FUNKY!
If it did not come from Mr. John, i would assume a BAD fake!
Foreign produced George, in Greece or Italy. And hand sewn as Jos stated. This very eagle can be seen in the Luftwaffe insignia section of the Kurtz book on the Afrika Korps. We have George Petersen to thank that it survives, the eagle is from his collection. I was lucky to find it for sale by an Atlanta dealer at the Raleigh Military show. Small world! When I showed it to Luft. and other Fj collectors at the show, they too thought it was a fake. Pays to do one's homework.
John
John,
Your collection is a real sanctuary for all the "ugly birds" of the world !
Steve
I'll happily take em Steve. When I got home from the show, showed the eagle to my son saying, "I found a rare foreign produced eagle like George has." Got out the Kurtz DAK book to show him George's eagle and said, "Look! I bought the very eagle George had!"
Hi Yannis! Uniforms and insignia were in short supply in Greece, Italy and North Africa. In all three places uniforms and insignia were produced by small, local clothing shops. Many Luftwaffe M41 caps were produced this way. Chris Mason has a tropical Luft. side cap which had it's lining produced from an Arab coffee sack. The Arab coffee marking remains on the interior. If you look at the Luftwaffe M43 thread you can see a superb example which, like much SS clothing, was made in Italy.
George linked this eagle to Greece more than Italy or Africa and I regret I am not sure why. I plan to ask him about it soon. Perhaps he had a period photo taken in Greece showing these eagles in wear.
To add some other hand-made eagle I've on file for you to see.., one from the same area IMO.
A cap this time..
A open mind is a good thing in this, but it needs proof.. and it's one of the toughest thing in the hobby to find that ..
Jos.
Excellent photo and research Jos! A similar style hand sewn eagle for caps! Hope more can be learned about were these were produced and worn.
Thanks,
John
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