Britischen Freikorps tab

[J C Gray]

Here is a link to a site with the above & a few other pictures of BFC. http://members.aol.com/sturmpnzr/photos.htm

BTW, the tab posted above is an early '80s fake...I had one (minus RZM tag) back then.

[pimpf]

Hm, it's itnteresting ! My photo I scanned from Angolia book ant there is a note below the image that "... faces have been cut out to protect the identity of the volunteers". Øyvind posted the same photo with faces ! How cat it be explained ?

[PHILBROWN]

if anyones interested there is a book by adrian weale called renegades , hitlers englishmen. isbn 0-7126-6764-4 this lists all names and ranks of the freicorps and has some good pictures, one of eric pleasants as an old man in norfolk in the 90s ,and packed full of info. phil.

[Øyvind]

Found this photo on the site about the British freikorps and noticed that the writing under the picture were Norwegian. My gues is that this article were found in the newspaper "Fritt Folk", a colabaration paper during the war.

Here is the translation: The first British freikorps made up by englishmen that are internee in Germany, have joined the battle against Bolsjevism.

Cheers
Øyvind

[Basil]

The only BFC insignia which is known to have survived the war is a Union Flag patch which was brought back by a former BFC member when he deserted from the 'Kurt Eggers' Regiment in Brussels in September 1944. This may be in his court martial file in the New Zealand archives but, unfortunately, the New Zealand army have never bothered to answer any of my letters on the subject.

None of the BFC members were captured in their BFC uniforms, as far as I can tell, and in any case the handful who were sent to the Eastern Front in 1945 had been ordered to remove their BFC insignia.

It is possible that some unissued badges have survived but I've never seen one and the lack of decent imagery would make them very difficult to authenticate. Certainly the various badges which have been claimed as 'original' BFC are not authentic. It would be nice to find some but I suspect it's never going to happen.

[Øyvind]

What about the vets that brought back all the unisued insignia from the Dachau depo? It seems like they almost took everything they could find.
A "union jack" ss-patch or the BFC cuff must have been really exotic items then as now! Strange that we have not seen any of those in a US collection?

Cheers
Øyvind

[Ian Hulley]

" Strange that we have not seen any of those in a US collection?"

Not really,according to a thread on G.D. a couple of years ago,which Adrian Weale contributed to,a batch of (if I remember correctly) 50 sets of insignia were ordered and delivered to the unit's barracks. The existing members were issued insignia (shield,tab and cufftitle) the remainder were apparently destroyed when the barracks were hit during a bombing raid.

The 'Dachau' volunteer items were from large batches destined for uniforms for units either in construction or who were to recieve new specific insignia.The B.F.C. never took off so a large batch was never necessary.

Cheers,Ian.

(Actually a certain Mark Morton of Georgia was peddling a set of 'Delta International' B.F.C. insignia,which he was determined were real ,still I bet they have pride of place some collection somewhere.)

[Sonny]

Hi Oyvind, nice picture very clear thanks for that. Thoughts of ever owning any of this insignia are pure "pipe dreams". Sonny

[nutmeg]

Does anyone have a picture of both sides of the "Delta" collar patch? Have a chance at a BFC patch from an old collection (haven't seen it yet) , collected sometime between 1950 and 1970s (almost everything in the collection has been genuine). Could be an early fake, but I'd like to see the Delta version for comparison. Just want to be sure, I might feel worse letting a real one get away then buying a fake!

[Ian Hulley]

Does anyone have a picture of both sides of the "Delta" collar patch? Have a chance at a BFC patch from an old collection (haven't seen it yet) , collected sometime between 1950 and 1970s (almost everything in the collection has been genuine). Could be an early fake, but I'd like to see the Delta version for comparison. Just want to be sure, I might feel worse letting a real one get away then buying a fake!

Try this :- http://www.militaryantiquesofga.com/...tishTabs1.html

Totally original according to Mr Morton (which wouldn't of course explain the officer's piped tab considering the highest ranking British BFC member was a sergeant if I remember correctly).

In reality the consensus was,at the time he first put them up for sale,that these are classic Delta tabs.

[nutmeg]

Try this :- http://www.militaryantiquesofga.com/...tishTabs1.html

Totally original according to Mr Morton (which wouldn't of course explain the officer's piped tab considering the highest ranking British BFC member was a sergeant if I remember correctly).

In reality the consensus was,at the time he first put them up for sale,that these are classic Delta tabs.

Thanks, we'll see how this one compares!

[Bobwirtz]

Who is this Military Antiques of Georgia? What a bunch of junk... reed-green HBT field cap with insignia and SS-BW marked for $450? What a crock! And I'm really going to believe the British Freikorps insignia! This guy ought to be taken out and horse whipped and then tarred and feathered! To sell this JUNK off as ORIGINAL is MISREPRESENTATION and THEFT...

[ReichsHeini]

Over the last several years people have been buying from old "Beaverflaps" (Mark Morton) and complaining on theses collector forums once they find out what they actually purchased.

[Bobwirtz]

Oh, so this is old "Beaverflaps" from eBay... I used to try and warn people that were bidding on his auction to wave off. But after being told several times to 'mind my own business' I stopped bothering. As long as people like this have websites, they'll remain in business because they don't need collectors or repeat customers. There's lots of 'fresh meat' out there for these guys to prey on. It's too bad but what are you going to do?

[Matthew S.]

Ian, that site was a riot. I see several items there this guy has been trying to unload for a couple years now (maybe he should try the suckers at ebay? ). The prices should be a dead give away. $250 for an "original" Indian Legion collar tab?