Show us your Militaria

[V.C. Brunswick]

 

[Binary Blue]

I have a small collection.
I took these pics at different times for a different forum:

Mk5 Turtle Helmet from 1987:

Belgian Greatcoat from 1967:
Front:

Back:

And something I found in its right pocket:

Some NATO Cold Weather shirt:

Swiss Jacket:

And 2 "tabs" I found in its right chest pocket:

They're supposed to be slipped onto the "straps" on the shoulders from what I can tell.

Some Swiss soldier must have spilled a few drops of his drink onto the jacket so there were a few stains on it when it arrived. Luckily, I managed to remove them using a rag with warm water and some dish soap.

Pattern 37 British Battledress Shirt that was sent to Greece:

Anyone know where I can get the trousers for a reasonable price?

And here's some stuff I bought at the Del Mar gun show in San Diego:

The green beret is from the South African Engineering Corps.
The pouches are from a Pattern 37 Webbing set. Anyone know where I can get the belt?
And the gas mask is a Russian Civilian GP-5.

I got to handle tons of old WW2 rifles that day. It was awesome.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Another recent acquisition...

 

[Phantomfixer]

A recent find, a 1952 dated USAF Parachute, complete, as near as I can tell.... Used by a Air Refueling Squadron until 1962....

 

[Sprinkles]

Here are my military caps:

US Army Engineer Officer Cap (Bancroft manufacture)

US Army Engineer Officer Cap (Kingform manufacture)

East German NCO Police Cap (1968 Dated)

East German Air Force Officer Cap (1982 Dated)

Soviet Army Officer Field Cap (1977 Dated)

West German Air Force Officer Cap (1991 Dated)

I also have a Soviet Infantry General's Service Cap and a Soviet Navy Captain 1st Rank Winter Cap but unfortunately have not taken pictures of those!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Oooohhh! Nice caps! :thumb:
I'm looking for an Army Dress Blue Aviation cap (either current or USAAF) and the Soviet Air Force officer's visor cap (service dress version). For some reason the parade version is more common.

 

[Sprinkles]

Ah, I forgot I do have a Soviet Air Force service cap! It is actually a rather interesting one because it is made by a unique (I believe) maker. It was most likely made shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union by an early privatized shop. It is also a pinhead size of 54 which is kind of unfortunate! I will try to take some pictures of it soon.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Argentine Army Visor Cap
(Colonel)

 

[Sprinkles]

I am not really familiar with South American items but that does look like a really nice cap! Here is my Soviet Air Force Officer Cap. As you may see it is missing its star on the wings, don't really know what happened there! Also it has a wide 2 inch sweatband, an interesting makers-label, and a patent leather visor (only seen on General caps!) So all of these lead me to believe it is a very early transitional period cap, private made, during the sketchy time between Soviet Union and Russian Federation.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

If I'm not mistaken, the Soviet era caps, as opposed to the transitional period, have a gray sweatband.

 

[Sprinkles]

Yes that is true. Except general officers had leather sweatbands that were cream colored like this one. But on my cap they are cream colored but are not leather! So it is another special feature on this one!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

OG-107 named to Lt.Col. William C. Redeen, USAF
Born: 17 July 1923, Whitefish Bay (Milwaukee), Wisconsin
Died: 9 November 1996, Reston, Virginia

Lt.Col. Redeen (front row, third from left), a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, flew A-1 Skyraiders and F-105s. Interestingly on his 1942 draft registration card he listed his civilian occupation as "Actor."

 

[Captain Nemo]

OG-107 named to Lt.Col. William C. Redeen, USAF
Born: 17 July 1923, Whitefish Bay (Milwaukee), Wisconsin
Died: 9 November 1996, Reston, Virginia

Lt.Col. Redeen (front row, third from left), a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, flew A-1 Skyraiders and F-105s. Interestingly on his 1942 draft registration card he listed his civilian occupation as "Actor."

Do you have information on Colonel Redeen's career? I am interested to see how an Air Force officer was able to become jump qualified.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

In my research I found that Col. Redeen was a FAC in Korea so he might have been attached to the 187th Airborne RCT. I enlarged the group pic and could detect a smaller badge below his wings on the nametag of his flight jacket which corresponds to the shirt.

 

[Captain Nemo]

In my research I found that Col. Redeen was a FAC in Korea so he might have been attached to the 187th Airborne RCT. I enlarged the group pic and could detect a smaller badge below his wings on the nametag of his flight jacket which corresponds to the shirt.

That would make sense. AF personnel assigned to Army Airborne outfits would have to get jump qualified. I thought it could be that, or he had started off as a Paratrooper in the Army and later transferred to the AF and learned to fly airplanes.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

That would make sense. AF personnel assigned to Army Airborne outfits would have to get jump qualified. I thought it could be that, or he had started off as a Paratrooper in the Army and later transferred to the AF and learned to fly airplanes.

That had occurred to me because he enlisted in the Army in 1943.

 

[1961MJS]

OG-107 named to Lt.Col. William C. Redeen, USAF
Born: 17 July 1923, Whitefish Bay (Milwaukee), Wisconsin
Died: 9 November 1996, Reston, Virginia

Lt.Col. Redeen (front row, third from left), a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, flew A-1 Skyraiders and F-105s. Interestingly on his 1942 draft registration card he listed his civilian occupation as "Actor."
,,,

Hi V. C.

Check out the NARA archives of WW2 enlistment records. There's a drop down menu of the various "previous civilian employment" you can look at.

My Father volunteered to join the USAAC in July 1941 in Peoria Illinois. Dad graduated from Western State Teacher's College (Now Western Illinois University) in May of 1941 and decided to join the USAAC Weather Squadrons since his favorite professor taught Meteorology. Dad was unemployed when he joined up. I didn't find Unemployed in the list of previous civilian employment, but Motion Picture Actor is 002, and there is no 001. I'm pretty sure that Dad was listed as a Motion Picture Actor because his recruiter didn't want to look up the number for unemployed. I bet the Colonel is in the same boat.

Later

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Iraqi Air Force patches

 

[TomS]

Great stuff, thanks for showing!

 

[Giftmacher]

Not mine, but could someone decrypt this?