Narvik Schild

[Ian Tannahill]

Giday everyone,

I have a friend who recently purchased a flieger blouse that includes an example of the Narvik Schild attached thereto. The shield does not include the usual backing cloth. Instead the prongs on the back of the shield have been used to attach the shield directly to the tunic.

Is this unusual? Has anyone else seen an orginal shield attached to a tunic in a similar manner? I note that the section relating to the Kreta cuff title includes a photograph of a paratrooper wearing a tropical tunic and a Narvik Schild that appears to have been atached directly to the tunic using the prongs as mentioned above.

Do you think that the shield is original to the tunic?

Any comments would be most welcome.

All the best,

Ian Tannahill

[Eric Queen]

Ian,

I have seen photos of the Narvikschild attached ( with prongs, without the backing material )directly to the upper sleeve of tropical and summer ( white ) four pockets, but never a standard fliegerbluse. ( of course just because I have not seen it doesn't mean its not possible ) It would be interesting to see if anyone can produce a photo of it being worn that way.

EQ

[Willi Z.]

Guys,

From what I have seen, the backing was removed from Narvik shields because and the badge placed directly on to the tunic (on tropicals and summer whites) because the backing was blue-gray wool and contrasted with the tunic. This is not necessary when placed on a 4-pocket of Flieger. So, why bother removing the backing? The tunics that I have seen with Narvik shields pinned to the tunic all look like they have been added recently. One was even covering some damage to the sleeve. They all exhibited prongs which looked like they had been bent and used several times, a rather suspicious observation. And when given the fact that their were probably only 125-150 FJs who were awarded the Narvik shield, the chances of finding a tunic with the badge original to it are rather slim. Finding at tunic with a Kreta that is clearly original to the tunic is already a task which is next to impossible and when given how many 1000's of these were awarded, it would be a tough sell for a Narvik.

WZ

[Willi Z.]

Hi Ian,

I just remembered that we need to still discuss photos of early green step-ins. I owe you an email...soon to come.

I just had another thought regarding looking at the Narvik shield and whether it has been on the uniform for 60 years. Look at it in a "forensic sense". This has sometimes worked for me. Something like a large shield on a uniform for 60 years is most likely to have to leave some kind of evidence. Transfer of corrosion from the metal badge to the uniform, the presence of age or other soiling around the badge but not underneath it, how "tight" the badge may now be to the tunic, or just plainly seeing whether the tunic exhibits a nice imprint from the badge. This "forensic approach" is something that has helped me.

Would also like to add that my father (a former Luftwaffe Ju88 pilot) always told me how forbidden it was to punch holes into their uniforms, especially wool ones. Medals and ribbon bars, etc were usually "looped"...things could be sewn to uniforms...again uniforms like tropical ones had exceptions if there was no other way to attach the item. Just a thought.

Regards,

Willi