UBB.threads Forums General Militaria Flags, Field Gear, and Miscellaneous Militaria and Regalia Forum Donitz's Baton

I want one

Beautifully designed, beautifully executed, named and rare... IMHO these batons are the epitome of German military collectibles. Thanks for showing.

As a side note, re: the photo of PFC. Lilley- the photo has been "doctored", but (most likely) NOT with any deceptive intention. The strange appearance of the background is due to a typically done, period-painted retouching of the background. Much faster than airbrushing and predating digital manipulation, backgrounds were often painted out and/or "retouched" with grayscale paints, resulting in unnatural, hard edged silhouettes, in order to simplify the original image for better low resolution newspaper publication of the period. Few photo retouchers had the time, talent and/or necessity to paint back in the background shadows and toning that would make this masking technique less noticeable.
Nothing clandestine here, simply good photo journalism.

Just a bit of vintage graphic design trivia .

I find it sad that Donitz wanted his baton back, and asked its whereabouts but was met with silence.

WHY DO YOU FIND IT SAD?

It was his personal property, and was stolen from him.I know, vanquished enemy blah blah blah, but theft is theft.

..........and war is hell...Too bad.

all captured enemy property is subject to seizure,,including most personal items,,

But seizure by the state, not looted by individuals.

Look at what has happened in Iraq, cultural treasures vandalized and looted by foreign soldiers.

I thought that we are supposed to be too civilized to condone pillage and plunder (and we sure don't want to talk about rape).

John

quote:

Originally posted by militarymania:
all captured enemy property is subject to seizure,,including most personal items,,

Canadian soldiers were not permitted to steal personal properties from the defeated armies.
In other words, taking personal war trophies was prohibited by the Canadian armies.
No wonder why there's nothing here and that we have to shop south of the border.

Joseph..yes, war is hell.


Unfortunately, that is not the issue.

One thing that has not stopped (though the guns have ceased firing years ago) is the continued, organized theft of high end awards, medals and daggers from veterans by unscrupulous collectors.

The US had and has clear definitions of what constitutes "war booty" and what can be legally confiscated by victorious troops...it doesn't automatically mean every item that belonged to a "war personality" or all that a GI wishes to possess..if this were so a great number of German daughters would have been shipped home via shipping crates..

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Kenwright aka "KURSK":


One thing that has not stopped (though the guns have ceased firing years ago) is the continued, organized theft of high end awards, medals and daggers from veterans by unscrupulous collectors.

...............and dealers I must add.

Pat..yes, that must be stated as well..

There are only a handful of collectors who know the true story about the Batons. That being said I can personally tell you that the internal markings by the company who manufactured them are the key and certain ones discussed in this thread did not pass the test.

Hey Guys, I visited the Smithsonian in Washingon D.C. in April of this year. There was a Grand Field Marshal Baton on display. I don't recall if it/or who it belong to. Or if it was real or a reproduction. I didn't take a picture the sign next to it. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm usually pretty thorough. Anyway, Here are the pics.

2

They're not so great. Best, Johnny