The End of My First Year Here

[Mark Mac]

My first helmet - a Luftwaffe M40. You can clearly see that this helmet was painted/whitewashed at one time - most apparent around the top of the skirt. The remains of the eagle still bear the white paint.

EF 64

[Mark Mac]

closeup of the decal

[Mark Mac]

One of my favorite items!

Luftwaffe M43 with one button. RBN number and "1944" stamped on interior liner.

[Mark Mac]

Luftwaffe Officer dagger - Eickhorn. Very mint condition! almost 100% gilded swastika and blade!

Pilots badge is not maker marked nor is the Ost medal.

DKiG in cloth for Luftwaffe. EK2 is mm 65 and is near mint as well.

[Mark Mac]

Dagger

[Mark Mac]

A few other things I have picked up over the years.

[Mark Mac]

M16 camo. Liner is in very good shape and is all present!

[Mark Mac]

More detail on the camo scheme.

[Mark Mac]

An Austrian M16. This was captured by an American Doughboy. He painted his name and home address in the rear skirt and sent it home.

It was captured by George Lewis and sent to Skranton, PA. Liner is long gone.

2nd model tropical helm. It is very good shape save for the leather band around the edge of the visor.

[Mark Mac]

Forgot to post a closeup of the signals visor and M42 camo. The remains of a name is painted over the manufacturers stamp, but size 66 can be clearly seen.

The KVK 2 has a broken loop. It was given to me by a collector a long time ago. He was trying to help me along.

[Mark Mac]

That is most of the story! Thanks for looking! I will post closeups or additional pics if anyone is interested.

I will post the pistols when the weather clears up here.

I also want to thank all those who gave advice and helped find items, and those that just shared their collection and interests with me. I also appreciate the sellers who were willing to give me the time to make payment and were very helpful along the way. I don't want to name anyone, because I would surely leave someone out.

My collecting days will have to slow down to almost a dead stop. I have my 5th child on the way so things are changing rapidly in the economic arena for me! All for the best though.

And for a closer, I was very happy to find my grandfathers history this year. He was drafted in 1944, at the age of 37 and left 3 boys and a wife at home. I was also able to locate another veteran who knew him and served in the same battery with him in the South Pacific. He in turn found at least one other that was with them, however I was not able to speak with him as of yet. They were in the 96th Division and fought in the campaign to liberate the Philipines and on Okinawa. The veteran I met, told me they had returned to the Philipines in July 1945 where they cleaned/repaired their equipment and trained for the invasion of Japan. They boarded ship and were en route when word came that an "A bomb" was dropped on Japan and that the war was over. He never heard of an "A bomb" but was happy to be going home. He said they all knew the invasion would be terrible. This had a definate and direct impact on my family.

This find had to be the biggest of the year for me!

[Chet Sowersby]

Marc,
That is a damn fine collection! May I offer one suggestion? Get yourself a zelt to put out instead of the GI poncho liner.

Chet

[Mark Mac]

Chet, that is a must! That GI liner has a history as well. I enlisted in the US Army in 1988, but went back to school and was commissioned as a LT in the Infantry! I went to Ft. Benning, GA. Officers have to buy their own equipment so I went with some of the guys to stock up on what I did not have. The guys all wanted the liners - as a comfort. Me being a hard headed SOB told them to toughen up and do without.

Second thoughts popped in my head as I pictured myself freezing in the rain. I bought it and it was one of the best purchases I made there! The kids use it to make tents now.

[judas]

wow very nice kind regards judas

[JuanS]

WOW

It is very special to see how your collection had grown. The quality and character is impressive. I also wanted to thank you for sharing your collection and your grandad photo. He was a heroe and I know you are very proud of him and his service.

good luck

Juan