2nd Armored Soliders Souveneirs and an unexpected suprise

[Fritz Luther]

Just got this in today. I will take some better pics this weekend as these were the pics I got from the seller. Its a grouping of items brought back from a 2nd Armored Veteran. The last item I identified was the lion head insignia which turned out to be a rare insignia for the Belgian resistance fighters which was produced in May 44 and dropped to the Resistance fighters in June 44 so they could be recognized by the Allied forces. The Heer officers collar tab has quite a bit of the collar still affixed. The single shoulder board has a black tongue. The pair of shoulder boards has one with the tongue cut off making it appear smaller the other which has its toungue still affixed. The two SS tabs are bevo with cardboard backing. The white spot was caused by the camera as both have no damage. The single DRK collar tab was also with the grouping. I am working on getting more info on the Soldier who brought these back. Quite a bit of rare insignia that made my day. Would love to know how a resistance insignia came to be in this collection of bring back souvenirs. It has some writing in that launguage on the back would love to know if anyone on here has the ability to translate Belgian. Will post a pic of the writing tommorrow.

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[KM-NZ]

the lion head is of the resistance group Secret Belgian Army. Was used on armbands, but am not that well versed on resistance groups.

Nice haul !

What does it say on the back ?

Cheers

[BryanD]

Very nice find.

[afrikasandman]

Some sweet goodies to say the least man! Congrats Matt

[vonStubben]

Belgian Resistance Group

I have a very dear friend that I have known for well over 20 years now who lives in this area and is very well known and who served in this Belgian Resistance group. He killed his first enemy soldier at the age of 14 and was responsible for seeing that his first cousin was tried and executed for collaborating with the Germans (his testimony helped convict him) immediately after the wars end. He also summarily executed his cousins wife and buried her in a dung heap on their farm. This group of Resistance men/women were put into British uniform after the war and used for some time by the Allies. His group was eventually disarmed and disbanded because of their retaliation against the Germans in general. They pretty much killed who they wanted, when they wanted.

This group also had metal insignia they wore and he still wears his on his "World War II" veterans hat that he wears on a daily basis.

Chuck

[Johnny R]

Not sure about other uses but the Belgian Insignia was used by the Piron Brigade which was a uniformed Allied force as sleeve insignia. I would be interested in a source indicating these were air dropped into Belgium for resistance use. Nice haul.

http://www.brigade-piron.be/Accueil_en.htm

[Garth Thompson]

To add to John's post the Belgian insignia is for the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade (the Belgian title for the group was the Brigade Piron). The formation formed part of the 21st British Army Group and took part in the Normandy landings and the liberation of Belgium. It was raised, trained and equipped in the UK. The patch really doesn't have anything to do with the resistance and was probably aquired by the veteran by trading with a brigade member.
Garth

[Johnny R]

To add to John's post the Belgian insignia is for the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade (the Belgian title for the group was the Brigade Piron). The formation formed part of the 21st British Army Group and took part in the Normandy landings and the liberation of Belgium. It was raised, trained and equipped in the UK. The patch really doesn't have anything to do with the resistance and was probably aquired by the veteran by trading with a brigade member.
Garth

My thoughts as well. It is regardless of use, very very rare and great to see in a lot like this. The lion head design continues to be used by the Belgian Army today with different color backings for Vehicle and other types of insignia.

Just to add there are pictures on the unit website,

[Fritz Luther]

Some better pics I took today of a few items.

Artillery senior NCO boards

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[Fritz Luther]

SS Bevo tabs and Panzer NCO board unsure what the color represents looks orange.

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[Jan B]

To add to John's post the Belgian insignia is for the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade (the Belgian title for the group was the Brigade Piron). The formation formed part of the 21st British Army Group and took part in the Normandy landings and the liberation of Belgium. It was raised, trained and equipped in the UK. The patch really doesn't have anything to do with the resistance and was probably aquired by the veteran by trading with a brigade member.
Garth

Although different, here are a few other examples (I have more lying around, but should search them). Some came from family-members which saw service immediatly after the war in Germany within both the army (Piron) and belgian 'Gendarmerie' (Provoostschap).

Your's is typical with the triangle background...Sorry can't help really. I'm not aware of any wartime active resistance group wearing that type of shield.


Regards

Jan

[Fritz Luther]

The writing on the reverse of the Belgian Resistance Army badge..hopefully someone can shed some light on its message. Their is a small sewing pin that has been bent that is been on the patch for a while.

Thanks in advance David

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[Fritz Luther]

Here is where I got my initial info on the patch.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

[Jan B]

David

Maybe you should post the lion-patch in the international section. Many variations in all sorts of material existed...And like John stated, even today it is still in use in a way.

I can't really help you as it is way out of my collection interests. Or you can contact the webmaster of the site you refer too.

Good luck with the search!

I have a very dear friend.... Who served in this Belgian Resistance group. They pretty much killed who they wanted, when they wanted.


Chuck

Chuck

Not saying it didn't happen, but 'this belgian resistance group'? Which one is that? Amongst almost 50 (official) organisations.

Do you have a name of your friend?

You can PM me if you want!

Thanks

Jan

[Fritz Luther]

The cut off Officers Panzer Litzen
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