HJ Flag

[Perry Floyd]

I just picked this one up last night from the vets family. This is a huge HJ flag appro. 4'X8', you usually only see Kriegs flags this large or banners. The kicker on this piece is what the veteran wrote on the flag. I have never owned a piece this well marked by the veteran. That really made this flag and has started me reasearching already. You couldn't have asked for it to be marked any better even if you were there instucting him what to write. I'll let the pics do the talking...

[Perry Floyd]

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[Perry Floyd]

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[Perry Floyd]

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[Perry Floyd]

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[John Hodgin]

Great flag Perry! What a monster, congratulations. Can we see better photos of the flag bearer? I mean, the flag is cool but.............

[dasboot]

Very nice indeed.

A great addition to any collection.

Whats the condition of the flag? I see the soiling, but are their any holes or tears?

Who's the lady in the background?

[Perry Floyd]

That would be my GF
The flag was some seperating at the very end on the flag and one rip near the end about 3 inches long. The seperating at the very end looks to be period, meaning what you would expect from weather on a flag this huge. This flag wasn't reinforced at the end like the Navy Kriegs flags were. The 3 inch rip looks to be from mishandling at some part of it's life. It's has moderate staining throughout. It's a multi-piece flag with no other rips or holes. It has 4 clips..
I have no doubt it rode around in "Deacons Big Baby" for awhile after he knocked it over. Anyone know if any small battles in Marseburg or a HJ school located there?
I know several bombing raids were made to Marseburg in late '44.

[John Hodgin]

Hi Perry,

Was the 741st at Aachen as well? Why are we still talking about the flag?

[Gregory Koepp]

very nice, but it looks like it was written with a black grease pencil and really the way it's written (atleast to me) is or was done well after WWII?

just my thought.

but still very cool!!!!

greg

[Perry Floyd]

It looks like it was written with a make-up pencil or one of those contractor/art pencils that you sharpen by pulling a string breaking away the wood..
What makes you think it was written well after WWII by the way it was wrote?

[Gregory Koepp]

thats the same, grease pencil and the string with paper wrapper.
i think the details might be right, like written down and then transfered to the flag later so the info would not get lot.
i might be wrong (and i am almost all the time) but the writting just does not look old enough? and if it is done in one of those markers you'd think it would have transfered over to another part of the flag due to the materal sweating or pressure? plus it looks not to have been smeared.
just a thought??

greg

[Gregory Koepp]

also them noting the word "TANK" well that would be weard for a tanker to RE-EMPHSIZE it when he already noted it, and it's written below with his unit i.d.

also did they back then write down for the dates in the USA starting with month/date/year??
i thought they started with date/month/year??

again just a thought??

greg

[Perry Floyd]

Yes that's the way a American would write the date then and it would be the way a American would write the date today.

As far as the age, it's a one looker. The writing looks as old as the flag and has faded away in several areas. It was the reason I had to take the picture inside with artifical light. I took pics outside and the writting would not show up well enough so viewers here could see it. Notice how it shows up in the first and second picture, this is what it looks like outside trying to take a picture..
As far as why it's says tank, well I would have figured he was telling what Deacons Big Baby was but maybe that's just the way I see it. I'm sure he didnt think it would be micro analyzed as to why he wrote Tank like that.

As far as the writing, it's very dry and fading, like charcoal. A one looker as to being as old as the flag with a perfect match to patina.

[Calvin Hall]

Neat flag. Congratulations on bringing it out of the woodwork.