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ISRAELI, ZIONIST & JUDAIC
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ISRAELI LAND FORCES and NAVY:
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Early Israeli Army quartermasters corps metal cap badge, 1948-50. The badge is slightly curved and was worn on the army's first type of hat, the so-called 'Hitelmacher' hat (see item 0110004). There are two prongs on the reverse which would have held the badge to the hat. The badge also has a contoured piece of blue velvet fastened to it, which at that time signified the wearer's service in the quartermaster/logistics corps. A fine piece of Israeli militaria - a rare instance of investment in solid metal insignia for the military (weight: 9.90g), and a scarce piece overall. Not maker-marked. In EF condition as most of the coarse dotted finish on the surface is still intact and the details well preserved.
More pictures: front of emblem, back of badge, back of badge, at angle, bare
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Item Code: 0120048 Price: $100
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Early Israeli Army metal cap badge, 1948-50. The badge is curved, and was worn on the army's first type of hat, the so-called 'Hitelmacher' hat (see item 0110004). There are two prongs on the reverse which would have held the badge to the hat. The badge also has a contoured piece of red velvet fastened to it - this gave the badge a more visible and ceremonial appearance on the hat. A fine piece of Israeli militaria - a rare instance of investment in solid metal insignia for the military, and a rare piece overall. Not maker-marked. In VF condition as most of the rough finish on the surface has been worn smooth - but also a sure sign of actual usage.
More pictures: front of emblem, back of emblem, back of IDF emblem with red backing removed
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Item Code: 0010115 Price: SOLD
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Israeli beret badge bearing the insignia of the IDF, 1950's. The emblem of the Israel Defence Forces became the insignia of the General Staff in the years after the War of Independence (1948-49), as other branches of the armed forces adopted their own unique banch insignia. This badge would have been worn by a soldier attached to the General Staff and fasted to a beret using a metal pin held by the two prongs on the reverse. Not maker-marked. Unfortunately the badge is bent in a few places and the Star of David frame and base of the sword have snapped.
More pictures: front of emblem, back of emblem
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Item Code: 0010116 Price: SOLD
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IDF Israeli Army General Staff ("Matkal") 2-toned curved metal beret insignia badge, circa. 1948-early 1950's: original two-piece construction, with gold colored leaves (front and back of component) and silver sword, with 2-pronged back; not maker marked; weight: 14.20 grams. In excellent physical condition and exhibits full detail. Unlike later issues (which are also scarce) these original issues have clean, open spaces between the details, particularly around the 1st, lower olive of the branch surmounting the sword. A rare instance of colored Israeli militaria.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge, front of badge, at angle, olive leaf detail of badge front, badge measured
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Item Code: 0120041 Price: $400
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Israeli Army General Staff ("Matkal") metal hat insignia badge, circa. 1948-mid 1950's; original two-piece construction with 2-pronged back; not maker marked; weight: 16.80 grams. Some surface wear and very slight bend near prong but excellent physical condition. Unlike later issues (which are also scarce) these original issues have clean, open spaces between the details, particularly around the olive leaf branch. For a related item, see #0110052 below on this page.
More pictures: front of badge, side angle of badge's front, back of badge, back of badge at side angle, back of badge, detail from angle, Moshe Dayan as (Southern?) Regional Commander with Matkal badge, circa. 1951
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Item Code: 0110045 Price: $225
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Extremely rare Israeli Army General Staff ("Matkal" - 'Mateh Clalli') member breast pin, circa. 1948-50. Small metal pin bearing the emblem of the IDF's General Staff: about 2cm high and 1cm wide; weight: 1.20 gram; with soldiered safety pin on reverse; not maker marked. The pin may have been worn on the breast pocket flap or on the collar of an army shirt.
The General Staff emblem is comprised of the pre-State "Haganah" military force's insignia of a sword intertwined with an olive branch (which later became the symbol of the IDF's officer training course) surmounted by a frame of two olive branches. In the early 1950's this emblem became a larger sized insignia worn on visored hats and berets. In excellent condition, with very light wear but exhibiting full detail and some luster.
More pictures: Matkal pin front angle, reverse side with measurement, pin reverse from angle
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Item Code: 0110052 Price: $500
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Scarce old Israeli Army (IDF) military police metal shoulder tag, circa. 1948-50. The badge text says "Mishtara Tzva'it", has two rear-side loops and the catch pin; with red backing; weight: 3.65 grams, about 5cm wide; not maker-marked.
Around this time the military police also wore cloth flashes with this text, but the metal variant is scarcer to find. The badge is a little bent/uneven in places.
More pictures: reverse side of pin, components of the pin
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Item Code: 0110050 Price: $100
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Old metal pin for the tank corps ("Kheyl Shiryon") of the Israeli Army (IDF), circa. 1940's-1950's. It's a detailed cut, but rudimentary in production, with tank details etched on the surface and a standard safety pin fastened on the back. Maker-marked with the Hebrew letter "Mem" ('M') on the reverse - probably for the firm "Michsaf", who produced many of Israel's early insignia. The design most closely resembles a Sherman M4 tank (with sloping front and shirt barrel on turret), which would date this pin to its estimated time-frame: somewhere after the 1948-49 War of Independence and the period just after the 1956 Sinai Campaign.
More pictures: front of pin, angled view of pin back, close up of maker's mark
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Item Code: 0010217 Price: SOLD
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Scarce tunic collar/shirt-pocket Israeli Army (IDF) supply corps metal pin, circa. 1948-50. The pin features the original design of the supply corps - a horse and chariot superimposed on a sword. This is an original issue badge with open spaces between the details; later issues of this pin left the areas in between the details full and not stamped clear through. The ribbon at base reads in Hebrew "Kheyl Aspaka"; weight: 0.95 grams; not maker-marked.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, measured, back of pin, at angle
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Item Code: 0110053 Price: $50
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2 sets of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) shoulder strap ranks for a Captain ("Seren"), circa. 1948-early 1950s: one set, with stitched cloth tabs is for service/combat uniforms (known in Army parlance as "madei bet" - "B" uniforms), and another set with metal tabs (and two pronged backs) for wear on dress uniforms ("madei alef"). The fabric of the cloth sliders varies between the service and dress versions, and the service color is olive green while the dress uniform slider is khaki. Over time the shoulder strap ranks have become simpler and less 'invested', now being simple plain olive green printed bars on a cloth slider or simple metal bars all joined together. Of these early types, particularly the metal emblems, some have milled edges and others (like these) don't - but they do have raised borders along the edge. Scarce.
More pictures: front of both sets of ranks, closeup of service uniform ranks, closeup of dress uniform ranks, detail of reverse of service uniform ranks, detail of reverse of dress uniform ranks
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Item Code: 0120047 Price: $125
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Metal pin of the "Nachal" brigade of the Israeli Army, circa. 1960's. The "Nachal" - "Fighting Pioneer Youth" - is the spiritual successor to the pre-State "Palmach" force, incorporating military training with Zionist-inspired land cultivation work; a prestigious formation with a glorious heritage in the IDF. The thick metal shield is diamond-shaped, bearing the emblem of the "Nachal" and has a safety pin on the reverse.
More pictures: front of pin, side-view of pin thickness and fastener, back of pin
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Item Code: 0010215 Price: SOLD
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Israel Defense Forces, Artillery Corps badge - Headpiece emblem of the Artillery Corps ("Kheil HaTotkhanim"), with red fabric-finished plastic backing and two loops side by side on the reverse, for mounting. The emblem is curved (hence the blurry lettering on the scan) and would have been worn on a beret or hat, circa 1960's-70s. Not maker-marked. In used but excellent condition.
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Item Code: 0020020.1 Price: SOLD
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Israel Defense Forces, General Service Corps badge - Headpiece emblem of the General Service Corps ("Kheil HaClali"), with two loops side by side on the reverse, for mounting. The emblem is slighly curved (hence the blurry lettering on the scan) and would have been worn on a beret or hat, circa 1960's-70s. Not maker-marked. In used but excellent condition.
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Item Code: 0020020.3 Price: SOLD
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Israeli military dog tags, circa 1958-60. Set of 2 unifaced aluminum dog tags with the soldier's personal number on them. Judging by the style of the tags and the number (6 digits, around the 500,000 mark), these were probably issued towards the end of the 1950's.
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Item Code: 0020027.4 Price: SOLD
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Israeli naval insignia - rank patch and dog tags - belonging to First Sergeant Shlomo Zohar, 1953-56. Zohar participated in the Sinai Campaign of 1956 (see item 0020027.3), and in this lot are his rank patch and dog tags. The patch is the thick, woollen 3-striped insignia of a First Sergeant, along with the naval insignia punched on top - to distinguish him as a naval soldier. That central pin is held to the main patch with a metal bar between it's two hooks, and the whole patch was sewn onto Zohar's uniform. The accompanying photo is of Zohar, with his left-hand rank patch visible; the tip of the right-hand side patch (the one in this lot) is just visible in the background, protruding from his right sleeve.
Although the consignment comes from Zohar, details on the back of the photograph also confirm his personal military ID number to be that which is punched into the aluminum dog tag discs in this lot. The discs also give Zohar's blood-type ("B"). The dates on the rear of the photo are confusing though, as it is stamped Feb. 1965 even though the hand-written message is dated 1955 (which pre-dates the wearing of the Sinai Campaign ribbon of 1956 - which Zohar is wearing in the photograph). In all likelihood, the photograph is from 1956 - which, according to the written message, was taken in the northern city of Kiryat Ata. Wearing the "A" uniform (dress uniform as opposed to the "B" service uniform) of that time, Zohar is characteristically wearing the emblem of the Israel Defence Forces on both collars of that type of uniform.
More pictures: photo of Sgt. Shlomo Zohar,
aluminum dog tags,
front of rank patch,
reverse of rank patch
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Item Code: 0020027.2 Price: SOLD
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IDF Druze Battalion emblem: unit badge belonging to "Gdud Kherev" ('Sword Battalion') of Druze and Circassian soldiers in the Israeli Army; weight: 3.7g; not maker-marked.
Druze (Bedouin and Circassians) have served in the IDF since 1948 and are conscripted for national service like Jews. Like religious Jews, the Druze and Circassians (and Bedouin) serve in homogenous ethnic units. Originally these existed as anonymous "ethnic units" within the IDF, but from 1951 the Druze and Circassians served in "Battalion 300", a force which earned the stature of a special force given the paratroop and additional training afforded to the unit. In 1974 all the "ethnic units" in the Army were amalgamated together into larger units, and the Druze-Circassian battalion become known as the 299th "Sword Battalion".
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge with backing, back of badge
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Item Code: 0120061 Price: $20
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IDF paratroop battalion (890th) commando school pin: awarded upon completion of the corp's commando course; 1955-1960's.
At the end of 1954, as head of the IDF training division, Yitzhak Rabin suggested that the Army create a commando course to improve the physical and psychological strength of the regular army officers. The former commander of the special force "Unit 101" and the then commander of the 890th paratroop battalion, Ariel Sharon, created a month-long course in commando training at the Tel Nof paratroop base, and the first class opened on 1 January 1955. Graduates of the course received this pin, whose motifs were: parachuting, explosives and hand-to-hand combat (an Israeli form called "Krav Maga").
Weight: 1.70g; not maker-marked.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin
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Item Code: 0120063 Price: $75
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2 sets of Israeli Army and Israeli Airforce sergeant rank stripes, circa. 1950's: the Army ranks are of the earliest style, with individually stitched blue lines along each of the three stripes - and all three are separate (since the 1960's sergeant ranks have been a 1-piece triple stripe patch); still attached to battledress fabric. The Air Force patch has 4 small corner prongs on the reverse for snapping it onto a uniform.
More pictures: front of Army patch, back of Army patch, back of Air Force patch, back of Air Force patch
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Item Code: 0120069 Price: $25
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ISRAELI AIR FORCE (IAF):
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Israel Air Force metal airmans wings with red colored backing (for those who saw combat action), circa. 1948-mid 1950's. Somewhat unusual in design and backing: unlike most samples the design on these wings (particularly the leaves) is more incuse, the face is relatively flat, and the wing tips have a pronounced upturn flair; the planchet is relatively thick and the reverse is scalloped, rather than incuse; the back features a customised soldiered bolt with attached screw rather than the standard 2-pronged flat metal back, and there is no maker-mark. Weighs 11.50g (1 gram more than the usual issue). Bears some surface wear and light scratches; looks well worn and 'invested' by its apparently proud wearer. Rare.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge with screw, back of badge, plain, back of badge at angle, detail of upturned wing tip
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Item Code: 0120045 Price: $300
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Detailed metal pin of the 117th First Jet Squadron ("Ha'Silon Ha'Rishon" in Hebrew) of the Israel Air Force (IAF), circa. 1950's-60's. The Squadron was established in June 1953 and became the first in the IAF to fly jet aircraft - the British Meteor T.7 and F8. The Squadron partook in all the major combat engagements from that time onwards, including the 1981 raid on the Iraqi nuclear facility in Osirak. Based in Ramat David airbase, it now flies F16-C's. Solidly manufactured with a safety pin on the reverse.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin
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Item Code: 0010218 Price: SOLD
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Israel Defense Forces, Air Force badge - Headpiece emblem of the [Israel] Air Force ("Kheil Ha'Avir"), with two loops side by side on the reverse, for mounting. The emblem would have been worn on a beret or hat, circa 1970's. Not maker-marked. In excellent condition though the very tip of the right wing is curled back.
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Item Code: 0020020.2 Price: SOLD
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Israel Air Force ("Kheil Ha'Avir") hat badge, 1960's: with screwback reverse (possibly replaced from the original) though screw itself is missing. Received from consignor whose father was in the IAF in the 1960's, the emblem can also be dated to the period because the legend in Hebrew uses one letter "vav" in the word "Avir" (air) instead of two, as used in versions issued from the late 1970's onwards. Darkened metal with some surface wear but otherwise in excellent condition; not maker marked; weight: 7.70g
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge, back of badge at angle
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Item Code: 0120060 Price: $20
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PRE-STATE and COMMEMORATIVE HAGANAH and PALMACH MILITARIA:
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Hagana member's pin: numbered metal pin issued by the Haifa branch of Israel's pre-State armed force, the "Haganah" ("Defence", in Hebrew), circa. 1949-50 to commemorate the wearer's participation in that region's operations during the 1947-49 War of Independence. Numbered "104" on the reverse; thick plancheted; not maker-marked. Weight: 2.70g.
The emblem of the sword surmounted by an olive branch was the symbol of the Hagana's platoon commander graduate's course ("Kurs Mem-Memim"), and became the Hagana's overall emblem. When the IDF was founded, it's emblem embodied that of the Haganah, and it continued the tradition of issuing the sword-and-olive branch emblem to graduates of its officers training course.
Following the War of Independence local branches (at city-level) of the "Haganah Members Association" (veterans group) issued localized pins like these, all eschewing to some degree the use of the Hagana's emblem in the center. Scarce.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin at angle, back of pin, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120031 Price: $150
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Service pin of the "Carmel Brigade", 1948. The Brigade originated as one of 6 regular 'Hagana' brigades created with the informal outbreak of the Israeli War of Independence in November 1947. This specific brigade, the 2nd Brigade was designated the "Levanoni" (i.e. Lebanon) Brigade (also known as the "Northern" Brigade), and commanded by Moshe Carmel with responsibility for defence in the area northwards from the town of Zichron Yaakov.
At the end of February 1948, "Levanoni" was split into 2 brigades - "Golani" and "Carmeli", the latter being assigned the region of Western Galilee, Haifa and the Carmel mountain. It comprised the 21st-24th battalions composed of area residents, Technion students, and members of the pre-State 'National Guard' ("Mishmar Ha'am") - in total 2,238 soldiers, first commanded by Moshe Carmel and then by the future, 3rd Chief of Staff, Mordechai Makleff. The Brigade took part in all the operations in this area during the War, including the capture of Haifa and former British basis in the region. After the war the Brigade became a reserve unit in the IDF.
This pin depicts the emblem of the Brigade - the Carmel mountain by seaside with the sunset, and the reserve is a safety pin. Not maker marked; weight: 1.95g. Interestingly it is inscribed "The Carmel Brigade" (Khativat HaCarmel) instead of by its common name Khativat "Carmeli". Nice toning with light oxydation on the top right corner.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, side angle of back of pin
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Item Code: 0120046 Price: $200
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Hagana/Israeli Army (IDF) 5th "Givati Brigade" unit pin with name in Hebrew on base ribbon ("Khativat Givati"), circa. 1947-50. This is a variant of another emblem badge of this unit, which does not bear the name-ribbon (see item 0120022, below); this piece is stamped on thicker metal though is smaller than the other version and lighter in weight - weight: 0.95g.
More pictures: front of Givati pin, back of pin, measured, back of pin, at angle
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Item Code: 0110054 Price: $40
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Haganah/Israeli Army (IDF) "Givati Brigade" unit pin, circa. 1947-50; has simple pin soldiered on back; weight: 0.95g.
In its original incarnation the Givati Brigade was one of the IDF's first 6 infantry brigades, formed in 1947 as the 5th "Givati" Brigade and composed of foreign volunteers ("Machal-niks"), field troops of the Haganah ("Khish") and a battalion of underground Eztel/Irgun organization members. During the War of Independence the Brigade fought in the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem area, protected armored convoys to beseiged Jerusalem, and whose reconnaisance/jeep company (commanded by Tzvi Tzur, the future Chief of Staff) distinguished itself and became known then and until today as "Sampson's Foxes" ("Sho'aley Shimshon"). The Brigade was disbanded in 1956, reorganized as an infantry reserve unit which underwent a few incarnations and is now known as the 84th Givati Brigade.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0120022 Price: SOLD
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Rare Palmach breast emblem badge. Small white metal pin bearing the emblem of the Palmach - the "shock companies" of Israel's pre-State 'army' and forerunner to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Haganah ("self defense").
The pin was issued to everyone who was a Palmach member prior to 29 November 1947, the date on which the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to partition Palestine (i.e. the unofficial start of the 1947-49 Israeli War of Independence). The pin was usually worn on the flap of the left pocket of an army shirt/tunic, sometimes with cloth backing, though rarely seen worn. The Palmach existed as an independent armed force even after the IDF was created, until November 1948, when it was absorbed into the Israeli Army; it numbered about 6,500 fighters of whom 1,500 fell in the War of Independence. The Palmach pin was later replaced in 1951 by the blue and white War of Independence ribbon.
The pin is roughly 2cm tall and 1cm wide, with a simple safety pin soldiered at the back; not maker-marked; weight: 1 gram. In Palmach fashion, the pin is simple in manufacture but intricate in design. Of significance is that the Palmach had no other "official" wartime insigniae or issued badges except for this pin: this is the only officially issued identifying emblem worn by members of the Palmach.
The significance of the Palmach ("Plugot Makhatz" - PalMach), founded in 1941, is two-fold: militarily it represented the epitome of pre-State Israel's pro-active doctrine of "coming out from behind the fences" and attacking the enemy on his terrain, its battle cry being "after me!"; the Palmach was commando trained and contained special foreign language companies (like German and Arabic). The Palmach contained land, air ("Pal-Avir") and sea ("Pal-Yam") forces. Eventually subsisting on the Kibbutz (Zionist communal farm community) movement under the tutelage of Yitzhak Tabenkin, the Palmach also absorbed and reflected the socialist ideal of Zionism, of working the land and living in a spartan socialist manner. The fusion of the military and socialist ideals of Zionist at that time turned the Palmach into an icon, whose membership was a way of life. Palmach culture in turn heavily influenced Israeli culture in every sphere, and many former Palmach members (Moshe Dayan, Yigal Allon, Yitzhak Rabin, Chaim Ghoury, Rechavam Zeevi) became prominent in Israeli political and cultural life, across the political spectrum.
More pictures: front of Palmach pin, pin reverse at side angle, reverse of pin, "Yiftach Brigade" commander Shmuel ("Moulah") Cohen wearing Palmach pin (on cloth backing)
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Item Code: 0120057 Price: $400
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Silver (.925) tallion of the 4th Battalion of the "Har'el Brigade" of the Palmach (the pre-State Israeli special shock company formation): this is a uniface tag featuring the Palmach emblem of a sword across two ears of corn and the name "Palmach" at the base; it incorporates the 4th Battalion's name with the word "Portzim" (Hebrew for "penetrators" or "breachers") in Hebrew on the sword itself. The 4th "Portzim" Battalion together with the 5th "Shaar Ha'Gay" and 6th "Jerusalem" battalions formed the Har'el Brigade, which during the War of Independence, was commanded by Yitzhak Rabin and fought around Jerusalem, penetrating the seige imposed by the Arab Legion on the city.
Though undated, the tallion is probably a period piece: its make in silver attests to the importance of the lifting of the Jerusalem siege; there is no commemorative date suggesting it was made afterwards on a special date; and in the IDF there is also a strong tradition of private issues of badges and emblems ordered by individual units and these are worn by serving or former members. In excellent, preserved condition.
More pictures: front of emblem, reverse side of emblem
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Item Code: 0120021 Price: SOLD
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Rare service pin of the 9th Palmach "Mechanized Attack Battalion" ("Gdud Pshita Memuchan"), 1948-49. This force, known commonly as the "Attack Battalion" ("Gdud Pshita") is well known in the annals of Palmach military history and closely identfied with a mobile-commando force called the "Negev Beasts" (or "Negev Animals"; "Khayot HaNegev" in Hebrew).
The origins of the "Negev Beasts" derive from a Palmach reserve force from Haifa, composed of students, and other Palmach members from that region. This force was assigned to the 2nd Battalion (of the "Negev Brigade") of the Palmach as a reinforcement in Decmeber 1947, when Arab attacks on southern locations intensified. The force was then split into two platoons - the second of which, commanded by Simcha Shiloni, was sent to Kibbutz Mishmar HaNegev and given reinforcements from the Mobile Guard ("Mishmar HaNa") of the Jewish Settlement Police. This unit was assigned the protection of water lines and transport arteries in the western Negev up to Beersheva. Lightly armed initially and posessing 3 improvised armored vans, this mobile force formed the basis of the "Negev Animals", who drew their name from their unshaven, swarthy appearance. Their emblem was a camel.
In April 1948 the "Negev Beasts" conducted day and night operations to open transport arteries for Israeli forces and to sabotage the transport lines of the enemy. With the approching invasion of the Egyptian Army in May 1948, this force was augmented by an additional platoon (called "Beeri") and 4 deserters of the British Army, and the whole force became a company positioned against the Egyptian Army.
After a series of fierce engagements, in June 1948, the Negev Brigade drew from its ranks two armoured jeep companies, a motorized infantry and a halftrack company and attached them to the "Negev Beasts" to form the 4th battalion of the Brigade, the 9th Mechanized Attack Battalion ("Gdud Pshita Memukhan"). The jeep companies became an "attack force" and the "Negev Beasts" absorbed 10 halftracks into its ranks along with the motorized infantry. The new battlion participated in major operations in that region until withdrawn for rest and refitting in August.
At this time the battalion absorbed the "French Commando", foreign Jewish volunteers and veterans of the Palmach sea force, the "PalYam". By this time the battalion reached a strength of 500, including 70 women. The battalion subsequently reentered the field of battle, received Chaim Bar-Lev (the future Chief of Staff) as its commander, participated in the major operations of that period, and by December had also penetrated into the Sinai Peninsula. In February-March 1949 the battalion undertook reconnaisance missions for the conquest of the Southern Negev, and participated in the capture of area soon to be called Eilat. Afterwards, and beyond the end of the War of Independence, the battalion served frontier guard duties. In September the battalion was assigned to the new 7th Armoured Brigade of the IDF and the "Negev Brigade" became a reserve force.
Beyond its connection to a unit with much battle glory, the pin is unique for its design which commemorates specifically the purpose of the unit and does not eschew any image associated with the Palmach (i.e. battalion number "9" or the image of a sword across two ears of wheat - the Palmach emblem) - as other Palmach unit emblems do. The sword and olive branch in the background are the symbol of the Palmach's parent armed force, the Hagana, and this symbol became in 1948-49 both part of the new IDF's emblem and the symbol of the IDF's officers training course. Size: 1.5cm x 3cm; weight: 2.35g.
More pictures: front of pin, side view of reverse, reverse of pin
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Item Code: 0120055 Price: $600
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War of Independence pin for the Palmach's 5th Battalion "Shaar HaGay" (pronounced "Sha'ar ha Gai"), 1948-49; weight: 5.45g; size: 3cm x 4cm; with fastened safety pin on reverse and incused back. The shield depicts a rising sun above the Judean Hills (around Jerusalem) and an armoured car, sumrounted by the Palmach's emblem of a sword across two sheaths of wheat.
Numbering 4 battalions with 12 companies (2,100 men and 1,000 reservists) on the eve of the War of Independence, the Palmach immediately expanded its ranks with the formation of the 5th and 6th battalions (under Shaul Yafe and Tzvi Zamir - the future head of the Mossad - respectively).
The 5th battalion was unique in the annals of the Palmach for its highly improvised creation: formed shortly after the United Nations vote to partition Palestine (29 Nov. 1947) between December 1947 and January 1948, the force was an amalgamation of Palmach reservists from Tel Aviv, members of the "Hagana" field companies ("Hish"), new recruits and volunteers from cities, kibbutzim and moshavim, and in the course of the War (1947-49), new immigrants as well as Holocaust survivors - all lightly/poorly trained with no prior organization; the battalion's commanders had similarly no previous familiarity with their troops.
Assigned to the Palmach's "Harel Brigade" (under the command of Yitzhak Rabin), and perhaps overshadowed by the Brigade's repute, the somewhat unknown 5th Battalion was a surprising linchpin in the Palmach's wartime operations: during the 1st phase of the War until April 1948 - the struggle for control of transportation arteries - the battalion was assigned to protect the coastal approaches to Jerusalem; to protect convoys delivering food and supplies to beseiged western [Jewish] Jerusalem from attacks by Arab irregulars, and also to mount reprisal attacks against villages from which the Arab forces mounted their attacks. There was only one main artery to Jerusalem and the Israeli leadership viewed its security as vital to the protection of Jerusalem; without Jerusalem, they felt, there would be no Jewish State.
The battalion participated in several famed convoy operations, including those to Gush Etzion, and the 'Great Convoy' of some 300 vehicles including the Israeli leadership to Jerusalem. All told, the battalion enabled 245 convoys of 3,100 vehicles with 10,800 tons of supplies to reach Jerusalem, delivering 90% of the beseiged city's basic needs.
From April onwards, the battalion participated in the conquests of the Katamon district, Beit Shemesh, Shuafat, Sheikh Jarakh and opening the artery to the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital, and earned its nickname for lifting the seige on the portion of the Jerusalem road called "Shaar HaGay" ("Bab el Wad" in Arabic). The battalion earned further distinction during the Israeli Army's third attempt to remove the Arab Legion from a critical juncture in Latrun along the Jerusalem road, when the force actually did capture a vital position there. Although it later had to abandon it, its attack limited the Legion's scope of movement and enabled the IDF to use its nearby improvised "Burma Road" route to Jerusalem. In subsequent operations the battalion even reached Rafiah, in the Gaza strip. After the War, in spring 1949, the force patrolled the dust road along the border with Jordan.
More pictures: front of pin, side angle of back, back of pin
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Item Code: 0120064 Price: $500
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PRE-STATE and COMMEMORATIVE MILITARIA of the ETZEL/IRGUN:
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Irgun/Etzel white metal pin, circa. 1948: pressed impression of the Etzel emblem (hand holding run across map of 'Greater Israel') set against an image of the walls of Jerusalem (a reference to the Jewish Quarter ), with the movement's slogan "Only Thus" ("Rak Kakh" - in Hebrew) below, and surmounted by olive leaves. The pin back is a simple safety pin soldiered and fasten on; not maker marked; weight: 1.45 grams.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, back of pin, at angle, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120030 Price: SOLD
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PRE-STATE and COMMEMORATIVE MILITARIA of the LECHI/FFI:
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Lechi/"Fighters for the Freedom of Israel" ("Stern Group") metal pin, circa. 1947: white metal pin shaped in the image of the Lechi emblem, with the movement's name in initials ("Le.Kh.i" - Lokhamei Kherut Israel) on the ribbon below. Pin back is a soldiered vertical metal pin but lacks the fastener which would go on top of it. Weight: 1.05 grams.
Scarce to see, I date the pin to the period of the "Hebrew Revolt" of 1944-47 and closer towards the end of it/start of the War of Independence 1947-49, when the underground movements (the Irgun and the Lechi) operated with less public discretion, but before the Declaration of Independence (1948), when these forces were absorbed into the new Israeli Army (IDF). The Lechi was more extreme ideologically and very active militarily, and so less common to see emblems of this formation.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin, back of pin, at angle, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120029 Price: SOLD
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MILITARIA of the JEWISH BRIGADE, BATTALIONS and OTHER (FOREIGN) JEWISH FORCES:
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Eretz Israel - beautiful cap badge of the "1st Judean Battalion" (in Hebrew, 'Ha Gdud Ha Rishon Le Yehuda'), 1919.
The Battalion was a post-World War I formation of Jewish volunteers, former soldiers in the wartime (1917-18) Jewish Battalions (the 38th, 39th and 40th Royal Fusiliers - commonly called the 'Jewish Legion'), particularly of the 40th Battalion of Eretz Israel volunteers. Though the Menorah (Jewish candelabra) emblem was the symbol of the Jewish Legion, it only became a uniform emblem in 1919 with the creation of the 1st Judean Battalion, and the Battalion served guard duties in Palestine from 1919-1921, until it was disbanded.
This emblem is manufactured in the standard British Army style, with a flat 'slider' on the reverse; weight: 6.90g; it is not marker-marked, and is of the variety with a bell-shaped base on the Menorah (others have a base with flater sides). The Hebrew text on the scroll at the base says "Kadima" ('Forward').
More pictures: front of emblem, back of badge, side angle of back of badge
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Item Code: 0120042 Price: $350
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Rare metal hat emblem badge of the Palestine Regiment, 1942-1943: slightly curved with two pronged loop backing; smooth reverse; not maker marked; weight: 9.85g. In excellent condition with some [manufacturing?] residue around a few of the letters.
The Regiment was a shortly-lived Arab-Jewish formation created by the British authorities in Palestine, and drew upon soldiers from existing forces in the British Army, namely "the Buffs".
Although there were already by this time Jewish and Jewish-Palestinian units in the British Army, from a Jewish-Zionist perspective the local community in Palestine was not being encouraged by the British to take arms for proper combat service: this Regiment, like most other such forces was assigned guard duties either within Palestine or in neighboring countries, like Egypt or Cyrennaica (Libya). The Zionist leadership in Palestine was keen on the one hand to have Jews serve in the forefront of the struggle against Germany, and on the other to acquire combat experience which would be needed at some future date to help establish a Jewish country (i.e. Israel). The British, for their part, were wary of precisely that latter goal and so for most of the war prevented Palestinian Jews from service in mass front line duty, especially in all-Palestinian Jewish units.
The second element of this emblem's significance is its design: only in December 1942 did the Zionist leadership and then the Allied leaders publicly announce that Germany was systematically murdering Europe's Jews. This made the Zionist push for military enlistment and nationalist awareness even more pronounced, and together with public pressure by the Jews in Palestine to serve especially in combat forces against Germany, they also wanted to wear emblems signifying their nationality or to raise the Zionist flag - the British at that time categorically and emphatically refused.
This led to a spate of occurences in which either the Zionist flag (today's Israeli flag) was raised and not the British Union Jack, or to localized mutinies in which Jewish-Palestinian soldiers refused to wear the emblems issued to them, such as this one. The issue with the Palestine Regiment is that in spite of its unique name and high Jewish recruitment rates, the Jewish recuits were extremely and publicly unhappy about its emblem's design and most refused to wear it. One British official noted: "...I can see no objection to the design, but I feel sure it will not satisfy the Jews. The olive branch certainly does not denote the offensive spirit, but it may be taken to imply the burying of the hatchet [hatred?] between the Jews and the Arabs" (Gelbar, p. 638). It's design looked like local mandatory coinage, leading the Regiment to be nicknamed the "Five Piastre Regiment". In one instance in October 1943, 69 members of the Revisionist "Beitar" movement refused to wear this emblem and received prison terms in Sarafand (today's "Tzrifin" IDF base). Eventually, when the Regiment was disbanded and the Jewish Brigade created (September 1944), its members were allowed to wear special Jewish and Zionist insignia on their uniforms, and to fly the Zionist flag.
The uniqueness of this specific piece is that it does belong to the Palestine Regiment: in the collecting community we normally come across the crude gold-gilt colored version of these emblems, with rough lumpy surfaces and improvised slider backings; these are often confused with Regiment emblems because their design was also retained by the Jewish Brigade's 2nd battalion.
However, professionally manufactured pieces like this were commissioned by the British firm J.R.Gaunt and herein lies what may have been part of the Regiment members' anger at the design: in Zionist parlance, the region called "Palestine" is called "Eretz Israel" (Land of Israel) and this is the name used in all Zionist materials in reference to this region; the emblem instead uses a kind of standard compromise phrase of that time between Zionist and Mandatory parlance, and reads "Palestine (EI)" - Palestine (Eretz Israel) - in Hebrew. From a Zionist perspective the phrasing is less offensive than the fact that the Hebrew spelling is imperfect: the first two letters (from right to left) are incorrectly designed. The letter "Pay" ("P") looks just like the Hebrew letter "Nun" but with a dot in the middle - for the "Pay" sound, a dot is used, but part of the letter's stroke from the top left and down is missing; the "Lamed" letter, the 2nd letter, is lacking a stroke which would extend above the upper border line of all the letters, making it look like the Hebrew letter "Resh". As these badges are rarely encountered its hard to appreciate their distinctions until closely examined.
More pictures: front of badge, front of badge at angle, back of badge at angle, back of badge different angle, surface of badge at angle, JR Gaunt's emblem design proposal (here the Hebrew letters are fine)
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Item Code: 0120065 Price: $800
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Jewish Brigade metal hat insignia badge, 1944-45; curved, with standard crude manufacture and long, slim slider on reverse; weight: 11.05 grams. Based on a design worn by the Palestine Regiment (1942-1943), badges of this style were worn by the 2nd Battalion of Jewish Brigade Group 1944-45 (which was composed of former Regiment members). The British firm J.R. Gaunt & Son was originally commissioned to produce these for the Palestine Regiment though their execution caused spelling mistakes in Hebrew and their general design angered the Jewish soldiers of the Regiment. Brigade-worn versions with the corrected Hebrew text look like crude local productions (this sample being somewhat better than most). Good detail visible, excellent condition and luster.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge, back of badge at side angle, back of badge at angle from its head
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Item Code: 0110044 Price: SOLD
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Jewish Brigade 'Giyus' (enlistment) pin: stylized badge formed of a square blue face on round gray backing, with a stylized Hebrew letter "Gimmel" ('G') formed from the back stroke of the "Gimmel" and the leg formed from the letter "Ayin" - for the words "Giyus Ivri" (Hebrew Recruitment); the badge back is a safety pin inset into the back; weight: 1.05 grams.
The Jewish Brigade (known popularly as the "Brigada" in Hebrew) was formed in September 1944 and fought on the Italian front until the end of the war; it was later stationed in Belgium and assisted in the covert transport of Jewish refugees on their way to Palestine. Rare.
More pictures: front of pin, back of pin at angle, back of pin, back of pin, measured
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Item Code: 0120033 Price: $250
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Israel - shoulder patch of the Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army, in the Second World War, 1944-45. The Jewish Brigade's origins lie in the movement of Palestinian-Jewish volunteers who joined the British Army with the outbreak of the war. The volunteers initially enlisted in the 'East Kent Regiment' (the 'Buffs') in 1940, and fought in Greece. In August 1942, the British raised 3 battalions of Palestinian-Jewish volunteers who formed the 'Palestine Regiment' (whose hat-badge earned them the nickname 'Five Piastre Regiment' - owing to its similarity to the Palestinian coin) which fought in Egypt and north Libya. After much hesistation, the British government agreed to the formation of a larger Jewish unit of 5,000 men, which in September 1944 was established as the Jewish Brigade Group. This formation fought in northern Italy from March to May, 1945; after the war it was based neard the border between Italy, Austria and Yugoslavia, where its members played a key role in the clandestine immigration of Jewish refugees to Palestine. In July, the brigade was transferred to Belgium and then to the Netherlands, and in the summer of 1946 it was disbanded. The wartime combat experience accumulated by its men proved invaluable during Israel's war of independence two years later. The insignia of the Brigade consisted of this shoulder flash (bearing three Hebrew letters in the form of an abbreviation, which can either be read as the word "Khayal" - 'Soldier', or as the abbreviation for "Kheyl" - meaning 'Force', 'Corps' or 'Army'), together with a square blue-and-white patch bearing a golden Star of David.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010137 Price: SOLD
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MILITARIA of MANDATORY PALESTINE: NOTRIM, PALESTINE POLICE & PARAMILITARY FORCES
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Palestine Volunteer Force metal hat insignia badge, circa. 1942-1943. Intricately designed and featuring image of patron saint, St. George, slaying a dragon (i.e. Nazi Germany); known in Hebrew as the "Kheyl Mitnadvim Ha'Eretz-Israeli", it numbered up to 2,000 men as a home guard force. In excellent condition, curved; not maker-marked; with slider back; 4.75g weight. Rare.
More pictures: front of badge, front of badge at angle, back of emblem, back of badge, at angle, badge measured
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Item Code: 0120039 Price: $500
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[Jewish] metal cap badge of the Fire Brigade in the Palestine Mandate. The badge is nicely detailed, stamped curved metal piece stylized as 6-pointed star bearing the emblem of the fire and rescue services - a helmet superimposed on two crossed axes (the helmet bears a Star of David on its front). The reverse has a folded metal band soldiered to the badge and formed into a two-pronged 'pin'.
The fire rescue services of Israel find their origins in 1897, when, following a fire at his vineyards in Zichron Ya'akov, Baron Rothschild ordered the youth of the settlement to form a fire service. Fire prevention services [in the Jewish 'Yishuv' - community - of Palestine] were first officially created in Tel Aviv in 1925, on a volunteer basis, and then during the years until 1948 more volunteer fire brigades were raised in other Jewish cities and towns of the Mandate. In 1959 the Knesset formally established the guidelines for the organization and management of the country's fire services.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0010201 Price: $50
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Palestine, mandatory period hat insignia badge for "TASC": legend in English and Hebrew, bearing the Royal Crown; in darkened tombak with double-pronged back; not maker-marked. Weight: 3.25g. The Hebrew legend reads "Guarding and Protection" ("Shmira u'Bitakhon").
Most likely worn by the "Temporary Additional [Security] Constables" recruited through the Palestine Police as supplemental Jewish security forces (known as "Notrim" in Hebrew), in the period 1936-39 during the Arab Revolt. British insignia bearing the Crown and with Hebrew text (especially without accompanying Arabic corresponding text) are highly unusual, implying Jewish-only membership.
The original prongs on the back have been clipped down and replaced by improvised, soldiered prongs placed a little further down, on the back side of the "TASC" legend bar. Seen worn on period white-and-blue visored hats of Mandatory uniformed agencies. Rare.
More pictures: front of badge, side angle of badge, back of emblem, at angle, back of insignia, badge measured
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Item Code: 0120038 Price: $400
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Rare sweetheart membership pin of the TASC, circa. 1936-39. The TASC is a little documented Palestine mandate formation, most probably the "Temporary Additional (Security) Constables" recruited by the Palestine Police among the Jewish population to provide auxiliary armed security during the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. Manufactured in the style of British sweetheart pins of that time (for wear on civilian clothes), though the pin on the reverse may be a replacement of the original. The emblem device is an exact miniature of the formation's cap badge (see item 0120038), and the text reads "Guarding and Security" in Hebrew ("shmira u'bitachon"). Weight: 1.75g; not maker marked. Very rare.
More pictures: front of pin, detail of emblem, back of pin,
detail of emblem reverse, side angle of reverse
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Item Code: 0120050 Price: $250
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Cap badge of the Palestine Police, 1920's-40's. This is the silver-finished version of brass badge, with the long, flat hook on the back for insertion into a cap (in the standard British style of hat badge manufacture). This piece is not maker-maked. In excellent condition.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0010009 Price: SOLD
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Cap badge of the Palestine Police, 1920's-40's. This is the black-finished lightweight metal badge, with two copper-colored prongs on either side of the badge at back (a pin would hook through them in order to attach the badge to a hat). This is a more uncommon version of the insignia badge and was probably used for night-duty. The piece is not maker-maked; well crafted and is in excellent condition.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0010010 Price: $100
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MILITARIA of ARABIAN and MIDDLE EASTERN ARMIES:
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Metal insignia badge of the Arab Legion, for headwear. This relatively heavy metal badge features a representation of the crown of the Hashemite Kingdom flanked by two crossed swords and the Arabic legend "Al Jeish al Arabi" (meaning: "The Arab Army" - popularly known in English as "The Arab Legion"). The reverse is incuse, exhibiting sharp detail. There is no maker mark. The fastening is composed of an original hook on the right and a soldiered replacement hooked piece of metal on the left. A lovely badge with surface wear but excellent detail - and a rich history. It would have been worn on the front of "Keffiyeh' cloth head-dress or on the front of peaked helmets (illustrations are provided).
The Arab Legion was born out of Trans-Jordan Reserve Mobile Force (formed by the British in 1920) in 1923 when it merged together with the Trans-Jordan civil police. Originally led by Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Gerard Peake, the Arab Legion initially comprised around 1,100 men formed into infantry, cavalry, artillery, machine gun and signals units. Together with light British forces the Legion beat back an invasion from the area of what would become Saudi Arabia, in 1924.
Tribal unrest in 1926 led to the creation of a separate force called the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force (TJFF), which drew part of its strength from the Legion, and was tasked with guarding the borders of the territory; the TJFF served both in areas of the Palestine Mandate (it was founded at Sarafand - today's "Tzrifin" IDF base), and included Moslem, Jewish and Circassian soldiers.
The now-weakened Legion, unable to cope with tribal unrest, was bolstered by the subsequent creation of the mobile Desert Patrol in 1931 by Captain John Bagot Glubb. The Patrol took over operations in the desert areas from the TJFF, and the rest of the Legion - police and gendarmerie units - maintained order in urban areas. During that decade Glubb successfully pacified the various tribes, and by 1936 the Legion numbered 1,200 men.
Additional units were added to the Legion in response to the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936-39) and civil disturbances in Syria - a "Reserve Combat Force" and a "Desert Mechanized Force". Glubb took over command of the Legion from Peake in 1939, and in 1940 the Mechanized Force was enlarged to battalion size and retitled the "Mechanized Regiment" of the Legion. During the War the Legion dispatched units to assist the British: the "1st Infantry Company" of the Legion guarded the Aqir aerodrome in Palestine; the Mechanized Regiment participated in Britain's re-conquest of Iraq (after the 1941 pro-Nazi coup by Rashid Ali) and also in the liberation of Syria from Vichy France, in 1941.
The Mechanized Regiment distinguished itself so well that later in 1941 it was expanded into 3 regiments and turned into a brigade. Although well trained and equipped, circumstances and politics prevented the Legion from being employed more actively in Iraq, Persia, Normandy and Greece - as the British would have wanted. Nevertheless it maintained a guard presence in Palestine, Persia, Egypt, Trans-Jordan and Iraq and by the end of the war the Legion numbered 8,000 men.
With Trans-Jordan's independence in 1946, the British-led Legion became that Hashemite Kingdom's army. In 1948 the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force was disbanded with much of its strength joining the Legion, and the Legion distinguished itself as Israel's toughest Arab military adversary during the 1947-49 War of Independence: it successfully held the West Bank, captured the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem (effectively keeping Israel out of East Jerusalem, including the Old City - until 1967), and maintaining control over Latrun - a strategic location on the road to Jerusalem (although Israel circumvented this thorn during the war with a make-shift route called the "Burma Road"); the Legion's presence there however did not prevent Israel from capturing Lydda (Lod) and Ramle - a significant israeli victory.
The Arab Legion existed under Glubb's command until 1956 when he and other British officers were dismissed by the King, and the Legion became the Jordanian Army.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge, detail of badge back and pin, Arab Legion commander Major Abdullah Tell, wearing the insignia,
Arab Legion soldiers in spiked helmets with insignia
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Item Code: 0010200 Price: SOLD
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Egyptian / United Arab Republic (UAR) Army large metal hat/beret badge. A two-piece construction featuring the eagle and an enamel colored shield in shiney red, white and black with two green 5-point stars on the white band; vertical 2-pronged back. Die-stamped with relief details visible on back; not maker-marked.
The UAR was a union of Syria and Egypt between 1958 and 1961, although Egypt retained use of this symbol until 1971. It may date from the 1967 Six Day War or the 1969-70 War of Attrition, although given it's fine manufacture it may even be from the 1958-61 period.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0110048 Price: $65
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Egyptian / United Arab Republic (UAR) Army small metal hat insignia badge. A single-piece construction featuring the eagle and an enamel colored shield in dull red, white and black (small chip missing) with two green 5-point stars on the white band. The badge backing is a soldiered vertical metal strip forming two straight prongs. Die-stamped with relief details visible on back; not maker-marked. The badge has a slight curve particularly to the eagle's head leadin me to conclude that it is a hat and not a beret badge. Excellent detail though with light wear overall.
The UAR was a union of Syria and Egypt between 1958 and 1961, although Egypt retained use of this symbol until 1971. It may date from the 1967 Six Day War or the 1969-70 War of Attrition, perhaps also from before.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0110049 Price: $60
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MILITARIA and INSIGNIA of the ISRAEL POLICE & CIVIL DEFENSE FORCES:
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Rare Israeli Police metal hat badge for the Jerusalem area police, 1948. Lightweight (4.15g), stamped metal badge with the word "Police" in Hebrew, English and Arabic around the circle (with 6-pointed stars separating the words, on left and right sides) and the word "Jerusalem" in Hebrew along the center bar. Reverse of badge has two simple soldiered metal looks through which would pass a fastening pin. Used only briefly and so rare. As the origins of this force are little known I describe it here below (ref: "The Hebrew Policeman During the Mandate", Simcha Frumer; 1973, pg. 247-250):
With the deadline for the end of the British Mandate in Palestine (on 14 May 1948) drawing close, in April of that year David Ben-Gurion (the Chairman of the Jewish Agency) called for the formation of a "situational committee" for the creation of a future Israeli municipality in Jewish parts of Jerusalem, and one of the purposes of this committee was to plan the formation of a police force in the area.
The basis for this force came from the 150-man Jewish component of a joint 300-man Arab-Jewish city police which the British had promulgated, and the initial Israeli police force for Jerusalem came into being on 18 May 1948. The force immediately dispensed with the "kolpak" hats worn till then, appropriated a different visored hat, and the emblem worn by this force was the badge presented here.
The planned strength of this force was 400, but difficulty obtaining the manpower kept the force small. Officers and sergeants received revolvers; corporals on duty received two, and the officer on duty received one. Ten rifles were set aside for mobile patrols - and all these weapons were budgeted 25 bullets each.
The Jerusalem police force existed as a separate entity from the Israel Police until August 1948, when it was absorbed into its ranks and adopted its uniform and insignia.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge, side angle of back of badge
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Item Code: 0120044 Price: SOLD
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Rare hand-stamp of the "Association of Former Jewish Policemen in Israel" ("Igud HaShotrim HaYehudiyim LeSheavar BeIsrael"); circa. 1950s: features Hebrew legend surmounting the old emblem of the Palestine Police ("PP"); metal stamp on square wooden block.
When the Israeli Police was founded on 14 May 1948 it inherited almost completely the legacy of British policing embodied by the now-disbanded Palestine Police - ranks, style of uniform, training and professional outlook; in 1958 the Israel Police underwent transformation, shedding most of its British traditions and adopting a more "Hebrew" style of work and appearance. In all likelihood this Association emblem relates to the period from 1948-57; little is known about the association and the present "Israeli Retired Policemen Association" was founded in 1969.
Size: 250mm wide x 260mm long x 240mm high; weight: 15.40g.
More pictures: front of hand stamp, close-up of hand stamp emblem, angle view of stamp, angle view of top
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Item Code: 0120054 Price: $150
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Israel, civil guard armband - a service armband of the civil guard ("Mishmar Ezrakhi"), 1960's. The armband was worn by a civilian warden during air raid warnings, ordered civilians to turn off their lights and assisted them to bomb shelters. The band sports a few white slashes in the design - enough to make it visible in the darkness without attracting too much light in emergencies. Excellent, preserved condition with light age stains.
More pictures: front of brassard,
back of brassard
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Item Code: 0020021 Price: SOLD
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MILITARIA of FOREIGN ARMIES, PARAMILITARY and POLICE FORCES (arranged alphabetically by country):
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Armshield badge of the Albanian volunteers in the 21st Mountain Division ("Waffen Gebirgs Division") of the Waffen-SS, 'Skanderbeg', 1944. The second division of Muslim volunteers (after the 13th Croatian "Handschar" and before the 23rd Croatian "Kama" Division), Skanderbeg was formed in Kosovo in the summer of 1944 and number 6,500 volunteers by September. Assigned to anti-partisan duties, the unit suffered mass desertions and numbered only 1,300 by October of that year, and was subsequently disbanded.
The German cadre of the division was transferred to the brutal 7th "Prinz Eugen" Mountain Division, also involved in anti-partisan operations. The badge is in excellent, preserved condition with black borders (in the Waffen-SS style) and with black cloth backing (with two dots of glue from where the badge was originally mounted in a book).
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010092 Price: $200
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Belgian "Korea-Battalion" cloth formation arm patch. The Belgian battalion in Korea was formed under the auspicies of the Belgian United Nation Command in 1950 and dispatched to the Korean campaign in January 1951, where it fought until December 1954 and returned to Belgium in June 1955. The battalion numbered about 700 men but received new recruits continually throughout the war. It served initially in the Waegwan area, then along the Han River near Seoul, afterwards along the Imjin River, Haktang-Ni and Chatkol - earning battle honors in many of the engagements.
This patch is the Belgian- (not Korean) made issue from 1951-55. The design is based on the second formation insignia of the wartime 1st Independent Belgian Brigade (1944-45). It is thick, extremely well-manufactured and physically intact though some of the light-blue felt has been picked away in parts of the cross. Scarce.
More pictures: front of patch, back of patch
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Item Code: 0010040 Price: $75
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Bronze field cap badge of the [free] 1st Battalion Belgian Fusiliers in the United Kingdom. This unit was the first "free" Belgian Army unit to be created after the fall of Belgium in May 1940. The unit was raised in Tenby Wales, in October 1940 and later attached to the 36th British Infantry Brigade, from March 1941 until November 1941. When the 1st Battalion became operational in September 1942, it was came under the command of the 49th (West Riding) Division. In January 1943, the 1st Battalion was disbanded and integrated into the newly created 1st Belgian Independent Group.
This bronze badge is one of three 'ramping' Belgian lion emblems worn by the 1st Battalion - in this specific case, worn by officers; the others were in silver (worn by non-commissioned officers) or brass (privates). This emblem was instituted in October 1940 and worn at first on its own, on the left side of a field cap; in December of that year is was worn on top of a Belgian tri-color strip, and then on its own again, from May 1941 until the end of the war.
This badge is in excellent, preserved condition with light wear - and appears used. The reverse is scalloped, with some obverse detail incusions visible. There is one soldiered pronged hook at back and there appears to be signs of where a second - now missing - prong would have been. The badge is not maker-marked. Rare.
More pictures: front of emblem, scalloped reverse of badge
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Item Code: 0010037 Price: $300
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Armshield badge of the Wallonian (Belgian) volunteers of the Waffen-SS. Unlike many other foreign volunteer formations, the Wallonians primarily used this German "Army" styled sleeve patch as opposed to hand-made or Waffen-SS styled patches (with the thick black borders). As such, this badge may have been worn either by the early volunteer unit of the German Army (the 373rd Infantry Batallion, the 'Corps Franc Wallonie' - or, Wallonian Free Corps; later the Wallonian Legion), in 1941-43 or by the subsequent reformation of the unit, in the Waffen-SS: the Wallon SS Assault Brigade (SS Sturmbrigade Wallonie), 1943-44 or the 28th SS Volunteer [Panzer] Grenadier Division 'Wallonie', 1944-45.
Of all the foreign volunteer formations of the German military and Waffen-SS, the Walloon units - the Wallonian Legion - probably received the most coverage and promotion in the German press. The units were staffed largely by volunteers of the Walloon "Rexist" Party, whose leader, Leon Degrelle, became a favored icon amongst the Nazi leadership as a symbol of collaboration and military volunteership.
The armshield is in excellent, preserved condition, stitched to a swatch of uniform, whose fabric is visible on the borders.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010093 Price: $400
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Belgium: armshield badge of Flemish (Belgian) volunteers in the Flemish Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS, 1941-43. This is the seldomly encountered thick, woven version of the sleeve shield (with the paper template inside), which characterizes the shields of the early years of the Legion. The Legion initially served on the Leningrad front, in November 1941, and when re-organized in 1943 as the Volunteer Assault Brigade "Langemark", it fought in the Ukraine. In excellent condition.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010091 Price: $500
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Britain - cloth shoulder patch of the 'Desert Rats' - the British 7th Armoured Division, 1940-45. The division was formed in February 1940 in the zone of the Libyan-Egyptian frontier, and fought against the Italians and the Germans (the 'Afrika Korps') in the North-African campaign of 1940-43 - including the battles at Sidi Barrani, Tobruk and El Alamein. Following its capture of Tunis, in 1943, the division was transferred to England where it participated in the Normandy landings in June 1944.
The division fought into Belgium and the Netherlands; in March 1945 it crossed the Rhine into Germany, and ended the war capturing Hamburg and helping to liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The division continued to serve in Germany after the war; it was disbanded in January 1948 and reformed again in 1949 to be part of the British Army on the Rhine (BAOR), but was finally disbanded in 1957. A lovely badge from a military unit with so much glory.
More pictures: front of patch, back of patch
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Item Code: 0010127 Price: $50
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British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) cloth formation patch. This is the insignia patch of the British soldiers assigned to the Hamburg and Low Countries region. The patch is in excellent condition but remarkably rudimentary in manufacture: the cross and shield insignia is machine woven on light-brown, lightweight fabric but the stitching at back looks hand-made. The Hannover district of the force was created in 1947; judging by the patch's manufacture, I would date the piece from 1947 to the mid-1950's.
The BAOR was officially created in August 1945 as the British occupation force in Germany; in November 1952 its occupation function ended and the force became merged into NATO's Northern Army Group force. Although a British military presence remains in Germany to this day, the BAOR itself was disbanded in 1994. It numbered 80,000 troops at its height.
More pictures: front of patch, back of patch
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Item Code: 0010038 Price: $30
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British Army on the Rhine (BAOR) cloth formation patch. This is the insignia patch of the British soldiers assigned to the Rhine Army. The Rhine district itself was created in March 1952. The patch is in used and somewhat deteriorating condition. The sword, cross and shield insignia is machine woven on dark-brown, lightweight fabric, but the fabric is rough and brittle: the edges of the patch have some pock-marks and the stitching holding the edges to the back has been removed. Given the rudimentary nature of the patch's manufacture I would date the piece from 1952 to the late-1950's.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010039 Price: $20
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British hat badge of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) of the British Army, 1941-45. The Womens' Auxiliary Territorial Service began in 1938 as an attachment of the Territorial Army, and after 1941 was one of four auxiliary services available for women to join. The duties of ATS servicewomen included manning radar stations and anti-aircraft gun emplacement; driving and vehicle maintenance; and ferrying aircraft from factories to airfields. In Palestine during the war, about 4,000 women served in the ATS and in the Womens' Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). The badge offered is in excellent, preserved condition - in brass - and is not maker-marked.
More pictures: front of emblem, back of emblem
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Item Code: 0010003 Price: SOLD
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Croatia: armshield badge of Croatian volunteers of the Croatian Legion, 1941-45. The Croatian Legion comprised three legions - army, navy and air-force units - raised by the wartime Croatian government and bearing Croatian national insignia, though operating and uniformed by the Germans.
The Croat Army Legion was titled the "Verstartken Kroatischen Infanterie Regiment 369" - the 369th Reinforced Croatian Infantry Regiment - engaged in anti-partisan activities in Poltava, took part in the advance against Kharkov, and later fought at Stalingrad, where most of the Legion was lost. It was succeeded by three more divisions of Croatian volunteers, who were assigned to the Russian front and domestic anti-partisan activites.
All the Croatian Legion forces wore a national armshield on their sleeve, and in this case, this is the German-made version, thick and woven, with the paper template visible inside, and bearing "Hrvatska" ('Croatia', in Croatian) - as opposed to "Kroatien", in German, as appears on most armshields of this type. A rare version of the shield, which has become scarcer to come by in recent years. In excellent condition, with light wear on the reverse edges.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch with paper template visible
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Item Code: 0010090 Price: $350
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Hand-made armshield badge of the Danish volunteers of the Danish Free Corps ("Frikorps Danmark") of the Waffen-SS, 1941-43. The Free Corps was raised in June 1941 and fought on the eastern front, notably at Demjansk, and was disbanded in May 1943.
Former members of the Free Corps later served in different military units, including the SS Grenadier Regiment "Danmark" of the 11th Nordland Division (1943-45), as well as in the rough Schalburg Korps security organ. The armshield is in excellent, preserved condition, and appears made out of the pieces of a Nazi armband all stitched onto a swatch of a Waffen-SS uniform sleeve, and represents a rare piece of foreign volunteer militaria from an "Aryan" albeit small contingent.
More pictures: front of armshield,
back of armshield
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Item Code: 0010094 Price: $400
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Armshield of Danish volunteers in the Waffen-SS, circa 1944-45. This is the printed version of the national colors in the Waffen-SS design of 1944, with a thick black border all around. This shield would have been worn by volunteers in the [Danish] 24th Panzer-Grenadier Regiment of the 11th SS Division 'Nordland'. In excellent, preserved condition, though with age-stains. Seldom encountered.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010058 Price: $150
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Finland: armshield badge of Finnish volunteers in German military service, circa 1941-43. This armshield was probably worn by members of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS ("Finnisches Freiwilligen Bataillon"), formed in June 1941 (and disbanded in June 1943). It may also have been worn by Finnish volunteers serving in the 5th 'Wiking' Division of the Waffen-SS, or in the NSKK or Organisation Todt. This is the printed version of the national emblem, cut from sheets, and the border is visible on this piece. Excellent, preserved condition.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010057 Price: $150
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Armshield of the Hungarian volunteers of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, 1944-45. This is the Bevo weave version of the armshield issued to Hungarian volunteers in German military or paramilitary units. This piece is in excellent, preserved condition (see John Angolia et. al., Uniforms and Traditions of the German Army Vol. 2, p.315).
More pictures: front of armshield,
back of armshield
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Item Code: 0010004 Price: $300
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German pith-helmet shield of the [Free] Indian Legion ("Azad Hind" - Free India). The decal sports a diagonally-striped tricolor of orange-white-green (from top left to bottom right). On the reverse side the badge has 3 thick, flat and bent-down 'pins' with slanted, sharpened ends, functioning as the hooks which would have held the badge in place on the helmet.
The reverse side shows the imprint lines shield's borders and of the sections which on the reverse side form the borders of the tricolor pattern. The reverse is also maker-maked "K.W. 41" in raised letters (see close-up in link to pictures). The badge is physically in excellent condition, displaying no physical damage. However most of the color is missing, and to judge by the silver-gold-black discoloration of the surface, it seems to be the result of water damage and erosion.
Though it may be tempting to suggest that this piece is actually Italian, this conclusion would be incorrect because a) the Italian colors are green, white and red, and b) the Italian shield on helmets and armshields of that period are in the order: green-white-red (see Littlejohn, Foreign Legions Vol. 2, pg. 242-243).
The "Free Indian Legion" was founded in 1942 by Subhas Chandra Bose and consisted of Indian volunteers and prisoners of war; in June 1942 it was designated the Indisches Infanterie Regiment 950 / Legion Freies Indien of the German Army. It was initially deployed to the Netherlands and then to northern France in 1943. In August 1944, numbering around 2,300 men, it was transferred to the Waffen-SS and re-titled the "Indische Freiwilligen Legion der Waffen SS". Around the end of March 1945 the Legion was captured by Allied forces.
During the course of its existence the unit was issued with the lightweight tropical German uniform (including all the associated tropical-style insignia on it), and wore a mixture of turbans, steel helmets (some, apparently with a shield-decal of the Indian national colors), and probably therefore also the tropical pith helmet from which comes this insignia. Rare.
More pictures: front of shield,
reverse side of shield
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Item Code: 0010008 Price: $400
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Armshield of the Latvian soldiers serving in the Waffen-SS, circa 1944-45. A nice, preserved piece exhibiting age and possible wear, with neat embroidery lines (in contrast to many of the mint-looking thickly-woven pieces for sale on numerous sites today). This shield would have been worn by members of the 15th ("Latvian 1") or 19th ("Latvian 2") Waffen-SS Divisions.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010060 Price: SOLD
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Norwegian Nation Union party rally badge - Rally Badge for the Nasjonal Samling's rally of 1-2 November 1941 in Oslo. The badge depicts in relief form the party's emblem on top (with the circle's background in red as per the emblem's design) with the date and location in sham-runic script at the bottom, with Akershus Castle, in black, in the background. The badge is shield-shaped with a border, and has a thin pin soldered on at the back. The NS suncross emblem has been stamped in from the back. Excellent condition though shows signs of aging and small chips of (black) paint now missing.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0010001 Price: $125
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Norwegian 'Frontkjemper' (Front Fighters) badge in zinc. This badge was instituted by the Quisling government in October 1943 and issued to all Norwegian volunteers who saw active service on the eastern front, primarily in the ranks of the Norwegian Legion, Police companies, Norwegian Ski Battalion and the Grenadier-Regiment "Norge", all of the Waffen-SS.
The badge was awarded in one 'silver' class, though two versions exist - one for male receipients (this example) and another for females. In the course of the war, zinc surplus, pattern and replacement pieces were manufactured and this piece in zinc appears to be a late-war issue of one of these types.
The badge is not maker-marked (the silver issues are stamped '830S'). Its surface on front and back is smooth, with no rough or unfinished edges, or seam-lines along the edge (i.e. there are no signs of counterfeiting). The reverse of the viking's shield is curved as it should be, and the hinge and safety-hook on the reverse are as they should, although the thin pin on the badge is clearly not the correct type.
The pin may have been a replacement for the original, which would have been a broad and flat 'bar'. The number '132' is lightly scratched on the top-right segment of the frame on the reverse. A very nice piece in excellent condition.
More pictures: front of badge, front view at angle, front overview from angle, back of badge, close-up of pin catch, upper back of pin at angle, side view of rear pin hinge
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Item Code: 0010117 Price: $650
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'Kontroll Befal' - Control (police) Service badge of the Norwegian Labor Service ('Arbeids-tjenesten'), or the 'AT'. Similar to the trend in other German-occupied European countries, a national 'Labor Service' was established in September 1940 along the lines of the German State Labor Service (Reichs Arbeits Dienst - RAD) under the auspicies of the collaborating - Quisling - government.
Though an unarmed body, the AT was organized and run along military lines: its members wore Norwegian military-styled uniforms and Finnmark hats, with military-styled insignia and even military campaign ribbons were worn. The AT had guards to protect its camps, and a special police service ('Kontroll Befal') helped keep order in the organization. This is a gilt broach / badge, featuring the AT's emblem in the center; in excellent condition and previously of the Col. Dodkins collection.
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge
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Item Code: 0010118 Price: $500
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Norway - flag shoulder patch of the Free Norwegian Air Force section of the (British) Royal Air Force, 1940-45. The reconstituted [free] air force started as a core of 120 Norwegian airmen who reached Britain after the fall of Norway. In 1940, they were transferred to Canada for training near Toronto, and the first Free Norwegian air squadron (330) became operational - under the Royal Air Force's Coastal Command in April 1941. Later that year, the first Norwegian fighter squadron (331) was formed; the second (332) was formed at the start of 1942.
The Royal Norwegian air services of the army, navy and air force were unified in August 1944, so that by the start of 1945, the Free Norwegian Royal Air Force numbered just over 2500 men and 80 aircraft. This small shoulder patch consists of the Norwegian flag woven onto a swatch of dark-blue tunic fabric. It was was worn on the upper right-hand sleeve of an air force tunic; a shoulder-flash patch bearing "Norway" was then worn on the upper left-hand sleeve. Excellent condition and scarce.
More pictures: front of patch,
back of patch
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Item Code: 0010046 Price: $100
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Norwegian 'Freedom March' pin, 1945. Issued to commemorate the country's liberation in May of that year. The badge has a scaloped back with an iron pin soldered to the rear. Not maker-marked.
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Item Code: 0010131 Price: $75
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Metal badge of the Polish Army's 20th (Krakow) Infantry Regiment, in silver/pewter color and purple enamel. This is a well manufactured piece, of thick curved metal and a screwback; features a diamond-shaped metal representation of Krakow Castle and the mountains behind, on a reverse-swastika shaped field bearing the infantry's designation in metal characters.
The piece is maker-marked on the screw: "Z. Olszewski" of "Piwna 15, Warszawa". In excellent condition with no scratches or enamel damage (even though one of the pictures suggests scuffs to the enamel surface - that was a fingerprint caught by the camera's flash).
More pictures: front of badge, back of badge with screw removed, reverse of badge at angle, side-rear view showing curve and metal thickness
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Item Code: 0010221 Price: $100
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Russia: rare hand-made armshield badge of the ‘Kaminski Brigade’. The Brigade evolved from a small militia established in the region of the Bryansk Forest and the town of Lokot, in Byelorussia, in 1941. Following the tendency of the time, whereby newly occupied regions of the former Soviet Union erupted into zones of violent anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic activity, this militia acted as a local vanguard against Soviet partisans and assisted the occupying Germans by protecting their supply routes and assisting in anti-partisan activities (including, supposedly, in the notorious Einsatzgruppen of the SD). When its leader was killed in 1942, he was succeeded by his deputy, Bronislav Kaminski, a chemical-engineer who had been jailed in Stalin’s Gulags as a bourgeois intellectual.
Kaminski succeeded in turning the Lokot region into a sort of regimented, self-sufficient pro-German fiefdom, providing the Germans both food and armed force against the Soviet partisans. By 1943, his militia numbered around 10,000 men and was equipped by the Germans with some 20 captured Soviet T-34 tanks and field guns.
Around this time, the force became known in the German order of battle as the Kaminski Brigade, although Kaminski himself named it the Russkaya Ovsoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armija (RONA), or the Russian National Liberation Army. RONA engaged in ruthless anti-partisan security operations in the summer of 1943 and earned a reputation of cruelty and ruthlessness.
However, as the Soviets succeeded in pushing the eastern front further westward, toward Germany, RONA-men dependants in the Lokot district began to retreat together with the force into Galicia. In July 1944, RONA was absorbed into the Waffen-SS as an independent unit, SS-Sturmbrigade RONA.
Kaminski was granted a commission as an SS Brigade commander of his own force. The ‘Kaminski Brigade’ - and its leader - reached their zenith just prior to the Warsaw uprising in the summer of 1944. When the uprising broke out, a few detachments of the force engaged the Polish Home Army but exceeded their mandate in numerous acts of rape, murder and pillage.
Kaminski was summarily court-martialled and shot (at the order of HSSPf Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, an 'anti-partisan' SS commander responsible for numerous anti-Jewish actions in Poland, the Baltic and Russia; and the one who proposed the estabishment of Auschwitz) partially because of the excesses of him men and possibly because his men may have raped and killed two German girls as well. The remnants of RONA were dispersed to the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) of Andrei Vlasov.
RONA did not have officially manufactured unit insignia, so its men created their own hand-made armshields which bore a black Maltese Cross on a white background, within a border. Armshields with a white border were worn by officers and those with a red border (such as this one) were worn by enlisted personnel.
The armshields were made from a variety of materials, some on a base of German uniform cloth and others on a base from cloth of Soviet uniforms (as is this one). The unit name, RONA (POHA in cyrillic letters), was stitched in a unique chain-stitch pattern on the badges. Very few genuine armshields exist and none are alike. The badge is in excellent, preserved condition and is one of around 10 acquired by Jamie Cross Militaria in the early 1990s from a former British POW camp guard who took them off his prisoners who served in RONA.
More pictures: front of armshield,
back of armshield
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Item Code: 0010119 Price: $800
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Armshield of the Russian Liberation Army, serving alongside the Wehrmacht, circa 1943-45. This is the machine embroidered version of this shield, produced on a denim base and incorporating a thin, thread 'border' edge. The armshield is in excellent, preserved condition with some glue spots and fragments of paper on the reverse.
This emblem was worn by Russian volunteers serving in the Russian Liberation Army ("Ruskaya Osvoditelnaya Armya" - POA in Russian characters) led by former Soviet General Andrey Andreyvich Vlasov. This force included navy and airforce elements and numbered up to 800,000 men at its height.
More pictures: front of armshield,
back of armshield
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Item Code: 0010059 Price: $175
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