well the Brabazon was twice as big four times as heavy and able to fly three times as far. She had a 177ft Fuselage with a 230ft wingspan, it was powered by 8 Bristol Centaurus 18-cylinder radial engines rested in pairs in the wings, these drove 8 paired counter-rotating She had a longer wingspan than any modern Ailiner has today, from tip-to-tip her wings were the length of London Bridge so they say. She made her maiden flight on 4th Sept 1949. After only 164 flights totaling 382 hours flying time, she was broken up along with the uncompleted Mk 2 Prototype when it became clear no airline wanted to purchace it in Oct 1953. photo 1.............on her maiden flight. photo 2.............on G1025 type 167-Brabazon Mk 1. photo 3.............on display at Farnborough 8th Sept 1949.

topic moved

Here it is after being treated with several baths of rust remover. It still has some minor pitting and defects, but overall turned out very well, the back side I have not touched yet. I have since sealed up the front with a chemical treatment to prevent corrosion. I have leather straps and parts on order to make the harness assembly. I will post when done.

Definitely an Aviation topic

Another interesting idea that most likely sounded better on paper than in practice. Here is the the "mobile" shield. The French and British both made these models, the idea was for a single soldier to push this cart with their legs, while protected to reach the enemy wire and make holes for future attacks. Needless to say, in the realities of no-man's land, this would be next to useless. This shield was made from chrome-nickel steel and its plates were angled to aid the deflection of incoming fire. The British also worked on a model that could hold five riflemen. Push shields became an area that most of the fighting nations experimented on in some fashion or another.

Here are some examples of the Dazzle Pattern on ships. Quite a bit of time and money went into this, the British painted over 2,000 ships in such patterns during the war. The data shows that ships painted in this fashion were sunk or damaged about 10% less than those without the paint.

Here is an interesting model, one that I have not seen an image of or in person, but is described in the period book titled: Helmets and body armor in Modern Warfare, and excellent reference book by the way. It describes a German helmet that was found in the Verdun region and called the Siege Helmet. It had sides that sloped down and weighed 14 pounds! If the report on this is true, I image it was a prototype being field tested, but with so much steel going into one helmet, I can understand why this was not mass produced or put into service.

However, when Gwar says wrong sleeve, yes, but there must be a reason for that. Who knows nowadays?

Swastikas belonged to the ancient Greek Meander / Mäander patterns often found on antique paving and mosaiques. They are also a Nordic-Germanic Symbol for around 2000 years, and can be found on ancient Runestones in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Also found on some Roman Mosaiques! A swastika from the Bronze Age, Museum Laureacum in Austria Mosaique floor in the Herculaneum Minoische Vase from Crete. Germanic Alphabet. The Swastika was known as the Sonnensymbol, and had various forms. The Germanic-Keltic Triskell, similar to the emblem of the Isle of Man. A runic vase from the 3rd or 4th Century A.D. with a swastika symbol, illustration from a Third Reich publication. Many stones like this are still present in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Many were also destroyed by the "Church" in the Middle Ages and later, as it was claimed to be Witchkraft and the Work of the Devil. However some of the first Christian religious scripts in Northern Europe were written in the runic alphabet, later succeeded by latin and gothic scripts. Runes were still in use till around the 11th Century. There have been complaints from leftwing activists about Viking re-enactment groups with Swastikas! (Schleswig) Modern times: Werner Voss. The swastika was said to be an ancient Greek symbol for "Victory" and not forgetting, the Romans or even the Greeks before them, were the first "Faschists" (and imperialists)

private films of Wilhelm Emmering. Some of these photos have been widely published, such as Emmerling posing in front of the Dunkirk signplate Some impressions of the Museum in Dunkirk

Film has been erased by youtube again.

Managed to find a picture of the swatikas at Stormont ,looks like only one other person has noticed these and that's the guy who posted them on the net, as he says Stormont was refurbushed for the Northern Ireland assembly in 1997 so hardly ancient

Aren't the ear rings going in the direction of the peaceful meaning of the symbol and in the picture of the Dalai Lama are the ones the Third Riech used? Do Buddhists use it both ways?

The Brabazon Airliner was viewed in the same light as the Luxury Ocean Liner. It had an interior layout housing a forward saloon with 6 compartments, each for 6 passengers, and another one for just 3. A midships section at higher level above the wing with 38 seats arranged around tables in groups of 4, plus a pantry and gallery, and a rear saloon with 23 seats in an aftfacing cinema, plus cocktail bar and lounge. here's a picture of the lounge.

seeing it in scale like that it is seriously huge... maybe they should bring it back (the real thing) it would revive the aerospace industry.

More pics to give you an Idea of size.

Model on display at the Bristol Aero Museum

model on display at Bristol Industry Museum.

In the end It was the Launching of the first commercial Jet Airliner, the De Havilland DH 106 Comet also in 1949. Although smaller it could only carry 26-32 passengers, were the Brabazon could carry 100 it was a lot faster at 400-500 mph, to the Brabazons speed of 230-340 mph. The Airline Companys believed that passengers would not spend 12 hours in the Brabazon when they could reach their destination in a smaller, faster Aircraft in seven hours to America.

Too much slagging of the DDR on here. They are now faking the high end awards from the DDR as well as the parade swords. The easiest way to tell a real sword from a fake one is that the fakes have a coloured DDR emblem on the hilt and the real ones don't. The real swords were handed out before the parade and then had to handed in after the parade,so no one had a sword to themselves.When you look at the Jingling Johnnies as well these fetch a very high price as well as some of the state flags and other pieces. The low end stuff is crap,but then again has anyone seen the UN medals?? The guys on here are correct though,buy quality in whatever field you decide to collect. I've seen a lot of Graeme's stuff and British medals have always fascinated me,maybe because of my fathers and brothers medals,and the fact that with a bit of research you can get to the man behind the bits of tin. Most people when you tell them what you collect think you are nuts anyway,so don't care what they think of you as long as you enjoy it.

My turn. I have always been interested in History…My family also has a military Back ground. Four great uncles in ww1. My dad was a rezerbest .His oldest brother was in w11 and his other brother had over 30 years in army. Started out in ww2 then Korea and on. Favourite studies were war of 1812 AND American civil war. Favourite Generals were Isaac Brock and U.S Grant. Back around 1990 I went to Gun show with a friend. He collected German stuff. After that I was hooked. Back in those days collecting German Medals here were hard. That stuff was frowned on. Only a few shows a year. No info And no books. I really come from the wastelands when dealing with German medals. Around 2000 the same guy introduced me to the computer. Old guys like me did not play with computers, my kids did. Anyways, it was a dream for me. I now could talk to other collectors and buy on line. A real dream. I learned to type and do photo essays. A few years back I got into wound badges as the main study. Might go back to medal Bars.Anyways…. Not bad for a old guy from the wastelands don info ISAAC Brock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Brock#Early_life U.s Grant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant

Yea but yea that British helmet i got is great hopefully after the iron cross i get i will save for another helmet

First: I suggest we move the helmet conversations to the helmet forum. Kenny if you get a photo of it and can post I'll take a look I don't think there is chance I can pop down to the shop. I have lots of DDR images in books and probably can help date in, especially with liner details.

I was under the impression the DDR was using surplus WWII Wehrmacht helmets through till the mid-50s when they got some Russina helmets and later went to their own style in the 60s or 70s. Support troops (engineer, fire brigade, etc) certainly were using Wehrmacht items or helmets made of WWII Wehrmacht machinery through the 50s. The difference between a WWII Wehrmacht and late 1940s DDR helmet should be near next to nothing correct?

Recently I dug out of storage a DDR NVA officers travel bag set I picked up 10 years ago for $10 surplus. It was a nice attache case and garment bag set back then. However the rubberized canvas already has begun to break down and I had to toss the stuff out because it essentially had melted at room temperature Still, some NVA stuff in interesting. I've been in/on several NVA vehicles and they still run if properly cared for and are quite impressive to operate.

And Kenny, why are my postings stuck at '47' ? I should be at least a Grossfeldmarshall mit swords diamonds and kitchen sink by now ?

Kenny, I think you know only too well my opinion of DDR items. Apart from the fact that they are products of a very nasty regime, the designs are pretty repetitive, (Looks like they were designed by the same guy, or team ). I dislike anodised finishes, cheap and nasty. And yes, there must be warehouses full of it, just can't see the investment potential. The only thing I find interesting about the situation was when the wall came tumbling down. The DDR air force Migs joined the West German Luftwaffe for a while, intriguing but I wonder how long they stayed in service alongside the American Phantoms etc. ?

Reece, German helmets can come damned expensive, particulary WWII models, even those without decals. German medals can be quite reasonable, but do beware of Third Reich fakes, many of them are just too good to tell from the original, particularly those that are die-struck just like the original. Why not get to know something about Imperial German medals, (I love them) ? If you buy a group of three, with an Iron Cross, you have something with solid investment potential, and they can be damned interesting and tell a story. Usually you can find an Iron Cross group, together with a Hindenburg cross, and a German 1914-18 state service medal for about a hundred quid or less. A few years back you could have found dozens around the £70 mark, that's how well they are holding their value. OR, you can find good genuine 1914-18 groups with a common, but genuine, Third Reich medal stuck on the end, gives the service life of a veteran of the First War. Just a thought, hope it helps. P.S. Do yourself a favour and forget about SS and other 'Glamour' units for a while. If I had all the money inexperienced collectors have spent on repro SS, I could buy a small island !

But where could i find them

Reece, just a suggestion but you might want to think about collecting the 'history/development' of German helmets. This would allow you to also collect post-WWII German helmets. The East German (DDR) NVA helmet is still rather cheap and there are about 3 design progressions for it, plus various helmet netting and covers all available for under £50. The immediate post-war helmets were identical to the war ones and also available for slightly less. Romania also used the exact same design and you can find these (often faked as German) easily too.

yeah i think headgear and german medals

Yeah well im thinking of collecting german medals and different types of helmets

Graeme is right! I started collecting at 15 and here I am 11 years later with a bayonet collection valued around $8,000 USD and growing. I originally began collecting anything and everything before starting to fill out niche areas. I use to acquire 12 items a year when prices still were ok. Now I am down to 2-3 items a year hard sought out but I can ensure are original. Plus, many of the usual places I would go are now picked clean (there is a antiques market in Gettysburg PA that will proudly vouch that I stripped of every good bayonet they had... it was an undiscovered source by collectors till then). When I began collecting I believed having items was the most important thing.. this is FALSE. THE most important thing for collectors is books, guides and networks. Collecting forums like this, Armourer magazine (ok I ended my subscription after their bungle of SS dinnerware) etc are crucial to know the market. You NEED you collection guides. I have several bayonet books and they are heavy and bulky but without them I could never ID what it original and what is junk. If you become super obsessed, to study the stuff. Get an internship with a museum or get to know curators. Or, go get a Masters degree in warfare studies or battlefield archeology and do it professionally (both are available in Scotland)

Reece, As much as Newlyn and I disagree on many things he is someone to listen to when talking about collecting (and specifically on German items). You will spend much money over the years and some of it will be wasted on fakes and crap. We all have. Never be put off by that. On the last version of the forum I posted 2 or 3 items that I had spent money on only to discover at a later date they were dogs. Never let your mistakes put you off. No-one on this forum has not made mistakes that have cost them money. It's part of the game. As Newlyn says - buy quality. In the last year I have bought 2 groups only. That's not down to lack of money it's down to lack of quality from what I wanted. I have bought a WWI Trio to a 15 year old at a snip of about £80 because the other guy was too lazy to research the Group and a Group of 7 to a chap in the RMLI that stretched from 1890-1945. He started with an RN LS&GC in 1905 and ended with a WWII Defence in 1945 for his work in the ARP. That is a whole life time!!! It also has a 1st and 3rd Class Corps LS&GC. 1st Class are common but 3rd Class!!!!! I have been collecting these items for 4 or 5 years and have never seen a 3rd Class for sale either in a single or a Group. Hen's teeth are more common. That's 2/3 the value of the Group alone. Research. Know what you are looking for. Learn. It's better than school. I collect to the KOSB. Just now I have seen an MM & Trio. I want a Group like this. But I won't buy it. There is no MM Citation for this and his service papers were destroyed. All there is, is a MIC and a LG Entry. Where is the research? Where is the man's life? You have to know when to let an item go. You are young and have time on your side. Be careful and decide what way you want to go in your collecting field early. And stick to it. The odd branch offs are fine but remember your main field of collecting.

yep but i think that my coleccting will never stop until i stop and wehn my old i MEAN OLD OLD ww2 will be ancient history to kids hope people will still honour the sldiers of all sides who fought in ww1 and ww2 i defonetley will

Apart from pigeon-fanciers, and bus spotters we are the most misunderstood set of folk on the planet ! That's why we cluster like lost beasts on forums such as this ! Reece, try explaining that it's like reaching back into the past and bringing back a piece of history with you. That 25 year service medal represents a large percentage of a guy's life. You are slowly but surely assembling a whole load of stories. Don't be too hasty though, there is an awful lot of rubbish out there, not just repro, but stuff which when you want to trade it in for better things will be hard to off load for a decent exchange. Oh ! Do remember condition is very important, if you have to pay a bit more for something in fine fettle, 'twill be worth it in the long run

Not bad so far Reece. Trouble is doesnt matter how much I have in my collection it is never enough. Always something else to buy.

well my great grandad (ww1) my gran says he dident speak about the war he was in . ino he was at the somme but she says thats one thing he dident talk about and well my gran remembers the bombings and in when she went to germany she was called an english pig mabe thats why and her cousain was killed in the war

Well from ww2 i have bits and peices a few medals an raf pill box i thinnk it is anyway it was my grans cousains he was shot when coming home for leave from northern africa . a medal for 25 years service (german ) a ww2 medall british for being in the war . a german silver wounds badge . a ww2 hitler stamp . some british cleaning stuff . old 303 magizines. raf binoculars part of an mg42/43 feeder . a german stripper clip thts all really im getting a british helmet in a few weeks not really much

My grandad was like that. I remember my mum told him that she was going on holiday to Germany and he threw her out his house. This was in the 80's. As he said the bastards tried their best to kill me why the hell are you going there. Memories die hard. Probably just as well he died before I hooked up with my ex. God knows what he would have made of my daughter.

Yeah i watch alot of history and love it at school and try to save as much as possible for my colecction ive got about 10 things at the moment but ive got alot of colecctiong years ahead. But historys always been my thing even from an earley age. but it takes me about 2 to 3 weeks to earn 100 or more and its gone soon as i get it for colectiong

Well yes, I guess I was about 13 or 14 when I obtained a percussion pocket pistol. No hammer but it was brass, so polished up nicely. I saw a name engraved on it, plus some proof marks. Some library books told me when and where it was made. I was truly hooked. Since then I have had many collections come and go, but it remains a life-long fascination . Just a bit of advice from one of the ancients, read as much as you can, watch the History channels, and don't become a lone collector, try to get out to fairs and shows, and handle the goods if possible. Try to get to know other collectors, (Avoid those who know-it-all, nobody does ). Don't be hasty with your purchases, it's a bit early to specialise, but something will light a spark and get you into a definite period or subject. Finally, watch out, there are piles and piles of really attractive, impressive stuff out there, and a lot of it is pure fake, and those making the fakes are very, very clever, like foxes. (Mind you, as the saying goes, a fox in a hen coop signifies nothing, unless he is cleaning the feathers out of his teeth, nothing to do with the above, but a clever saying). And good luck !

Well I'm only 15 and I've been collecting for just over 2 years I've always been interested in ww1 and ww2 mainly ww2 .but it started with my friend giving me an anti-aircraft gun shell or bullet .and it just started from their then i got a job and i bought more and still continue collecting

I guess when I was about 10, just letting people know I was interested, then basically begging and scrounging, relics of old guns, war souvenirs etc. When 18 or so, between drinking and women, on to Birmingham market, British badges for half a crown, German badges for ten shillings. Then to the new phenomena of militaria shops, Derek Lord's great place near Cotteridge, Adrian Forman, etc. Even though now I may be a jaded old bugger, I can still get pretty enthusiastic over this second hand junk.

Sounds daft but when I think about it I probably started when I bought a badge as a kid that was shaped like an Iron Cross. This was more Hell's Angels than Nazi and I had to ask my dad about the background. Interest in military subjects started with the packets of 1/76th figures by Airfix bought in the Woolworth's store in Dalkeith. Collecting really began for me in the early 70's when a lot of British stuff was sold off cheaply by the then goverments, greatcoats, helmets, gasmasks, bayonets, tunics etc. I still have some of these items. After that I have collected on several themes.

I bought a copy of The Armourer out of curiosity one day when i was waiting at the Central station in Glasgow. I have always loved the look of the third reich stuff,but after a quick check i realised that the prices were out of my reach. I have now started to collect ww1 CDV's of German infantry,along with east german militaria. The DDr stuff is still quite cheap,but the prices are rising,especially the embroidered flags and the dark coloured tunics.