29th Div. Italian SS insignia

[Dennis S]

Rene , Great Job and you are always good with the presentation on film.

[Cryptato]

Excuse me boys :about the 29th Division I. SS, has never been a medal of this kind ? I have not ever seen....
This is a reproduction, but the original exists ????

[Dennis S]

Fantasy . These pop up on E-bay occasionally .

There was a medal that was a bit similar struck for 50 members of the 1st Bersaglieri Battalion" B. Mussolini" which may have formed part of the Nucleus of the Italian SS Legion.

Here is a photo from a page in the book on RSI insignia originally posted by Nick G in another thread.

[herrgeezer]

Italian SS cap eagle

I've had this bird for years and thought that it was a repro. Now after reading this thread I'm not so sure. Can anyone please verify from these photos if this eagle is any good? Thanks.

[Niederlande]

David, Your eagle is a repro imho.
I hope I am wrong because I am still looking for one myself

[Dennis S]

I don't like the eagle in general, It has the wrong pins and from the photo does not seem to made from Zamac or war metal as I have seen on originals. The eagle configures well except for some odd what I believe are casting blemishes I have not seen on originals.

I may be going out on a limb on this, but if your eagle is made of the correct metal.
It could be an unfinished one or a reject and then the round pins added later.
I t looks to me that part of the original flat pins remain on the back of the eagle or indentations where they were soldered on.

[Ric Ferrari]

By the pics looks like a repro molded from an original one, it would be interesting to take measurements to compare with an original one.

Best

Ric

[Ric Ferrari]

Here's a good one recently sold by John Pepera : look at the crisp feathers detail.

Ric

[Ric Ferrari]

Here's a good one recently sold by John Pepera : look at the crisp feathers detail.

Ric

On the reverse the textbook prongs

Ric

[Cryptato]

I have a doubt: the red collar tabs of Flack ( for EM of artillery Luftwaffe ) are identical to the Italian tabs ? Same color or different ? Or are easily identifiable to one another by something
Ciao

[merdock]

Hi,
How many different types of skull did the Italians make?@ i ask because i have a skull that nobody had seem before with strange pins very wide at the bottom where they attached and narrowing to the end ,it came from a local pow camp that had a large number of Italian pow's as well as Germans here's a front view ,unable to locate a rear view at the moment.

[merdock]

rear

[herrgeezer]

I t looks to me that part of the original flat pins remain on the back of the eagle or indentations where they were soldered on.

Good eye Dennis. There have indeed been other pens on this eagle at one time.

Like I said I always thought is was a repro anyway so no lose for me as I had this for over thirty years I bet. It does bend pretty easy too ... one of the reasons I always assumed it was bad. It does have a cast look to it as well.

[Cryptato]

Excuse me, but no one responded to my important ( for me ) question.
I try again to ask if the type of collar tabs of Flak Artillery Luftwaffe for EM are the same red ( different variation of color and type ????) and costruction of the 29th Italian SS tabs

Nobody can help me ????
Thank You.
p.s. (Happy new Year guys)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dennis S]

Excuse me, but nobody can give me a right answer for the colour of the tabs ( Flack vs 29th )??????
I try again to ask if the collar tabs of Flak Luftwaffe EM are the same type and color of the Italian SS

Nobody can help me ????

Cryptato Take a deep breath. This is my favorite subject , but I had to shovel a little snow today. Thank You.

Here is my opinion based on 30 years studying and having a somewhat over zealous collecting attitude of this poorly equipped (by German standards)Legion/Division. Mind you a little lonely here in the States without a lot of use full information whether printed or from other collectors

My opinion is just this. I do believe a German made generic EM red flak collar tab was used and there were also Italian made EM red tabs specifically for the Italian SS

The flak tabs appear to have a slightly lighter tint than the other pieces of red Italian SS insignia. Shoulder boards, eagles and chevrons are slightly darker and more red. Now if you go back in this thread you will see a set Of Italian SS insignias picked up from an Arizona Veteran by Mr. Bob Hritz. You will notice that the tabs are a bit lighter tint than the other Italian SS insignia picked up by him. These tabs also match flak type tabs to me.

Studying some photos of Italian SS men I have noticed that sometimes the tabs appear the same as flak tabs. I also find it interesting that when ever small hordes or lots of Italian SS insignia are found from Dachau no red tabs are in the groupings but just red eagles. When the horde was found with the Lorioli skulls a couple sets of red boards, chevrons, and eagles were found. No tabs!Did they come from another source???

As I stated before, the Italian SS was broken up all over Northern Italy and some units may not have acquired all their insignia from a central depot. This resulted in many variations made locally. These items are the hardest to confirm as original items without providence and one must go on somewhat of a gut feeling, construction and materials used.

So again I believe both styles were used by the Italian SS both the flak and the Italian made ones.

Are the Flak type used Italian SS tabs really just flak tabs I don't think you can be sure , but very possible and probable.

I hope this wasn't confusing.

MHO