Insignia and Artifacts of the Waffen-SS by Beaver, Bando and Shea

[A c h t u n g !]

May I ask those collectors who already have this book in hands, is there any insignia in the book that is not avaiable on the WAForum (have not been posted here before)?

Is it a complete photo-reference book for SS insignias or just a brief overview of it? What I mean is for example, there are not just a few but all types of known original skull/TK collar tabs pictured, all types of sleeve eagles, all cap trapezoids, etc.

Something like this The General Assault Badge (A Defintive Guide to the German Awards of World War II) by Frank Heukemes

[Robert H]

First what do u mean by SS Insignia.
Are u aware with how many chapters u can split by this question?
For W-SS much is shown.
When you think about the TV chapter, no there is not all shown in the book.
For some cloth examples I would put a question mark behind but around 98% I would rate for sure original.

A K tab is shown, nice TK skull tabs but no numberd ones. But who cares.
Its any how better to see the beloved stuff physical and that's also more relaxing ;-)

[Ian Hulley]

There are examples of the 3 main manufacturers of cap skulls ... the Overhoff is shown but not identified as such. So I guess in answer to your question ...

is there any insignia in the book that is not available on the WAForum (have not been posted here before)?

Then the answer is No, far more detail is to be found here on specific topics ... You (and I) will have to wait for Chris SS-Collector's tome.

There are a number of pieces which come with alledged veteran provenance and others which if posted here would be ridiculed. Other items are mentioned but not shown ... the 'Arthur Phleps' cufftitle for e.g.

I personally find the insistance of refering to Waffen-SS ranks as Americanisms ... 'Buck Sergeant' for example VERY incongruous.

Ian

[billbert]

Glad to ADD your book to my library..Got a thing or two in there also...Billbert

[M Bando]

re: questions about the book

The book illustrates 18 different cloth cap skulls, 12 M43 trapezoid variants, 140 different styles and variants of cufftitles and numbered TK tabs are not relevant to the wartime Waffen SS. As to the insinuation that the vet- acquired pieces are "alleged", there are numerous photos of the liberating vets actually holding the pieces attributed to them.
What do you think Ian, did I hire some generic seniors to pose with insignia that they never had anything to do with?
As to your head-banging problem with the use of US Army ranks, to help the reader understand what grade an 'Unterscharfuhrer' might be, I've seen British authors use British Army ranks to achieve the same purpose. To me, that was mildly annoying, but not enough to bang my head against a brick wall.
Maybe when you write your masterpiece, you'll figure-out a different and better way to explain equivalent ranks to the reader?


Then we have Achtung again casting aspersions against a book he hasn't even seen yet. Like most other Internet Trolls, he doesn't have the courage or integrity to post his real name or even which country in Europe that he resides-in. Any individual who criticizes something he hasn't even seen, is destructive and hateful, to begin with. Another poster applied the term 'pathetic'. That might be too generous a term to describe behavior that is born of despicable jealousy and blind resentment.

There seems to be a pattern here, of most of the book's critics being Europeans. I guess the book was written primarily for an American audience, because the author is American, the vet-attributed souvenirs in the book were liberated by Americans and the text was not written with an agenda to please anyone in-particular. The book continues to sell well and the vast majority of customers are beyond satisfied.
Any customer who is dissatisfied with the book is welcome to send it back to me, for a refund.
Mark Bando, PO Box 350, Walled Lake, Michigan 48390

[M Bando]

re: Frank Heukemes

Is the above-captioned author a European?
Why am I not surprised?
I've seen this European Hero Author syndrome on my 101st Airborne forum, with books on that subject.
When any European author from the UK, Belgium, or any place else in Western Europe authors a tome about the WWII US Airborne, a gang of European fans get on my Internet Msg board and post rave comments about those books, and their authors become the heroes of all Europen history fans.
When I publish a book on the same subject, there is mostly silence from the same individuals. They will buy and read my books, but their official public stance is to pretend they don't exist or to express blase indifference toward
my books, at best.
I'm not real surprised to witness the same thing happening with this book.

One can do a technical tome on the subject of badges or of insignia, listing
all makers, weights, measures, or the type and content of material used.
But those are different priorities and they cater to different readers.
For Achtung to post the cover and pages from the Heukemes Badge book, on a thread about the Beaver Insignia book, was just a cheap shot to give that book publicity and to insinuate that it is a 'better' work than the latest Beaver book. He is in no position to even have an opinion on that, since he has not even seen the Beaver book, by his own admission.
Pretty low and transparent tactics at work here.

[Robert H]

Anyone should hold the horses big time with the EUROPEAN and the US crap here.
Anyone who comes and shows this view shows only how small the brain view is.
And about any proudness views no one is better even if WW2 winners or loosers, it is 2012.

Marc, didn't numbered tabs surface in 1939 eastern front line. I am sure they do.
But does not matter for its no better book out with such great color photos.
Book is always with me since days in the household!

[baldy1939]

Mark , i have my signed copy from you & as a UK resident , i can say i am very happy with your book it has some great photo's , information & printed on quality paper . Mark

[Ian Hulley]

As to the insinuation that the vet- acquired pieces are "alleged", there are numerous photos of the liberating vets actually holding the pieces attributed to them.
What do you think Ian, did I hire some generic seniors to pose with insignia that they never had anything to do with?

I pointed out (as you yourself did) that some of the items are one-offs and would be laughed off the forums if presented here for opinions.

As to your head-banging problem with the use of US Army ranks, to help the reader understand what grade an 'Unterscharfuhrer' might be, I've seen British authors use British Army ranks to achieve the same purpose. To me, that was mildly annoying, but not enough to bang my head against a brick wall.

I realise that your main focus has been books about US veterans and perhaps the target audience for those has been the same US market ... I feel that this is a more specifically Waffen-SS focussed book and other than a generic rank comparison chart the ranks would have been better expressed as they originally were. I'm not discussing any other books, we were asked a direct question about YOUR book. One which I answered honestly ... apparently TOO honestly.

For what it's worth I could have enjoyed a few more pages on the metal insignia and perhaps a couple less introduction ?

As I have said before it's a great book and I'm enjoying it.

Cheers, Ian.

[nd164th]

Insignia and Artifacts of the Waffen-SS by Beaver, Bando and Shea

Just got my copy and it's wonderful, hard to put down, I highly recommend it. Good Work Mark!

[Bob Hritz]

Mark,

If you sold the book for $75.00 and included a $100.00 bill as a bookmark, some people would still find a reason to complain.

I thank and applaud your efforts and hope this sad display will not inhibit your desire to author further works. I have all your books and have enjoyed them all.

Bob Hritz

[M Bando]

re: "one offs"

The only pieces in the entire book (aside from those clearly labeled as Repros in the Repro Alert windows), which I consider 'questionable' are the 3 collar tabs shown on page 122. They were submitted by collectors like Delich and Shea, who have impressive reputations, so let the reader decide as to the originality of those pieces. Btw, those tabs were submitted to Mr Beaver before I ever took-on the project. The photos which were passed along to me when I began to work on the book became the basis of what was used, because Mike had not pointedly eliminated pieces such as those found on page 122. just about every other piece in the entire book is named to some collector, so if you want to cite specific pieces as being bogus, you are not just disparaging me, you are trashing an item in somebody's collection. If there are any items from MY collection that you think are spurious, go ahead and list them and we'll discuss them one at a time.
Perhaps Ian will tell us what other pieces in the book would be "laughed off the forum?" I'll bet none of them are the ones depicted being held in the hands of a veteran. I don't need to fabricate false veteran provenance, I've interviewed 1,028 WWII veterans from the 101st Airborne Division and over 300 from the 2nd Armored Division, not to mention about 150 more, from assorted units like the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regt (recon for Patton's Army), the 9th and 30th IDs, the 1st Special Service Force and the 82nd Airborne Division. There are many more photos of insignia in the book, which are attributed to specific veterans, even if the veteran's photo is not also included. Those attributions are real and in no case fabricated. I take it seriously when attaching a vet's name to ANY artifact and it is quite unfair to suggest I would need to invent provenance, where it doesn't actually exist.
As to using British rank titles to facilitate understanding of SS ranks to English-speaking readers, I cite the books by Mollo and Fosten & Marion's 1970s book 'Waffen SS'. Books by those authors frequently use the term "ORs', for other ranks, a term which is NOT used in the US military.
I found the use of such terms distracting and at first, confusing, but considering the nationality of the authors, why should it be an issue? I'm sure that they didn't give such things a thought, when they were writing those books, because they figured their primary audience would be in their country of origin (the UK).
Instead of nit picking the new book intensively, how about the MANY positive aspects, which either surpass of venture away from what has been done previously? It would be a shame to miss-out on all of that, due to amplifying the mistakes. Every book ever published has mistakes.
But this one has plenty of wonderful new material, which if actually read, will change the way even collectors view the Waffen SS, permanently.

[RPN]

"But this one has plenty of wonderful new material, which if actually read, will change the way even collectors view the Waffen SS, permanently."
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Exactly Mark ...

I've now received my copy and am delighted ... hard to put down without turning the next page to reveal more treasures and interesting information.

Very well done ... and thank you for your quick service.

Regards
Paul

[Sal Williams]

You sure took a lot of crap for a book which I am enjoying greatly!

[Ian Hulley]

Mark, all I did was answer a guy's question honestly ... you are over-reacting. As I have repeatedly said It's a great book and I'm enjoying it ... for what time I've had to actually read it.

You said yourself in the book ... there are items which would be laughed off the forums or a show ... your words not mine, I will try to find the page if you wish ?

Ian