Volunteer Croatian shields

[Dan T]

Some Croatian shields in bevo for you.
Hrvatska is the Croat name for croatia...Kroatien is the German version.
Most of the Croat legion fell at Stalingrad with the 6th Army.

[Dan T]

Another tunic backed one.

[Ian Hulley]

Dan,

is the fact that your lovely shields have the large 'A' a sign that they're correct ..as in the Wallonie shield ?
Cheers,Ian Hulley

[Dan T]

The high A is a good sign Ian but there is a very very good copy of the Hrvartska which fools many people. The givaways on that fake is the actual construction and material. It is very stiff to the touch unless the real "silky" bevos. Also the backing material is a dark bottle green rather than the original light grey stuff.
There are other fakes in this series which are the Turkistan 1st and 2nd pattern and the France. All have these dark green backings and are post war. I would be interested in other thoughts but I think these fakes came from France in the fifties.
They do display genuine age and are very well made. Some of the WW2 looms were still operating in post war France but there is no definitate answer except these weren't worn by WW2 volunteers.

[ianb]

High "A"

Gents, a very interesting post regarding the high "A".
An interesting fact, some of the first bevo volunteer shields produced were Wallonie, France, Hravatska and Espana.
So if any of you collectors out there are lucky enough to own a bevo Espana shield it would be worth posting as this also has a high"A".

[Greg Domian]

Here is the Espana shield.

Greg

[Dan T]

Nice one Greg. Some of the bevos are more common having being found in larger numbers at the end of WW2. The spanish one though is rarer both in worn and unissued. As a matter of interest "Blue" division vets often wore their insignia post war if they were still in the military where it was respected!

[ianb]

Espana shield

Thanks for posting that super shield, can't be to many of those around.

[Tony Barto]

Dan and Greg;

Wonderful pieces guys!

[Gregorio Torres]

I only want to say that it´s forbiden for spanish vets to bring their shields or some other pieces from the uniforms when they return from the front. Of course a lot of them didn´t obey these rules. But so it´s very difficult to get a shield ESPAÑA in Spain, and very expensive (proximately 300-350 $).
There is another model printed on white cotton for winter-camo dress, and this is more difficult to see.
After the war a lot of vets who remained serving in the spanish army or in the police used this shields, and there was a law to regulate this use. So a lot of different models of this shield was made from 40´s.

[John T]

my bevo CROATIAN

The Hrvatska (Croatian) bevo shield is the most commonly coppied...however fakes are very easy to tell...they are constructed differently on the back...some of the older fakes do not glow under UV light, some of the new fakes have a strong glow, yet all the same construction, on the fakes on the reverse, there is black thread that continues from the outline of the shield onto the flat sides of the piece...the real versions do not have this, the fakes are on a thicker material also, and the weave is different...I have seen time and time again fakes pass as real...a real bevo Croatia shield is uncommon, and a KROATIEN is somewhat rare....my example below was taken from a uniform, and is one of my favorite shields as you usually see these pieces mint and unissued. The Croat SS shields are common.

John

[John T]

back

ps...I have never seen a copy of a bevo KROATIEN, John

[Dan T]

Hi John,
thanks for your input and a nice salty shield to boot!
Just as a matter of personal choice,I am not big on UV lights.
Some shields will glow as collectors may have cleaned them with washing powder post war which would give a glow.
The construction as you rightly say it the tell tale factor.
Also forgot that the Free arabien is also part of the serires of fakes with the dark green background.

[ianb]

KROATIEN??

The bevo volunteer shield worded "KROATIEN" is indeed a very rare and sought after shield by collectors. I know of many large collections which do not have one of these shields, would any of you guys hazard a guess as to how many of these survived and how many are out there, are we talking just a few or several hundred??

[John T]

Ian:

I used to collect WW2 Croatian items. In ten years I saw maybe 4 "KROATIEN" pieces offered for sale. The prices were in the 100 to 250 dollar range at the time. All of the pieces I saw were unissued. I theorize that only one production run was made of maybe a few thousand pieces....although a lesser number survive...One author has suggested that the "KROATIEN" shield was worn by elements of the NSKK. I have seen an excellent condition army tunic with this shield, although this could have been added by a dealer to enhance the piece. If you look in the first picture in this thread you have a "KROATIEN" shield with honest wear. I theorize on where this was worn...my suspicion is that it may have been worn on the tunic of an ethnic German officer in one of the 3 Croatian units in the WW2 German Army. I have yet to see any photographic evidence of a KROATIEN shield in wear, although have seen numerous HRVATSKA pieces in photos, including a video clip of Croatian soldiers being evacuated on an airplane from what was said to be the Stalingrad area.

John