As many of you know, when Mike Beaver died a few years ago, he had been in the process of amassing a number of photos to illustrate future books on SS headgear and insignia. Many collectors across the country and around the world dinated photos of items in their collections. However, Mike died far too young, at a time when these projects were not yet completed. Bill Shea inherited the research materials and he has completed the SS headgear book, which will appear later this year.
Bill has turned-over two binders of SS insignia photos compiled by Mike B. before his death. He brought about 12 binders to the last SoS and after looking at the massive amount of material, I concluded that to show all of this would require a huge 3 volume set, such as Mike B. did for his SS uniform series.
This is a larger and more ambitious project than I have the time to complete.
However, I did borrow photos of cap and sleeve eagles, tab and board variants, and cuffbands for Germanic Waffen SS units. I do not wish to take-on political SS insignia, Foreign volunteer units, specialty badges, etc. It is just too much. What I do envision is showing known original variants of the above-types of insignia, especially cut-offs and salty, tunic-removed examples. I'd also like to combine pictures of W-SS artifacts picked up on the battlefield which have veteran stories or at least vet provenance attached to them.
So, although the scope of the book will be mostly insignia, I will include some weapons, headgear,uniforms,ID books, identity tags and other items taken on the battlefield.
If you have such items and would like them to be in this book, I'm looking for contributions.
I am not paying for these photos and stories but contributors will be credited in the book. If we get enough storied pieces, I think this will be a book such as has never been done on TR and especially W-SS collectibles to date.
With some teamwork and co-operation from many collectors we can make this book what many of you want it to be. The finished product will be eye candy for W-SS collectors for sure.
As an author with several other works in-progress now, I thought I wouldn't be able to devote a lot of time to this project until 2012. However with the help of a Michigan area graphic designer who is a real fast worker, I think this project can be completed by some time next year (2010).
Anyone who wishes to donate pics and/or stories to this project can email me 350 dpi or higher scans at: markbando@aol.com.
Hard copy photo contributions can be sent to my regular mailing address at:
Mark Bando, PO Box 350, Walled Lake, Mi 48390.
Photos will only be sent back if I am requested to do so.
I am missing some specific cuffband variants, which I know exist, but are not among the pics collected by Mike or myself up to now. In the near future I'll be posting requests for pics of such variants. I realize that many pieces exist in private collections which I don't even know about, but would look great in a book. Please contact me if you can help with anything related to this project. Thanks, M. Bando

Mark,
Have you been getting positive responses concerning your latest project? gjd.

Although nobody has posted here, I've had offers of donations from about 10 collectors off-forum. Also, Mike B managed to get photos from many famous collectors before he died and there are pics from the collections of Ray Embree, Jim Toncar, Dave Delich, Bob Hritz, Steve Wolfe, Steve Pardon, J. Faraco, and many others. There is still a shortage of pieces with stories and vet-provenance. I know the late Wally Hombach had a sniper rifle souvenired in Normandy, with photos of the original owner (Rgt Deutschland?)
and other documentation. After Wally died, the
weapon changed owners and I don't know who has it now. But that would be a great artifact to include in this presentation. As I said, it will be primarily insignia but not limited to same-any nice W-SS item acquired in combat is
what I'm looking for. Other collectors with GREAT stuff have pledged their assistance, including Pete Schubert and Gus Villareal. Tonight a collector with a 12th SS panzer Wehrpass contacted me and I'm also looking for a Soldbuch attributed to the 2nd SS 'DR' Pz Rgt.

Mark, you were a pioneer in collecting tactics.

Sadly, most of the SS pieces I have found from vets I either neglected to try & document, or they had no recollection of where they got them.

The other piece is after all this time, the memories can fade, and I am not going to argue with a 80 year old vet that the mothers cross he has did not come from a the cold dead hands of an SS officer...

great going, mark.

this is another signal service to the community. your focus on "storied items" is much appreciated by me and other journos out there. relatively easy to acquire material; much harder to document it, eh?

research often isn't much fun - it's more like detective work, vainly chasing down many leads to find the rare "gems" of data.

yet the vets' stories provide abundant richness and go far in helping these castoffs "live."

hand salute,

david

Thanks for the kinds words David. The book is slowly coming along, and Brian Ferencz, a local graphics tech has scanned many images for me already. I'm still looking for storied pieces, not only cloth, but also headgear, weapons, badges, etc.
I recently traveled to a remote part of Montana, to buy a gold Partisan Warfare badge from a 101st Airborne (506th) vet, who is the only vet I ever met, who brought one back. It has a magnetic needle pin, a cheap gold wash and in several places, the acid from inside has surfaced, creating a white discoloration to the surface (obverse and reverse).
So it is made of typical late-war metal, with unfinished edges, etc. But where/when else will I ever be able to get a documented example with vet provenance? So I bought it and took pics of the vet holding it, and will also make-up an affidavit for him to sign.
I'll post photos here eventually and this will be yet another attributed item for my book.
The vet acquired most of his German souvenirs in the Obersalzberg area, in mid-1945, but he doesn't remember the circumstances in which he found this Bandenkampfabzeichen. Too bad...
He belonegd to Fox Co. 506th, same battalion as the famous Easy Co. of Band of Brothers fame, and he served with them From Toccoa to Austria, jumping in Normandy and Holland, fighting at Bastogne, etc. I got a few other nice items from him, but no SS stuff.

The vet and the badge-if image will post

Sorry- Image shack seems to be having 'issues' tonight-I'll try again tomorrow- MB

Maybe this will work:

Once again, very cool Mark. Did the vet say where he picked that up?

Jerry-To my disappointment, he doesn't have a specific story or set of circumstances. He got the badge while in the Berchtesgaden area and he didn't pay particular attention to its uniqueness at the time. It could have been found in a building or taken-off one of the thousands of German soldiers who were migrating west, to escape the wrath of the Red Army.
Many 101st guys also picked-up insignia, badges, weapons etc from piles of stuff confiscated at roadblocks in May, 1945. I know another 506th vet who still has a chained SS dagger, which he retrieved from a pile of edged weapons and firearms, which were stacked on the street of a German town, when the locals were ordered to turn-in all weapons.

Mark, do you get my email?

quote:

Originally posted by M. Bando:
Maybe this will work:

Very cool! I love pics like this.
Thanks to All Veterans.

Mark,

Not all veteran souvenirs were from the battlefield or POWs. Part of the story of vet bring-backs is of post-war occupation souvenirs. For SS insignia, the Dachau uniform depot was a major source. A recently-sold photo shows a GI at Dachau with his booty! I suggest that you get the contact information for the buyer from Manion's and see if he would contribute the use of that amazing photo. They may also have information regarding the vet himself.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.co...wthread.php?t=376635

Best,
Brad

Brad-
There are a number of batches of mint, unissued insignia from Dachau among the photos which Mr Beaver collected-I believe I have enough to cover that aspect of liberated SS loot.

At a certain point, after one has finished gaping in awe at the bundles of mint, unissued insignia, it comes back to the old comparison of unused items vs things with a true history of wear and use in WW2.
At the end of the day, mint, unissued insignia hold little more historical interest for me than something reproduced in Austria last week.
I believe the ideal collection would have one mint example of each cuffband or collar tab, just to show what they looked like at the time of manufacture. These mint examples would be complimented with several examples of field-worn specimens, which started-out looking the same way, but have taken-on the dirt, blood, sweat and 'history' of wear in battle.

The mystique of things that were actually used, is what sets them apart from sterile, virgin items, which never left the clothing depot.
I know many collectors do not agree with me on this subject, but my book is aimed at those who 'get it' and are on the same page with me, as to the relative importance of items actually worn and used in the war. Thus 'worn' insignia will hold a higher priority in my book.

quote:

Originally posted by M. Bando:
"At the end of the day, mint, unissued insignia hold little more historical interest for me than something reproduced in Austria last week."

"The mystique of things that were actually used, is what sets them apart from sterile, virgin items, which never left the clothing depot.
I know many collectors do not agree with me on this subject, but my book is aimed at those who 'get it' and are on the same page with me, as to the relative importance of items actually worn and used in the war. Thus 'worn' insignia will hold a higher priority in my book."

Well said Mark.
Look forward to seeing these type of examples.