Hi guys,
I picked up a total of 3 badges at the SOS. I have posted the other two and now would like to show my 3rd and last pick-up. This badge has been talked about before on the forum. While I participated in that discussion, I didn't give it too much thought until I ran into the badge in person at the SOS. After studying it, I was convinced enough to take the plunge and purchase it. I am definately not one to go out on a limb and spend hundreds of dollars on a gamble, but handling the piece, I was slowly convinced of its originality and worth the risk IMO. Here she is, I hope you like her as much as I do:
An unmarked Heer flak badge. Unremarkable at first glance, but interestingly enough, found in an FLL marked cardboard carton. Luckily, I had Marc, the flak God with me to walk me through the pros and cons of this badge, but I liked the feel and detail of the badge immediately. The catch is round wire sitting on a small catchplate (looks like a nail), and bent into the familar question-mark shape. Hinge is magnetic sheet metal, with nice vertical tool marks on the outside faces, directly under the barrel. The badge appears to have a very light silver finish on it, that has toned to grey. Under a loupe, the silver finish is much brighter and appears to have been applied in horizontal fashion, as you can see tiny horizontal lines in it. This finish is similar to the mid-war zink FLL IAB in the GCA forum Datebase, which I will post here for comparison.
Now that I have the badge in hand, and I can study it better and have put a lot of thought into the things I like about the badge. FLL was known to use this type of catch as well as this type of sheet metal hinge. A point of oddity for me though, is that normally, the sheetmetal hinge like this is associated with later war, whereas this type of round wire catch was most likely used earlier in the war (speaking strictly for FLL here). If you look at FLL IABs & PABs, the thickwire catch is usually used in combination with the sheetmetal hinge. The mixture of a "late war" hinge and "early war" catch is the only big issue for me with this badge. But, I think it can be answered by the time period of manufacture. It appears that FLL started out making unmarked awards, and then switched to marking their awards later in the war (probably early 1943). That is also probably about the same time they switched from early to late war hinge and catch setup, so my hunch is that this badge was probably produced in the time period where FLL was transitioning to their late war hinge and catch setup and when they were still producing unmarked awards.
Ian Marrotto also was kind enough to give his opinion on this badge, and his thoughts were that he didn't like the eage's head, appears to jut forward and he didn't like that. I agree with him to a point, but that is not enough of a reason to dismiss this badge. I think this stems from the fact that this type of Flak badge has never been encountered before, and it makes sense to be skeptical. Its not the first time a weird design has been encountered on III reich badges, just look at Hymmen war badges! Most newcomers think they are fakes due to the uglieness and low quality, but those of us who have seen them for years and years have grown to love them.
In conclusion, we have an unmarked flak badge found in an FLL marked box. The badge is consistent with FLL hardware. The badge is unmarked, consistent with FLL's early/mid-war practice. The finish is similar to that found on mid-war, zink FLL IABs. The lacquer on the badge is old and brittle. The carton is 100% correct, according to Marcus Hatton. Its always possible the badge and box were married together at some point, but the story from the vet was that they were together since the end of the war (I know, its just a story, but worth mentioning here). And finally, the obverse design of the badge is similar to the Vienna makers, but not an exact match. Scouring the Hero's website, this flak badge is no match to any of the recent, well made reproductions.
Hope this rambling makes sense, would love to hear some thoughts.
Thanks guys.
Tom
I picked up a total of 3 badges at the SOS. I have posted the other two and now would like to show my 3rd and last pick-up. This badge has been talked about before on the forum. While I participated in that discussion, I didn't give it too much thought until I ran into the badge in person at the SOS. After studying it, I was convinced enough to take the plunge and purchase it. I am definately not one to go out on a limb and spend hundreds of dollars on a gamble, but handling the piece, I was slowly convinced of its originality and worth the risk IMO. Here she is, I hope you like her as much as I do:
An unmarked Heer flak badge. Unremarkable at first glance, but interestingly enough, found in an FLL marked cardboard carton. Luckily, I had Marc, the flak God with me to walk me through the pros and cons of this badge, but I liked the feel and detail of the badge immediately. The catch is round wire sitting on a small catchplate (looks like a nail), and bent into the familar question-mark shape. Hinge is magnetic sheet metal, with nice vertical tool marks on the outside faces, directly under the barrel. The badge appears to have a very light silver finish on it, that has toned to grey. Under a loupe, the silver finish is much brighter and appears to have been applied in horizontal fashion, as you can see tiny horizontal lines in it. This finish is similar to the mid-war zink FLL IAB in the GCA forum Datebase, which I will post here for comparison.
Now that I have the badge in hand, and I can study it better and have put a lot of thought into the things I like about the badge. FLL was known to use this type of catch as well as this type of sheet metal hinge. A point of oddity for me though, is that normally, the sheetmetal hinge like this is associated with later war, whereas this type of round wire catch was most likely used earlier in the war (speaking strictly for FLL here). If you look at FLL IABs & PABs, the thickwire catch is usually used in combination with the sheetmetal hinge. The mixture of a "late war" hinge and "early war" catch is the only big issue for me with this badge. But, I think it can be answered by the time period of manufacture. It appears that FLL started out making unmarked awards, and then switched to marking their awards later in the war (probably early 1943). That is also probably about the same time they switched from early to late war hinge and catch setup, so my hunch is that this badge was probably produced in the time period where FLL was transitioning to their late war hinge and catch setup and when they were still producing unmarked awards.
Ian Marrotto also was kind enough to give his opinion on this badge, and his thoughts were that he didn't like the eage's head, appears to jut forward and he didn't like that. I agree with him to a point, but that is not enough of a reason to dismiss this badge. I think this stems from the fact that this type of Flak badge has never been encountered before, and it makes sense to be skeptical. Its not the first time a weird design has been encountered on III reich badges, just look at Hymmen war badges! Most newcomers think they are fakes due to the uglieness and low quality, but those of us who have seen them for years and years have grown to love them.
In conclusion, we have an unmarked flak badge found in an FLL marked box. The badge is consistent with FLL hardware. The badge is unmarked, consistent with FLL's early/mid-war practice. The finish is similar to that found on mid-war, zink FLL IABs. The lacquer on the badge is old and brittle. The carton is 100% correct, according to Marcus Hatton. Its always possible the badge and box were married together at some point, but the story from the vet was that they were together since the end of the war (I know, its just a story, but worth mentioning here). And finally, the obverse design of the badge is similar to the Vienna makers, but not an exact match. Scouring the Hero's website, this flak badge is no match to any of the recent, well made reproductions.
Hope this rambling makes sense, would love to hear some thoughts.
Thanks guys.
Tom
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