Nordland Sunwheel Tab

[Rick C]

I’m researching this tab which, I’m guessing, will garner some quick, negative responses since they are certainly not standard, German made, RZM compliant collar tabs. Perhaps they’re junk but I tend not to discount things until I’ve looked into the features beyond a passing glance or discounting something because it’s ‘odd’.

Sunwheel (‘sonnenrad’) style tabs were used by both the Schalburg Korps & Nordland groups. While they both used a sunwheel varient, the tabs in question would want to be Nordland due to the angle of the sunwheel swastika in that the Schalburg sunwheel was not angled at forty five degrees but straight.

Observations that might give pause regarding these includes the backing material, the piping (not standard) and the thicker aluminum wire used in the embroidery.

[Rick C]

BACKING MATERIAL:
With regard to the backing material, rather than the standard buckram or the variants most often seen, we’re looking at a cardboard or cardstock type material. While this might give some pause, I note numerous threads recognizing this as being normal and accepted with regard to foreign manufacture. A few are noted below; some with some comments:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d+backing+tabs
SGStandard commented: “I realize that cardboard backing was used sometimes, but this is far more prevalent on SS tabs.”

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d+backing+tabs
bwanek1 relates: “you can't say that SS collar tabs were not made with a cardboard backing. Machine-woven (aka BeVo) tabs, are well known to have been made with cardboard.”

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d+backing+tabs
Øyvind & Pedersen related: “in Norway during the war, and that some of them had the cardboard backing”
“The Danish Schalburgkorps also used cardboard backing on their sunweel tab. Those tabs was made in Denmark.”

Good thread on Schalburg/Nordlan tabs: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...=schalburg+tab

DeMil related here (http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=142023) that “I have also seen norwegian made collarpatches with pink cardboard on the backside.”

[Rick C]

PIPING:
Enter the tinselly crap that no one likes; let’s just say for the moment the piping exhibited is non standard. They’re (allegedly) foreign so would the piping be expected to be the same as German RZM material? This thread features similar piping from tabs allegedly having provenance: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...on#post1277727

Gary Wood seems to accept the style of piping here: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=180513
Ian Hulley also seems to accept this type of “early piping” as pre 1940 - same thread here: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru....php?p=1618181
More tinselly piping here- http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...on#post1277727

BULLION WORK:
Where German made & RZM compliant tabs utilize, predominantly, aluminum wire due to its ability to withstand oxidation, these appear to be a base copper material plated with some type of silver wash. One experienced cloth expert related to me: “a lot of the old bullion was silver plated and tended to oxidize”. It was also alluded to the foreign makers may have been larger users of plated copper wire than their German counterparts. The subject tabs appear to be using a thin purl wire that’s not often used for fine embroidery. He further related: “I would say purl (that springy type crap) was used by Foreign makers,maybe even more so than the Germans. Its a good filler but can't produce the fine detail as with standard gauge aluminum wire.”

So, while odd, the issues that jumped out at me as potentially giving pause when I first got it in hand seem, in the threads researched/mentioned above, to be issues that at least some collectors have had experience with being period. It would be nice to hear some positive responses but I’ll not be heartbroken if these are deemed to be junk so, in that regard, I would enjoy hearing any views on these that you may have.

Just for fun, below are images from another thread (http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...swastika+tab); I include them simply because they’re neat photos of the style of tab in-wear.

So, I look forward to any comments & thanx for your time. RC

[Ian Hulley]

This style of piping was used on the reproductions we had for sale here in the UK in the mid 70's, based on that personal experience I would give it a Any other reading of a previous post of mine would be in error.

Being 100% honest though the backing wasn't like the one you show.

Ian

[Rick C]

Thanx for the comment Ian. Regarding the backing, you're right. My multiple references cited were intended to show a 'card stock' type material as opposed to what we're used to. Sorry if I implied otherwise.

Rick

[Kurt Meyer]

I don't like it.

[Ian Hulley]

It appears to have many of the characteristics of the fake and fantasy sleeve raute and collar patches sold on ebay by one particular individual ... they usually have a US coin at the side for size perspective.

Ian

[Stossgruppe3]

Sun Wheel

I agree with Ian ..... Its not one I would want either Sorry
Regards
David

[C. Betz]

Collar Tab

Reproduction: Piping, embroidery, "buckram" all consistant with a reproduction.

Charles Betz