14th Galizien Division sleeve shields

[Gaspare]

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I'm with Bob..

When were these approved? and issued.. Do you think they had variants of shields they could hardly get made and issued to the men of the units? Where would the variants get made? why? Everything else was made to the millimeter etc. throughout the war but not these?

Sure ,,the way this hobby is going,,yeah,,variants, they all are. Happy for you guys,,Enjoy!

[Askold]

To answer your question Gaspare on why so many variants would be made - Galician insignia in this case is not much different from the Latvian or Estonian - a number of variants existed. My understanding is that the first batch of insignia was made in small numbers (embroidered shields) and later more shields were produced. When the division was nearly destroyed at Brody - a brand new unit was formed with new volunteers - so this means more shields were made. Change of front line could be part of why the location of production has changed. For example there is one ugly embroidered variant - I suspect it could be locally made shield. With Western Ukraine lost, the insignia was ordered from elsewhere. The taller Bewo shield on black backing is the latest and most numerous version.

[Gaspare]

the other countries shields were either 'cottage made' or printed..
your statement:" so this means more shields were made." Please provide source material for this statement.
After Brody hardly any insignia was handed out except to the German officers and those not there. In fact the couple of bevo like shields that are thought of as authentintic were available at the bigger shows a few years ago [maybe 10] and there are photos of them ,,or at least used to be here... Any talk of these variants is just that,,talk.... won't matter, in the coming years no one will care anyway..

[Askold]

Gaspare

When you say please provide your sources - I don't have any documents that would specifically mention who made the insignia, but there are numerous photos that prove this. For example this photo from Slovakia:

Three types of armshields are worn:
1. Embroidered on light blue cloth (bottom row, 3rd person in the middle)
2. Embroidered on blue cloth (bottom row, 2nd person from right)
3. BeWo on field grey or white backing (2 last guys in front and bottom row from the right)

Two types of collar tabs:
1. BeWO lion collar tab (top row, 1, 4, bottom row, 2)
2. Dahau style embroidered collar tab (top row 2, 3, bottom row 1, 3, 4)

P.S. Also note the variety of headgear insignia - SS trapezoids, single skulls, ect.

[Askold]

Photo i own, embroidered shield on blue backing:



Very late war officer photo - BeWO shield on black backing (the one that is in most collections), picture from Mike Melnyk's book "To Battle".

[Gaspare]

Askold,, not picking on you and don't mean you alone. [ if anything I applaud your collection, appreciate it,,its hard work and hard money spent on it!]. . But for these new guys coming in to the hobby.. They have to learn.. they have to ask,,'can I see source material'..

There must be criteria for authenticity.., Guides, reference, standards to measure against.. Just and unrelated example.. There were a few collectors that collected the 'probes',,or approved prototype before full production.. They have the small metal seal on them ,,paper tags, etc. Me? sure I've seen the embroidered lion shield,,Blue & Yellow,,more than likely the same size lion as the collar tab, maybe the same 'unterlagen' [spelled wrong?] for the lion used..
- * I believe the bevo type,,no matter what the color combo are all the same length and width.. Thats just me..
Same with material,,melts = no good period.
Sure there was experimentation with 'perlon' etc. but that late and for a arm shield,,I don't believe it. *And, mainly believe because I was one of those that saw rolls of them in a dealers box of what he called near perfect insignia. Those photos were on this site and hopefully still are. They were dam good and many have these 'variants' are in peoples collections and I'n not just talking about the 14th shield.. Find the photos and yor see what was out there for a brief time..... It's tough,, but you got weed them out...OR, as I sometimes say,,,'If YOU like it,,then wonderful,,enjoy it...
sorry for the long post,, happy holidays guys and good hunting!!