After 15 years collecting german militaria, I visited France and Pegasus bridge and my romance with british airborne troops began...I have found all sorts of German insignias, Kc winner items, Kcwith oak leaves...a lot of german militaria stuff of all types and top quality that can be found regulary in several dealers and fairs...but near no maroon berets!!! why?...
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Why is so rare a maroon beret???
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If you play it slowly and network with other collectors/dealers you'll realise finding one isn't that difficult and they are not as rare as you may think. However, find a nice unquestionable example and it won't be cheap.
I don't know what it is about red berets but they seem to have received much greater interest than any other item of British Airborne headgear or uniform in the last couple of years and price increases have been disproportionately high. Perhaps they have reached that point where they are regarded as "classic items" by not only British Airborne collectors but other non British militaria collectors?
Jack.
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Originally posted by Jack Dutton-Roberts View PostIf you play it slowly and network with other collectors/dealers you'll realise finding one isn't that difficult and they are not as rare as you may think. However, find a nice unquestionable example and it won't be cheap.
I don't know what it is about red berets but they seem to have received much greater interest than any other item of British Airborne headgear or uniform in the last couple of years and price increases have been disproportionately high. Perhaps they have reached that point where they are regarded as "classic items" by not only British Airborne collectors but other non British militaria collectors?
Jack.
If you happen to find an original airborne beret it's as good as investing in real estate if not better..
Cheers,
Konrad
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Be patient Victor...you will find one eventually, just don't be in too much of a hurry. A mistake which we've all made is rushing in to find a good beret and this can lead to buying a bad one. I did with one a few years ago and again with another earlier this year which is a good beret that had received fake markings to make it more attractive. I was able to remove those markings quite easily and now have a very nice 1943 dated Kangol beret with faded markings; much more preferable to what it was sold to me as.
Thankfully I now know what to look for and patiently await the right examples to appear (including a '44 dated Supak which I picked up in the last month). They are out there.
Best wishes
Mark
P.S. I'm one of the Bloody 'Colonials' who also collects the occassional Airborne item.Attached Files
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Thank you very much for the opinions.
Well, I am from Spain. Here there is around 2 militaria shops in which is possible to find German stuff, more or less good, and also 2 auction houses that mainly offer German militaria and spanish as well.
In Spain there are German militaria collectors but near no british one!, in fact I only know a good collection here.
So that british militaria is impossible to get here, only possible at dealers and fellows of the WAF.
I have seen anyway in this little time that I ciollect british militaria, that few dealers also have a section devoted to that and also that few items are ready for sell...that is another difficult aspect for me..anyway I try to learn day by day aspects about british militaria thata at my 41 years and near 20 of german collecting is becoming really interesting.
I will have to be patient and have the eyes well opened anyway...
Please...any beret at sight?...
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a
hi vic i sell ww2 british items ,and have not found a para beret to sell as of the hi price ,but other dealers are out there i will look out for one for you ,i will contact you by email with the dealers number if i see one ,, a book you may consider getting is by b.l. davis, its a good reference i have attached a photo they sell for about £35 SECOND HAND ,,willAttached Files
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Ive never really understood the fascination with the maroon beret myself. Sure enough they were not just given away but there were a lot of Airborne troops during WW2.........two divisions of them!
Wool and leather are both two materials which decompose rather quickly if they are not stored correctly. Maroon berets will become rarer as collectors find the ones they have not stored correctly will eventually drop to bits. It is for this reason I am not a fan of the beret........but who am I to judge!
One thing Ive found about Airborne collectors is their strange philosophy to collect the same item over and over again. Once you have a 1943 Kangol in the best condition possible in your collection why buy another unattributed 1943 Kangol in a lesser condition? Are Airborne collectors the most greedy of all militraria collectors? Vic, I think the reason why they are rare is because there are collectors out there with boxes full! Its exactly same situation with my own collecting niche.Last edited by yellow; 09-27-2009, 04:05 AM.
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Originally posted by yellow View PostIve never really understood the fascination with the maroon beret myself. Sure enough they were not just given away but there were a lot of Airborne troops during WW2.........two divisions of them!
Wool and leather are both two materials which decompose rather quickly if they are not stored correctly. Maroon berets will become rarer as collectors find the ones they have not stored correctly will eventually drop to bits. It is for this reason I am not a fan of the beret........but who am I to judge!
One thing Ive found about Airborne collectors is their strange philosophy to collect the same item over and over again. Once you have a 1943 Kangol in the best condition possible in your collection why buy another unattributed 1943 Kangol in a lesser condition? Are Airborne collectors the most greedy of all militraria collectors? Vic, I think the reason why they are rare is because there are collectors out there with boxes full! Its exactly same situation with my own collecting niche.
CB
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