Lately I have been finding a few artillery and mortar optics. I like them because they are precision equipment and are quite tactile. The optics viewfinder on this one is a bit different as it has a calculating mechanism for tracking a target traversing the field of view. This one was manufactured by Optische Werke G.Rodenstock in München and has their eso code. It is an Rbl.F.36, which stands for Rundblickfehrnrohr 36. It was used on the Pak-36, 38 & 40 as well as smaller artillery tubes.
This is another Tippco vehicle. This is intended to represent a half track prime mover, a vehicle intended to tow artillery. These were made between 1937 and 1942. Tippco struggled to get support/materials to continue manufacturing after the outbreak of war but they were well known pre-war for the quality and detail of their models. This example has chain rear tracks. It is missing a rear spare wheel and its key which sends me off to the internet to resolve. Update: found a key. Now just need the wheel. Updated Update: found the wheel. Shit I am awesome at Google.
You know if you are going to import the parts for a ballistic missile, you can’t beat Deutsche Post. This is the Oxygen Mixing Nozzle, from the burner cup of a V2 rocket. It came from a dig in Pennemunde on the Baltic coast of Germany, where these things were designed and built. Pretty much the smallest part but hey, it’s a bit of Vengeance Weapon!
In the middle of a reassembling of my K43 shooter, I found this K43 manual designed to be rolled up and placed in the butt cavity (ooh err) along with the oiler and spare firing pin parts. These are hard to find in good condition because they just were not made to last. This one has suffered from exposure to gun oil, but it’s all there where it counts.
This is a great example of the mid-war propaganda coming out of the U.S. home front. It’s a card designed to be mailed in the accompanying envelope. It uses a bit of misdirection in the delivery of the joke as initially you are led to believe that Hitler will be squashed under the heel of a boot. Instead he’s in the shitter and obviously not too happy about it. Made by the D J Robbins Novelty Company of NY in 1943. Charming.
Advertisement for these novelty cards. These were intended as “ticket lifters” and sold through convenience stores and barbershops.
The Hausser toy company was a well known and prolific producer of tin military toys in Germany, both during and immediately after WW2. This example is the third type Hausser Flak 36, manufactured during the war and up until about 1950. This one is post-war as evidenced by its olive green paint job. The same model made during the war was painted in a drab grey. The earlier models varied in their paint schemes as well as the method of attachment for the transport dollies. In this example they are attached using a screw tensioner. The gun has a receptacle for a contact cap and a working trigger.
This is an original paper transfer used on the head of a Panzerfaust round to provide basic instructions on use in the field. Many users of this weapon were untrained levies of youth and older men, so it was felt that providing these instructions on each individual tube would assist in getting a consistent result from the firing of what could be an alarming (to the user) weapon.
This is an Arnold tin clockwork submarine. Manufactured in 1938 for the German market it is obviously a U-Boat. Note the swastika on the conning tower. It is missing its key and guy wires but is otherwise functional. Post war the Arnold company made this same toy but with the swastika swapped for an American white star. This was sold to U.S. servicemen for their children. The Arnold company stopped making boats in 1950.
U-Boat KapitänLeutnant Joachim Schepke gives an Arnold company U-29 to Horst Plenk, son of the renowned German skier Toni Plenk. From Signal Magazine 1941.
This is an RA-35 optical sight for the Granatwerfer 34 8cm medium mortar. The sight shows signs of post war use by the Austrians (the green over paint). The sight was manufactured by Hanseatische Werkstätten für Feinmechanik u. Optik, in Hamburg-Schnelsen and is marked with their CRN code.
German postal services used the so-called Hitler Head issue between 1941 and 1944. There were three sizes in the basic set. Those between 1 and 24 pfennig, between 25 and 80 pfennig and between 1 and 5RM. This is a block of 9 of the 40 pfennig examples. I don’t collect these, they collect me.
These were liberated in the millions btw, they were work pfennigs then, they are worth less now!
The Tippco Toy Company made these vehicles between 1934 and 1939. Tippco was a German-Jewish owned company whose owner was forced to sell for pfennigs on the reichsmark and emigrate to England. This one is called a Kübel and tows a Pak-36 AT Gun. The crew is made of Elastolin. The engine still winds and it has a forward and reverse gear and steerable wheels. Makes me want to go and invade Miniature Poland.
This group of SA figures was made by the Lineol company sometime between 1933 and 1945. Interestingly these are not made out of plastic but rather from a combination of wood waste and resin. You can identify Lineol brand vs their competitor Hauser by looking for rectangular bases on the figures. In this case I was lucky enough to find a set with their original boxes. Wonderful, now I just need to find a little über-brat who wants to recreate Kristallnacht.
This is a Walther PPK 7.65mm automatic pistol, manufactured in Germany by Walther in 1943 and issued as a police sidearm. The holster is marked Otto Sindel, Berlin, 1943. The two magazines are original to the pistol with matching serial numbers. The receiver and frame are marked Eagle N which indicates acceptance by the Wehrmacht post 1940 and the left hand side of the frame is marked with the Eagle and a C following, indicating police issue. This pistol was reputedly acquired in Normandy by a Lieutenant Stagg, adjutant of the Oxford Rifles, from the body of a German SS officer he had just shot. Well at least that’s the tale that came with it. However upon researching I discover that the Oxford Rifles didn’t get shipped to Europe until January 1945. This is not to say that Stagg could not have been in France in July 1944, just not as adjutant of the Oxford Rifles. This will provoke some further investigation.
Further snooping reveals a Major Kenneth Stagg, P38758, in the Oxford Rifles in 1945. He was born in 1899 which makes him 45 in 1944.
Remember Kids! Buy the item, not the story!
This little leaflet, interspersing rhymes about attacking tanks with a bloody Panzerfaust, was produced in 1944. Instructions fail to include bending over and kissings ones arschloch auf wiedersehn.
This is a voting ballot form for the March 5th Reichstag elelction, in this case for the Wahrkreis Hessen-Nassau district. Although the voter in this case chose the Social-Democrat candidate, the election was ultimately won by the Nazi Karl Weinrich (he later served 10 years in prison for crimes during the regime and died in 1973).
Karl Weinrich, Gauleiter of Hesse-Nassau seen here at the Reichskreigstag June 1939. He sits beside Hitler. He was removed from office in 1943 following the disastrous air raid on Kassel.
Kassel city center following the RAF bombing raid in October 1943
This is a fascimile of the surrender documents signed by Germany on the 8th May 1945. These copies were created by the US National Archives. I have a pdf copy available here if you want one, Germany Surrenders Facsimile.
This is the technische betriebsanleitung or operations manual for the DKE38 Radio. I have the radio here.
The original Volksempfänger VE301 model was presented on August 18, 1933 at the 10. Große Deutsche Funkausstellung in Berlin. The VE301 was available at a readily affordable price of 76 German Reichsmark (equivalent to two weeks’ average salary), and a cheaper 35 Reichsmark model, the DKE38 (sometimes called Goebbels-Schnauze – “Goebbels’ snout” – by the general public) fitted with a multisection tube, was also later produced, along with a series of other models under the Volksempfänger, Gemeinschaftsempfänger, KdF (Kraft durch Freude), DKE (Deutscher Kleinempfänger) and other brands.
This is the DKE38 Model.
Distribution of Volksempfangers: Birthday of the Reich Minister Goebbels was held on 29 October, the distribution of 500 new small receivers to needy fellow of the Berlin Gau in Broadcasting House in 1938. Gaupropagandaleiter Werner Wächter distributes the receiver.
This is a German Wound Badge in Silver marked 65 for “Klein & Quenzer“. This is the first Jerry medal I collected.
This Wound Badge in Silver is marked L22 for Glaser & Söhne of Dresden.
These badges are tough to find. There are a ton of fakes out there. The only helpful thing is that the fakes are made from various metals whereas the originals were made exclusively from a really light zinc alloy. Basically if you hold it and you can feel the weight, it’s a fake. There are some examples of common fakes here.
Yeah, it’s a 10 Reichspfennig aluminium coin. Someone stuck it in my Christmas card one year.
Kiwi Medals 