Hi Again guys heres some nice SS officer tabs for your viewing pleasure.Notice the RZM Pips.
Maybe this can get another of those threads going since the old one was lost to oblivion......

Great idea!
Here's a flatwire NCO/Officers tab that has seen some use.

Here is a nice used set.

Back

Here are some well worn singles.LAH of course

A nice pair.

Some more used and abused insignia

Some Officers tabs.

RZM tag

Another

Tag

Nice EM tab with added piping.

Reverse

This one got trimmed a little close, but still a nice uniform removed tab.

F code tag

A couple well worn Bevo sleeve eagles. Ripped right off that arm

Here is the other one

very nice sought after SS insignias

Sorry i havent used my own photos but heres some nice items
Cheers

LAH boards and cyphere

Flatwire TK

HERE ARE MY COMBAT WORN OFFICERS TABS

AND THE REAR

HERE IS A TRADE BADGE THAT YOU DON'T SEE IN AN ISSUED CONDITION VERY OFTEN

AND THE REAR,LOVE THE STITCHING,IT SHOULDN'T FALL OFF.THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES.I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR TR HORSE RELATED ITEMS.
REGARDS,IVAN.

Bunch of show-offs! Great thing to get this kind of sharing of 'intelligence' going again. I'll see what I can do to get somebody to help me show some of my treasures and we can enjoy them, pick'em to pieces and all continue to learn. Excellent stuff guys!

Mike;

You can send your images to me and I will post for you;
niklas-70@spray.se

Great to see this thread doing a come back. I will post a few of mine soon!

Cheers,
Felix

a few more of my favorites. Not all SS, but some nice pieces. The "33" collar tabs I believe are early brownshirt tabs. This is the kind of stuff that just speaks to you.

very nice insignias !

Superb insignia's... give me some more!

Mr Jerry, I have one of the Oak Leaf metal badges you show in the bottom right of your photo..Could you tell me what it is exactly? Thanks, Jerry Burney

Here is part of my SS collection......Nice pieces guys.....Best Jimmy

Some close ups..........

close up

cu3

cu4

cu6

cu7

cu8

ss

And a new addition to the family

rev

Great collection Viper and love the case!

Skipper Greenwald made the case for me. If anyone wants a nice display or presentation case he is your man...........J

thanks for the handsome postings - and yes John thanks to you as well; always good to see these "salties!"

Viper next time you come through Rocky Mount bring your collection on the road with you!! Great stuff, Marty.

Sad to see the original series of posts on this subject sort of disappeared into cyberspace. Also sad to see the attempt to revive it fizzled-out.
After a long absence, I've dug-out a couple of vet-acquired, officer-quality rune tabs, both lacking any twisted cord border. Both are unusual, not so much because of the obverse, but because of how they are made on the reverse.
One example shows a rather unusual spacing and placement of the runes, with the tab mounted crudely to a plain cardboard back-this came from a Glider Infantry officer of the 101st Airborne Division-time period of acquisition unknown. This makes it impossible to try to attribute it to a specific SS unit (the officer is now deceased).
The other example has a more conventional placement of runes, but the reverse shows that the embroidery came right thru the buckram backing, joining the runes, the backing and the wool all together. This example was liberated in the Battle of the Bulge by a GI of the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). So the original owner was probably a member of LAH or the 12th SS Pz Division.
If this posts, I'll show the reverse sides next-I never could figure-out how to post anything larger than tiny, which this website will accept
without kicking it back.

This shows the reverse side of the two tabs discussed and illustrated above. I have seen a dealer offer another runic tab made with the stitching coming all the way thru, but this is the only tab I've seen with the wool wrapped- around a piece of cardboard and sewn with threads extending across the open part of the back.
Anyone else seen this type of mounting before, on a known-original piece?

A bit longer and narrower in total proportion than usually seen. No vet provenance on this one, but nobody seems to dispute its originality.

Viewed from the back, the tab's long, narrow proportions may seem more evident. The RZM tag is about as well-worn as they get, without disintegrating.

This was removed from a casualty of the 37th SS Pz Gr Rgt, 17th SS Div at Carentan, France, 13 June, 1944. A Sgt in the 377th PFAB, 101st Airborne Division salvaged it, along with a bevo cuffband. Blood ate away the wool at one edge of the tab.

Here's the reverse of the 17th SS tab.
Note how blood ate away material, as well as part of the paper RZM tag.
The acidic qualities of human blood are considerable, if not cleaned-off.
I have also seen pitting on souvenir Luger pistols, caused by blood traces, which were not cleaned-off the surface of the metal.
This was first pointed-out to me by a 9th Infantry Division vet, who had an otherwise pristine Luger from a Luftwaffe officer, whom he shot while the officer was holding and firing the pistol. I observed that pitted piece around 1970, as the vet told me the story and pointed-out the blood-induced pitting.

Liberated in the same area, by the same vet, but not known if it came from the same officer.

This aluminum cap skull comes from the same place, same vet. It has brass prongs and is marked 'RzM M1/52' on the reverse.
I can't help but wonder if all 3 pieces came from a single officer?

Here's the reverse.
You'll notice the '2' in the 52 got mutilated,
possibly when the vet inserted the point of his trench knife behind the insignia, to pry it off the cap.

Sorry-the '5' in the 52 got mutilated...

Inf 2d lt of LAH-haven't seen many with cypher mounted off center, but occasionally...

Still my favorites.
These collar corners belonged to Siegfried Held of the 17th SS Panzer Jager Abt., KIA outside Carentan at la Fourchette, on 13 June, 1944.
Untersturmfuhrer Held is buried at Orglandes, France.
These collar corners came from the prisoner interrogation officer of the 501st PIR, 101st Airborne Division. You can still see a trickle
of blood running down across the runes.

Not really well-worn but textbook and with vet provenance.
A member of the 326th Abn Engineeer Bn, 101st Airborne Div. Liberated this at Lofer, Austria, in May, 1945.

Here's the reverse, marked
'RzM
M1/172'

fine items Mark - thanks heaps for the postings and for the provenances.

it's always greatly informative to learn the results of the research into your items' backgrounds. "If they could but talk!" Truly, your work helps bring the hobby alive.

Have another book in the works?

Here's a textbook pair I purchased about 30 years ago-have had them squirrled away ever since-never posted these on any forum.

Iminicus-my 7th book (101st Airborne again)was just published in September-check my name under Amazon.com and you'll find info there.

Here's the reverse side of the same pair-I wish I could post larger images. Small pics don't do them justice, but this seems to be as large as the server will accept.

Here's another salty dog-hard to tell from the small scan but a very well-worn metallic wire runic tab. This has an early RzM tag on the reverse, with Gothic lettering.
This was purchased circa 1975, for the(then outrageous) sum of $60-.

Here's the reverse of the well-worn early metallic wire runic tab.

Another favorite, officer-quality without border, ultra well-worn and with vet provenance.
A paratrooper of C/506th PIR cut this from the collar of a haughty prisoner on the side of the autobahn, while enroute to Berchtesgaden early May, 1945.
This one saw a lot of action and has an unusual overall shape.

Reverse of the autobahn C/506th tab-this probably once had a RzM tag, but it's long-since gone.

This officer's green collar corner has changed owners several times in recent years.
I got it from John Donovan a couple of years ago.

Back side of oficer's green collar corner...

Almost a match-up with the one posted above-except that this one appears to have gone face-down in a mud puddle.
That's it for tonight guys-this sleep-deprived poster is going to bed.

just superb, thanks for psoting Mark

Goodie for the day: 1-1-07
Cutoff collar corner from an M40 tunic, showing upgrade of EM tab to officer's, by addition of twisted cord border.
These type tabs had white silken runes, which turned golden-brown, with wear and age.
I bought this circa 1970, for the then-preposterous sum of $35.00!
This was in the days before unprincipled dealers started concocting cutoffs, by attaching real or repro insignia to parts of uniform, to inflate the asking price.

Sorry-couldn't resist peeking under one corner.
So back in the 70's, I cut a few threads in one corner and peeked inside-sure enough a nice paper RzM tag on the reverse of the runic tab.

It 'appears' that Lt.Heinrich Debus, an RK trager of the Wiking division may have worn an EM runic tab, upgraded by addition of twisted cord piping as shown above.

Unbelievably wonderful stuff! Thanks Brother Bando!!!! Originals in living color are a rarity to the nth degree- The learning curve never stops!
a sincere thank you!
blkbear1

Goodie for the day 11-2-07
Before leaving the subject of SS officer tabs, here's a flatwire variant.

Viewing he reverse of the flatwire tab indicates the buckram backing is missing on this one. But this does show the nature of the runic stitching, as well as the curious small 'ventilation' holes along the sides of the wraparound portion. The purpose for those small holes is a mystery to me...

One more for Nov 2nd.
A reed green hbt summer combat nco collar corner, cut-off with the mouse grey tresse and rank tab intact(Unterscharfuhrer).

Well worn tropical skull..

Cupral M1/8 Wagner with two holes drilled in the wings to secure it to the cap..

Here's a 4th motorized inf rgt board, acquired at Bastogne by a prisoner interrogator. Although Rgt 'Der Fuhrer' was actually twenty or more miles to the NW, this was either a liason guy or a former member of DF, still wearing his former unit insignia.
But this discovery caused 101st G-2 to assume that DF was among the units opposing them and that the 2nd SS Pz Div was also closer to Bastogne than they actually were.
The gothic DF slipon is so rare, it does not even appear in LTC Angolia's SS Cloth book. He does have a pen & ink illustration of this style lettering, embroidered directly to the surface of a shoulder board.

Note the chain stitching in silk thread on this detailed close-up of the slip-on.
I'm glad Kursk has joined-in on posting here.
I was starting to feel like the Lone Ranger.
Some of you other guys have great insignia, taken from or with part of the uniforms.
Start sharing it with us and get this thread going again.

The LAH slip-on on this infantry EM board is the only one I've ever acquired from a veteran
(in this case, a 2nd Armored captain).

Here's a detail of the embroidered cypher on the slip.

Thanks to Denny G., for telling me how to re-size images, so I can post them larger on this forum.
This is a detailed shot of the only OFFICER's LAH cypher I've ever obtained directly from a veteran-in this case a prisoner interrogation captain of the 502nd Parachute Inf Rgt.

Wow! I'm having fun with these larger images.
Here's a feldmutze skull, of a type not commonly seen. It's neither the narrow version, nor the extra wide version.
This came from another 2nd Armored Div veteran, who served in the 92nd AFA Bn, the 41st AIR and the Div MP Co.

Yes, I've showed this one before, but never could do it this LARGE.
Cut from a body SW of Arnhem by a 501st PIR Lt. in fall, 1944. The Detroit Police crime lab verified in 1994, that there is a veneer of human blood across the face of the tab.
Viewing it thru an electron microscope revealed tiny bird feathers embedded in the blood, suggesting that birds pecked at his face before the collar corner got cut-off.

go ,go ,go Mark,,,BIGGER IS better! keep it going...thanks , G.

This inf sgt board was removed from the same body-note the Luftwaffe style nco tress on both the edge of the collar and on this board-proof that this style tresse was used on W-SS uniforms and boards.

Last post for today (11-3-07)-
This set of officer cutoffs belongs to a friend of mine and has also changed hands several times in the past few years.
To a W-SS collector, eye candy for sure.

blows your mind when you think that if the tunics a lot of these items were cut from still existed, we would be talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars..but, as it was, it was just a tunic of the period, nothing special..

Worn, but not 'well-worn':

A grouping of insignia, all taken from a single Gruppenfuhrer encountered at the Obersalzberg in May, 1945.
Courtesy of a 506th paratrooper, 101st Airborne Division.

Yes, I've shown this one before as well, but never this large.
Taken in the Bois Jacques woods near Foy, Belgium during the Bastogne 'winter sports'.
January, 1945, c/o a member of the 501st PIR.
The victim was "frozen like a popsicle" and had evidently just been issued a clean, new uniform at the start of the Ardennes offensive.
Note the more common diamond pattern NCO tresse on the collar edge.

Posted expressly for John F., who used to own it and wants it back.
Don't worry John, if it goes, your name is first on the list.

Here's the reverse

Mark, those are great looking pieces. I am always impressed with your cut-off insignia.

I am posting two items that were given to me years ago by a 29th Div D-Day veteran who went in to Omaha Beach in the 2nd wave. He is still living at age 87. Their colonel was killed that night a short distance inland. He was Colonel Warfield of Maryland.

Other side

Here's the counterpart to the pristine eagle of the same type posted on another thread. 'Pee Wee' Martin G/506th PIR, found this damaged adler with powder residue and blood traces, blowing along the ground the same day, same area. Whomever had it in their pack or pocket didn't make it that day.

Hello Don B. Nice job, documenting the historical provenance to these items as well as the SD artifacts in your book. Regards, MB

Cutoff front of a late war SS M43 cap with 'Pirate Skull'. This is a contrast to the barely-worn trap on the other thread.
As you can see, this one was heavily machine-sewn. It's liberator started to cut it off, then decided it was easier to just cut around it and take part of the cap with it.

Part of sleeve w/factory-sewn eagle, hand sewn lance cpl chevron and hand-sewn field promotion, to Rottenfuhrer (2nd stripe).

This was liberated by S/Sgt Ed Prusa of 2/501 PIR. Possibly salvaged from a Frundsberg casualty, outside Veghel, Holland in September, 1944.
I have to take a break from the forum for awhile. Will post more stuff when I return from Florida. Regards to all, MB

Now for some M43 cap fronts with separate insignia. This example I purchased from a dealer in 1976, for $60-. I remember at the time, the dealer stating "Getting SS insignia like this is the only way I'd believe it was right..."
I also recall some of the 'expert' collectors at that show passing on the piece, because they thought the insignia should have been 'machine-sewn'. They regarded the fact that the insignia were obviously hand-sewn as cause for alarm.
In retrospect, having seen vet bring-back 43 caps and overseas caps, I would now feel the opposite is true...at least on caps of this type.

Very similar skull on this one. This is the exact specimen illustrated in LTC Angolia's classic book on SS Cloth insignia.

2nd AD vet-acquired M43 cap with the larger (wider) type skull I referred-to earlier.

Very nice guys! The camo piece is sweet.. Everyone's different in collecting as some prefer minty mint, but I'd rather have them like this than some off the shelf depot stored piece anyday..
A real treat, thanks for showing them...,G.

Yet another confirmed variant of the field cap skull. This is from the collection of my friend Jim Slaw. historian of the 44th Inf Div.
It was probably liberated from the 'Nord' mountain division.

Cut from the top front and foldup portion of a W-SS overseas cap. A member of Co. F, 501st PIR, 101st Airborne Div. cut these off a cap on a hill east of Bastogne, where US fighter bombers had strafed and killed a number of 12th SS Pz Division grenadiers from the 26th Rgt,
in a patch of woods.
We discussed this piece several years ago when I first posted it and people seemed to agree that the worn-off detail on the eagle resulted from the cap being worn under a steel helmet and rubbing repeatedly against the liner.

Forgot to mention on the overseas cap insignia posted above- note again the narrow format skull and also the obviously hand-sewn method of stitching-on the insignia.

A very salty set of Rottenfuhrer tabs, again from the Nord Division, courtesy Jim Slaw. collection.
This is evidence that even low-ranking NCOs could and did wear officer quality runic insignia at times.

From a page in the scrapbook of a 101st Airborne M.P.
He told me he removed this from a cap at Bastogne.
SS units in the area included LAH, 19th SS Pz Gr Rgt,(9th SS Pz Div), and 26th SS Pz Gr Rgt (12th SS PZ Div).
This info doesn't identify the wearer's unit, but does narrow-down the possibilities.

Many thanks to all for posting this exclusiv material.

I'm posting a reprise of Lt. Siegfried Held's collar corners from the 17th SS Pz Jager Abt.(KIA 13 June, 1944 SW of Carentan, France)
These deserve to be shown in a larger format.

The reverse side of Held's collars make an interesting study.

The gimp cord is much thicker than usually seen on SS Pz officer wrappers.

Both of the tabs are crudely sewn-on with long (1/2") stitches. The stitches on the rank tab are more difficult to see, because they were done in black thread.

The different style pip in the center of the rank tab suggests that Held's rank might have been upgraded in the field, from Standartenoberjunker to Untersturmfuhrer.

I have a few photos taken from Held at the time of his death and he is probably shown in one of them-identifiable by his rank and the odd pip.
I'll also show several shots taken at the road junction where he was killed-after the battle.

Forgot to mention on the post above-it is significant that ALL pips come right thru both the tab and the collar material. This might explain why far more runic tabs were salvaged from the battlefield than rank tabs, with pips.

This was taken circa 9 June, 1944 in the French town of Partheny. The 17th SS Div was enroute to the Invasionsfront from Thouars and paused to confer with an Army general(?) Standing to the right (as you view the photo),in foreground is an Untersturmfuhrer, who could be Siegfried Held. The center pip on his rank tab appears to be different from the other two.
He is wearing an Army-style panzer overseas cap with scalloped front; you can easily see the difference from the boat-shaped 'schiffchen' worn by the officer in the left rear of the photo.
The IPW officer for the 501st PIR got an undeveloped roll of film from Held's possessions when he was KIA, and this is one of the photos that was on it when it was developed.
Of course it's possible that Held 'took' the photo and is not in it himself-perhaps we'll never know for sure.

The Brigadefuhrer in the photo could be Werner Ostendorf (?)

This is where Held probably met his Waterloo on 13 June, 1944. The camera faces N, back toward Carentan, which is less than 3 miles distant.
The 506th was to the left (west of the road) and the 501st to the right(east of the road).
This is the road which connects Carentan to Periers and the junction is one of several intersections known as 'la Fourchette'.
Curiously after being hit by the 6 pounder (57mm)AT gun shown, the StuG IV went past it and made a 180 degree turn around, facing back south, on the west shoulder.
This incident is described in my latest 101st book (see Amazon.com) and the names of the AT gun crew members are listed (I interviewed 2 of them). Two StuGs were KO'd by this crew on that day, but the other is not visible in this photo. It is probable that the one seen in this shot was commanded by Lt Held. The French house w/ orange slate roof is still standing at this intersection. The 506th battle of Bloody Gulch (shown in Episode 3 'Band of Brothers') took place the same day, about 1 mile to the NW of here. It was a rainy afternoon.

The US troops wasted no time in clearing wrecked vehicles from the roads near the beaches. This was taken by an engineer of the 326th AEB a few days after the StuG was KO'd. It was hauled up off the verge of the road and dragged into Carentan for display. Then it was moved to the German vehicle graveyard illustrated in the book 'Panzers in Normandy-Then & Now'. The vehicle graveyard was situated a few miles south of Isigny, France.

This photo was made perhaps a week after the battle at la Fourchette. It ends the story and you can see the same French house in the back, but the StuG IV is now missing.
You can see where the tracks ground-up the dirt on the shoulder of the road as the vehicle was being recovered and dragged away.
The machinegunner was a member of 2/506th PIR
I love these last two photos.

In 2005, I made a pilgrimmage to Lt Held's final resting place, the German military cemetery at Orglandes, France (NW of St Mere Eglise).
Not wanting to chance losing the original collar corners, I took a color Xerox of them, to be photographed where he lies with 2 other fallen German soldiers.

Since American Graves Registration people probably recovered Held's remains, it accounts for the discrepancy in the date of death (14 June)-they probably waited until the line stabilized here, before venturing forth to collect bodies.
Also, I failed to state the obvious about the last photo at la Fourchette-the AT gun crew had been deployed elsewhere, being replaced by the light machine-gun. By then, elements of CCA 2nd Armored Division had taken-up defensive positions even beyond la Fourchette.
The 'Hell on Wheels' tankers were capable of stopping local German attacks, with flexible armored deployments.

Mark,,,is that one marker and 3 different plots or do they bury 3 in the one space?


Glad you posted these insignia. Weird almost sloppy stiching, mis matched pips etc. If it were on a tunic here asking for opinions I'm sure there would be the 'looks like a 2 yr old put them on' and 'obviously post war attached' ...I'd bet most field / combat devices and insignia were stiched/attached like these shown here..Thanks , G.

G-
The answer is yes, 3 bodies in one oversized space-The French & Belgians were reluctant to devote too much of their land to plant dead Boche.

Well-worn and textbook in style-but no provenance on this one.

Reverse of bullion arm adler with proper 'H' code RzM label.

Top buckle liberated from an equipment depot in the Obersalzberg area by a 101st Abn veteran. Typical late war silver painted steel, NO markings on reverse.

Bottom specimen unearthed about 10 years ago, by a Belgian metal detectionist in the woods naer Sadzot, Belgium, where grenadiers from 'DF' or 'Deutschland' fought US paratroopers of the 509th PIB during the Battle of the Bulge.

A Textbook, vet-acquired example of an iconic insignia-the standard SS officer's runic collar tab.
As someone who has been collecting TR stuff for over 45 years, I can attest that originals of these were never really what you would term 'common', even back in the 1960s.

Today, it is possible to walk into small regional militaria shows and not find one single 'real' example for sale in the entire show.
I also can't think of another SS insignia which
exists in so many borderline variations, where it is difficult or impossible to determine if many of those are original or not...a potentially very frustrating fact for collectors. I have to conclude that many reproductions have been generated, with varying degrees of success. There are certainly also some original variants out there, which differ significantly in appearance from this one.

I am satisfied with this one, because I know where it came from. Stan Myers of the 67th Armored Regt, 2nd Armored Division, removed it from a dead SS officer during the St Lo Breakout in late July, 1944.

Here's the back side of Stan Myers' bring-back SS officer runic collar tab, with paper RzM label. I acquired this from Stan about 10 years ago, while researching my 3rd book 'Breakout at Normandy'.

Mark,
This is another SS buckle from the Battle of the Bulge, taken by S/Sgt John C. Taylor, Battery "A'" 277th F.A. Bn., 174th F.A.Group, VIII Corps.

Front

Some items removed from SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Christian Tychsen, acting commander of the 'Das Reich' 2nd SS Pz Div.
Tychsen was ambushed on 28 July, 1944, while riding in a kubelwagen with this driver and Ordnance officer near Cambry, France (s/of Coutances.
Lt John Cleveland of the CCB traffic sqd, 2nd Armored MP Co. was among those present who looted Tychsen's remains and divided the souvenirs. The Mauser .25 was found in the small holster worn on Tychsen's back. A tank driver got Tychsen's RK & Eichenlaub while another GI got his DK in gold. Others got the remaining insignia, dogtag, Soldbuch, etc.
Contrary to legend, his panzer wrapper tunic was NOT taken at that time. Remains of it were found when his body was exhumed for identification purposes in 1967. On it was a disintegrating rank tab with four pips and one shouldeboard for a field grade officer. Since he was hit in the left side of his neck by a bullet, those two items were presumably not taken, because they were too bloody to deal with at the time.
Because he was stil wearing tall jackboots when buried, he was initially interred as a unknown German officer. The 7 tooth bridge installed after a Russian grenade mutilated his jaw in 1942 was the means by which his remains were properly identified in 1967.
The photo of RK trager Hans Weiss is ink-signed TO Tychsen, which poves that this grouping does not just pertain to him, but was owned by him.

What precious little evidence there is, to reconstruct what happened to Tychsen and where he was ambushed. The original of this photo has 1/4 torn away and is smaller than a baseball card. This was taken by a tank gunner in the 67th Armored Regiment at the main road south of Coutances, known as 'les Haut Vents' the high winds). Like 'la Fourchette' near Carentan, there are numerous places in Normandy called 'Haut Vents'. Tychen's mother was told by the German Red Cross that he disappeared somewhere near 'St Denis'. It was actually n/of St Denis le GAST. Tychen's mother discovered there were over 60 places in France that begin with 'St Denis'. Her attempts to learn anything were in vain.
2nd Armored Div HQ was never notified of Tychsen' death and even Heinrich Himmler made inquiries through the Red Cross and could discover nothing. Tychsen was killed, stripped of all identification and buried in the shoulder of the road so quickly, that only a few
witnesses ever knew what happened to him. GRS moved his body to a French cemetery at la Chene Guerin in late 1944, then he was re-buried at Marigny, as an 'Unbekannt Deutsche Officier' until a team of SS veterans identified him via the dental work in 1967.

Anyhow, back to the photo. It is possible that the kubelwagen visible at left was the one Tychsen was riding in when ambushed. The French author of 'Panzers in Normandy Then & Now', believes the ambush happened here.
Other historians in France theorize that Tychsen was KIA at 'la Noraisserie', a farm about 2 miles NE of here, on the road to Guehebert. Another Kubelwagen was ambushed there.
The German prisoner seated in the vehicle with hands clasped behind his head is wearing a breast eagle of some type, so is obviosuly not SS. Much of the German 7th Army was retreating along this road and there were troops of all types killed and captured by Major 'Smokey' Ring's roadblock/Task Force near Cambry.

Tychsen's C.P. in Trelly was straight ahead, 1 mile down the road to the west from this junction. Too bad the vet I got this photo from didn't take more photos here-he also unfortunately didn't recall any details about the kubelwagen or its occupants.

If you visit the Haut Vents road junction today, the house shown on the corner in this photo is still there. Little has changed in this part of Normandy. This vintage photo surfaced five years after I published my 3rd book 'Breakout at Normandy', which contains some details about Tychsen's death and disappearance.

I took this comparison at Haut Vents in 2004-camera facing NW. These battlefield investigations can get like CSI, except you never seem to arrive at a decisive conclusion.

This was presumably Tychsen's cuffband. In early August, 1944, Lt Cleveland tossed this, along with the photos and the small pistol onto Captain Bult's desk and said: "I took this stuff from a German colonel."
I bought the grouping from Mr Bult in 1995, which sparked the research that led to creation of my 3rd book.
This flatwire band has the silk border-instead of aluminum wire-which is characteristic of the Das Reich officers' cufftitle.

Mark,

I think it's safe to say for everyone that we have thoroughly enjoyed your terrific pictures and informative text posted recently on GDC. Thanks for taking the time to share your collection AND deep knowledge on the subject.

Mark, I would like to join Denny in saying how much I have enjoyed the wonderful pictures from your collection, and especially your knowledge of the individsual items and the men who acquired them. To me the history you have recorded of the pieces is what really makes your collection so renarkable, and interesting.

The attached studio portrait of RK Trager Hans Weiss is a classic SS officer portrait. It was found in Tychsen's possesions after his fatal ambush. Weiss had been friends with Tychsen since they served together in Division Reich in the motorcycle and Recon battalions on the eastern front.
In Normandy, Weiss commanded a Korps level Tiger Tank Bn, until he was shot 3 times while fleeing the Falaise pocket, then captured while unconscious. He died in a car crash in the late 1970s.
Thanks to Don and Denny for the positive comments-I'm glad somebody is enjoying the results of my work here.

A pen and ink drawing I did of Tychsen, completed January, 2003.

Here's a flatwire from Rgt 'DF', also liberated by Captain Bult in the summer of 1944. Small pockets of this regiment were scattered across 40 miles of front when they arrived in Normandy, including the British sector. They had just moved north from their infamous reprisals at Oradour sur Glane.

M. BANDO...... What Phenomenal History and Historical Artifacts ..... with Meaningful Stories which Only can be told ..... by a Phenomenal Historian!!!!!!

Your attention to Details ... leaves one with very few unanswered Questions!

Thanks for Sharing.... MORE !!! Txs, Dave/dblmed

On a rainy day in 2003, I photographed my other Tychsen drawing, propped-up above his grave. This is at the German military cemetery at Marigny, France.
BTW, thanks Dave-I hope you have a copy of my 3rd book, 'Breakout at Normandy'. It is out of print now, but used copies sometimes crop-up on Amazon.com and other online book sellers.

Here are two more cuffbands salvaged by Captain Bult of the 2nd Armored Divison.
He got the AH RZM style title at the Albert Canal in Belgium in September, 1944.
Not the golden brown age and wear patina to the silk thread lettering.

The variant flatwire 'Deutschland' Pz Gr Rgt title is the rarely-seen type without the speckled reverse. Obtained summer, 1944-somewhere in Normandy.

>I'm glad somebody is enjoying the results of my work here.<

Somebody? It's hard to imagine any collector or curator - let alone historian - not being most impressed by and thankful for your work, Mark. Your contributions are huge.

I see what you mean about the "CSI" aspects.
Even a casual run-through of "After the Battle" magazine sparks the Inner Detective
in all of us!

Thank again for the immense efforts.

Thanks Inimicus-

The US 30th Infantry Division became known as 'The Work Horse of the Western Front' starting in the battle of Normandy. Wherever they went, they seemed to run into Waffen SS formations opposing them. At Mortain they fought DR to a standstill and they had many encounters in the Belgian 'Bulge'. Places like la Gleize, Malmedy, Stavelot and Stoumont Belgium all saw clashes between the Waffen SS and the 'Old Hickory' division.
German radio even began referring to the 30th ID as 'Roosevelt's SS Troops', a title which the 30th guys were proud of. This was before discovery of the concentration camps and before the W-SS received the blanket condemnation of being a 'criminal organization'. Although considerable atrocities occured in the W-SS sector of the Ardennes offensive (against civilians and US military alike), the primary image of the battlefield SS was still that of an elite fighting force.
A special edition of the 30th newspaper came-out after the Bulge, in which many articles related specific battles with Hitler's elite troops in various small Belgian towns.
The cuffband shown with that edition of the paper is a flatwire AH officer's title taken from a fallen member of Kampfgruppe Peiper at Stoumont by a American Lt of the 119th Rgt of the 30th ID. He had a cigar box full of souvenirs from Peiper's troops, but he left that in his old house in NJ when he retired and moved to FL. He only saved this band because it was stuck in one of his books, as a bookmark.
I acquired it from him about 18 years ago.
In all my years of collecting this is the only W-SS item I have which I can positively attribute to KG Peiper.

oops-here's the image referred to in the post above-MB

Here's a 30th patch modified to reflect their honorary title of 'Roosevelt's SS Troops'.
An issue of the Army newspaper 'Stars n Stripes'in January 1945, actually featured a short article on the front page with the story of this modified type of patch and a pen & ink illustration of a modified 30th patch.
As to the patch itself, the outer and inner design features an 'O H' for Old Hickory, while the 3 X's in the center are Roman numerals for the number of the division-'30'.

Speaking of KG Peiper, I've always 'suspected' that this salty Infantry Captain's board was salvaged from one of their casualties. Can't prove it though. One of Grant Bias'hotel buyer friends obtained this from a vet years ago, along with a LAH Inf Sgt's board, on which the monogan appears to have been painted with silver paint.
Like most hotel buyers, this one did NOT bother to get the vet's name or unit. That would've gone a long way to knowing which time period these boards were acquired.

This LAH Inf Sgt board was purchased from the same vet at a hotel buy. There is a lot not to like about this at first examination.
The back side is black, instead of field gray. The tongue is cut-off and the cypher appears to be painted with silver paint. The paint job looks so farby that no self-respecting repro artist would claim credit for it.

However-the prongs are of the same style as on the officer board.
As to the cypher itself, not all the details on the 'H' are cut-out-but this is a common trait of this maker.
If you look closely at what lies underneath the silver paint, there is a quality, detailed cypher in there.
The fact that relatively fewer white metal LAH cyphers seem to be around, suggests that fewer of those were made than the gold-colored officer types. Hence, the silver ones may have been difficult to obtain, even back in the day.
This would've contributed to causing period modifications like this.

Mark, since more or less this forum has absentee Moderators I'd like to nominate you for the new 'Great Thread Badge' award..

Also, when you get a chance,could you post the reverse of that variant Deutschland cufftitle,,,thanks ,G.

Here's the back side of the LAH NCO board with painted cypher. Note the brass prongs for the cypher-

(On the captain's board, the prongs also come all the way through the base of the board).

Forgot to mention on the obverse side of the NCO board, you can also see the tresse was upgraded from Unterscharfuhrer to senior sgt by placing a short strip of diamond pattern tresse across the open base of the board.
Hence, we can see the evolution of the board, from Unterscharfuhrer to Scharfuhrer, with a tresse modification, finally a pip promotion and at some point (?) the addition of a modified (painted) LAH cypher-pretty labor intensive history for one shoulder board.

BTW, from a 101st vet I got an Infantry Unterscharfuhrer board which had been downgraded a rank from Scharfuhrer, by 'removing' the end strip of tresse, as opposed to adding it.

For Gaspare-The lower band is the reverse of the rare variant 'Deutschland'. Hard to see in this photo, but it has the usual protective black backing but the rest of the band is plain black, not salt and pepper like most other flatwire cuffbands.

Fabulous info here, especially on Tychsen. Thanks for posting & sharing.

Fantastic contributions M Bando! This will perhaps be an even greater thread than the old lost one "well used SS insignia"! Youre responsible for that! Items with history and solid provenance will remain so much more interesteing than minty depot finds.

Keep up the good work!

"Felix" - N. Hansson

P.s. Will try to post a few of my insignias as well to contribute.

Amazing research & collection!!
Thank you very much for posting these pictures Mark !!

Cheers,
Ibrahim,
Singapore.

Here's the pen & ink drawing I did of Obersturmbannfuhrer Jochen Peiper in early 1976. If I remember correctly, by some coincidence he was murdered later in that very year, by former Maquisards, who fire-bombed and shot-up his house in Traves, France.
He had been working there for a few years, translating German military books into the English language. He was killed on 'Bastille Day'.

fantastic collection,fantastic books a gold mine of information.i did'nt realize that you were an artist-great drawings.thanks paul zaya

Before leaving the LAH flatwire with KG Peiper provenance behind, here's a closeup, with better detail.

Showing the back side of it, because it seems to have a gold-colored tint to the salt and pepper pattern on the reverse.

C.R. Corbin an American GI of the 3rd Armored Division witnessed atrocities committed against Belgian civilians by KG Peiper during the Bulge.
you can read firsthand testimony about those days here:
http://home.earthlink.net/~crcorbin/ParfCorbin.html
Since it's almost December, I like to read Bulge accounts at this time of the year.

Here's a Normandy grouping, taken from a dying member of Pz Gr Rgt Deutschland during the St Lo Breakout.
Roscoe Lewis was a medic in a field hospital of the 48th Armored Medical Bn, 2nd Armored Division. The owner of these insignia and decorations came into Lewis' hospital as a casualty but didn't make it.
The reverse of the bevo runic tab is made of cardboard, instead of the usual loosely-woven white threads.
The lettering on the RZM style cuffband has also turned the golden-brown color which commonly happened to these items with age and wear.

When we mention St Lo here is my contribution;
LTc Emmert Anderson cut the ss insignia from a dead SS corporals uniform At St Lo FRANCE 1944. Its what I cant make out of the handwritten note. So its either Das Reich or GvB.

This cut-off has a bloody history.
On the night of 29-30 July, 1944, above St Denis le Gast, France (SW of St Lo), a 2nd Armored roadblock force was decimating retreating Germans from 'DR'. A machine-gunner named Michael Gainey was facing south with his machinegun, in the same direction the Germans were retreating. As they flowed past either side of his position, he'd wait for them to walk in front of a burning barn, then shoot the silhouetted figures from behind. He took quite a toll that night, melting the barrel of an air- cooled light machine-gun then switching to a water-cooled M1917 Browning.
Eventually, an SS noncom (original owner of
this eagle), saw what was happening, doubled back and rushed Gainey's position. Gainey cut him down, but not before the German hurled a concussion grenade, which blew Gainey out of his position.
The SS Sgt was wounded and began screaming for help. When Sgt L.E. Williams went out to help him, the SS Sgt spun around on the ground and fired a pistol at him. Incensed, 'Chubby' Williams used a B.A.R. to riddle the SS Sgt with two 20 round magazines of 30-06 ammo. The next morning, Sgt Tucker of 2/41st Armored Infantry Regiment (AIR), cut this eagle from the noisy SS Sgt's arm. The holes were made by Chubby's B.A.R. rounds.
This is among the stories in my 'Breakout at Normandy' book (MBI pub. 1999) now out of print.

Here's the reverse of that cutoff.

As to Michael Gainey, he received nothing more than a Purple Heart Medal, despite all the enemy troops he shot on 'Death Night'. He recuperated from the grenade blast and rejoined his company late in 1944. While sleeping in a halftrack under blankets in the Battle of the Bulge, a German mortar shell exploded right inside the vehicle, blowing Gainey out onto the road. He was running down the road, covered with blood and screaming, when his buddies tackled him and sent him for aid.
He received 'shock therapy' at US Government hospitals and his health declined. He died in the mid-1950s, as a result of his war wounds.

More insignia salvaged during the St Lo Breakout. Large caliber slugs (.50s) hit the tab and board. Sgt Shorrock of the 17th Armored Engineer Bn, a two-time Silver Star winner, kept these souvenirs of 'GvB'.

I do not wish to distract from the historical accounts, but for the purpose of collecting, I would like to point out something of a purely technical nature. The stitching on the above cut-off appears to be what I believe is called a "blanket stitch." Regardless of what it is called, it is important for collectors to note that this stitch, though less common, was originally used. Too many believe that only a zig-zag stitch is found on authentic SS sleeve eagles and condemn stitching like this as post-war (which this piece OBVIOUSLY is not!).

You are absoutely right Brad, how often you see it these days on tunics, same in regards of cufftitle stiching on offered tunics. Of course you can see this ir that stiching technic on a tunics. But certain things just disappeared.

Two shortened, combat-acquired cuffbands for the 4th SS Polizei Division. These were salvaged during night patrols in front of the main dike on the south shore of the Neder Rhine river, between Heteren and Driel, Holland. This area is SW of Arnhem and was near the DZ where the Polish Brigade of paratroopers jumped during Market-Garden.
I use the word 'salvaged' because when insignia were removed from bodies on the battlefield, it saved those insignias from being interred with the bodies, which merely resulted in disintegration, destruction, and permanent loss of those insignia. As to why the unit cuffbands were crudely ripped-off the sleeves of the fallen, it was done quickly, while on the move behind enemy lines. The purpose for bringing these back was for S-2 to establish unit identification of the enemy forces opposing them.
Since the 4th SS Division was on the Eastern Front at the time,these bands caused confusion. Two different members of the 501st PIR (one in 2nd Bn HQ S-2 and the other in G Co, 3rd Bn) brought these in and it was eventually learned that like the Luftwaffe 'HG' Division, the 4th SS Division also had a training school situated somewhere west of Arnhem. Soldiers from that school were sent into the battle lines when the fighting came to that area(students or instructors? Not known).
You can see that the EM RZM version has the golden brown discolored lettering on (formerly)white silk, while the flatwire version is made similar to the rare flatwire'Deutschland' illustrated earlier in this discussion.
I have laid the examples on a map showing the part of Holland known to US paratroopers as 'The Island'(because it was surrounded by rivers), where these insignia were liberated.

Captain Bult of the 2nd Armored MP Co. liberated this salty GvB title at Lengronne, France around August 1, 1944.
This makes an interesting study piece, because you can see how the German who applied it to the tunic, had shortened it, before sewing it on. One end was made much shorter than the other, to reduce overlap.

Here's a reverse view of Captain Bult's GvB cufftitle. You can still see French mud soaked-in on the exposed places. Notice the mint (clean) section at right, which was concealed under the rest of the band while in wear.
The 17th SS saw their first combat on 12 June, 1944 at Carentan. This was liberated about 7 weeks later, after being in continuous action in the battle of the hedgerows.

(I meant at right on the first Bult GvB photo).

Another salvage job by Captain Bult 2nd AD MP Co. near Geronswiller, Germany (Aachen sector) Siegfried Line, October, 1944. As a part of the IInd SS Pz Korps, the 9th SS Pz Div was withdrawn from the Arnhem sector after their successful defense against British Airborne forces, (late Sept-early Oct, 1944)and rotated to defense of the west wall before the Ardennes offensive began.
Hohenstauffen would also take part in that offensive in Dec 44-Jan 45.
To me, this cufftitle has just the right amount of wear, although it is full-length it is obviously removed from a tunic.
It's a good bet that the original owner saw action at Arnhem and posibly also in the British sector in Normandy.

The other half of IInd SS Pz Kps, and another perfect specimen. Full-length, tunic removed and blood-stained. Sorry no vet provenance on this one.

Back side of the 10th SS Pz Div cuffband.

This collar is ripped/cut of a uniform. No nice vet story or provenance on this one. A nice nice and usable item for display by itself or along with a camo smock.

Collar tab with yellow/tan toned colour. Notice the precise fit under the litzen as well as padding under the tab.

Well used and salty uniform removed SS NCO collar tab. One of my favourite items and the first SS collar tab in my collection. I wish some of these items could speak!

Very salty uniform removed Nordland cuff title. Clearly combat dirty! Again, I wonder what hell this cuff has went through!

vertical NCO skull tab out from my box

Some salty machine-woven runic tabs. The flatwire has really "been there." Note the different backing materials which were used, including the late-war cardboard.

Felix-
That cutoff collar is an absolute screamer. I remember being delighted to see it the last time this discussion ran. If you ever decide to sell it, I know somebody ;-)who would like to own it.

Why is it when you see a Bevo AH cuffband it is almost always in unissued condition?
I've been searching for years to get a full-length but obviously worn example, cut from a uniform.
Finally found one in an AZ collection and just acquired it this week.

Always liked the "DF" in quotation marks also.
This one is marked Bevo Wuppertal on the end.

BTW, the AH above is still joined
sewn-together) in the back.

Now for some vets who added W-SS insignia to my collection.
Fist, Wilson Boback of the 501st PIR

Captain Chuck Bult, commander of the 2nd Armored M.P. Company sold me some of Tychsen's photos and his cuffband and .25 Mauser pistol.
That was in 1995, and that purchase started research which led to my 3rd book, 'Breakout at Normandy' (MBI pub. 1999).
As you can see from the postings above, I also got a number of other W-SS insignia from him.
Being a Dutch-American and not long-removed from the old country, he was well-aware of the elite status of the battlefield SS and treated the prisoners accordingly.
He always swapped a bar of soap or pack of smokes for a PW's badge or insignia. Most GIS simply took whatever they wanted from the prisoners.

Al Morfee landed in Normandy to replace the Big Red One's D-day casualties. He fought with the 16th Inf Rgt from St Lo thru the Hurtgen and the Bulge to the end of the war.
The metallic wire runic tab with stitching coming clear thru the buckram backing was acquired by Al in the Bulge.
Both sides of that tab were illustrated earlier in this discussion.

This is both an Utterly Fascinating, as well as a Super Informative Thread!!!

Not only are the superb SS Insignias which you're sharing with us - but the Real stories behind them - are "Priceless."

Adding the VET'S information / Photos gives a real human touch - to these otherwise lifeless precious pieces of cloth!!! MORE.... Dave/dblmed

Mark,
Haveing picture size trouble.
John

I'd jut like to thank you all, especially MBando, for this remarkable, wonderful and very kind lesson.

It's been fantastic. Thank you very much.

I know it's not a uniform or insignia, but since I'm posting US vets w/SS souvenirs
...
here's where I got my M36 chained dagger. Sgt Bill Knight (506th PIR)received it from a surrendering SS officer at Bad Gastein around VE-Day.
The SS officer handed it to him and said in English:
"...a souvenir..."

A Big Thank You to Mark Bando for taking the time to post all of the great pictures and information!

Thanks Mark!!

Chief

Here's my favorite Worn SS insignia,The evasive "Bergfuhrer"Badge in Bullion.It still has the tunic material behind it.

>>

bump

Personally I like the higher-end silver bullion insignia, such as SS-Obergruppenfuhrer collar tabs...

Bill