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Nice example of a buckle with plenty of green paint still in place.

Hi guys, If you're interested in buying a Demjansk shield pay attention to the letter "J". The first shield you see on the pictures is pretty convincing, but it has the so-called Seriff "J". Which is bigger/fatter. Compare it with the one you see on the last picture.

I just picked up this WW2 Desert paint Mark II this week. Couldn't be Happier! Been looking for some time for one. It's a AMC made 1941 dated. Austin Motor company only made these for one year (1941)!

Well, it's 3 months now. I for one am very happy with the web forum. It's easy to browse, no drama like face book. A very high class establishment! 3 cheers from me!

Some of my tropical buckles. Buckles are one of my main areas, and tropicals are right up near the top of my favourites list.

Just a DAK picture I have laying around.

Weird how things happen really. This happened a couple of years back now but still amazes me. You would think that, of all the people in the world, your mother would know what your hobby is. I assumed she did, especially as she had to put up with my incessant model making during my childhood and my insistence on showing her my museum whenever something new gets added to it, (frequently!!). Imagine my surprise when she turns up at my house one day, has a cup of tea, chats about this and that and, just as she's leaving, reaches into her handbag and says 'Oh.....nearly forgot. I brought these for you. Thought you may like them'. I stared in disbelief at the cuff title and little booklet she handed me. 'Where the HELL did you get these from??' 'Remember Mr Lewis,. the old chap I used to look after? He had them. He fought in Africa and took the cuff thingy off a POW'. 'Mr Lewis? That was 10 years ago! How long have you had them?' 'About ten years. He gave them to me for you but I forgot about them. Just found them when I was clearing some stuff out of the attic' I could say no more......... Amazing. Anyway, here they are. I have them framed on the wall in my museum. The cuff title is in superb condition and, I have been assured by numerous experts, (I'm expert in weapons and ordnance, not badges and cuff titles!!), it is an original. The little cartoon book is rather humorous

Hi guys, Apologies, the server crashed a few times last night and once this morning, basically out of memory issues on my server which shouldn't be happening. I'd disabled all the add-ons till I find out of any of them are causing the issue. Stick with me, I'm on it.

Oohh, lovely example, very clean.what I aspire to acquire.

An absolutely beautiful desert painted lid.think the chinstraps a replacement but could've been done anytime, doesn't detract though.

VERY NICE MATE (Y)

@Lenny next years big MCN meet?

This helmet bares the black mat paint that is prevalent on Mk IV's of this era the helmet body was manufactured by RO&CO and IMO is a nice honest example showing light patina to the exterior of the helmet body. The liner is as well 1952 dated and was produced by Fisher Foils Ltd and is in a size 6 3/8 The chinstrap was changed out and added to a later Mk V and the camo net was added by me for the purpose of display and is a nice heavily scrimmed knotted late WW II British that shows some nice wear and a lovely shine on the on the net which goes to the fact that this example has been on a helmet for some time... Regards Mark

Todd, if you can wait a few days ,a pal of mine has records of every soldier who fought in WW1, and also who died, he researched all of these as he,s a historian and gained all this material due to his job as the Harrods WW1/2 Historian and had to check for members of Harrods who fought or died in both World Wars, I,ll ask him if he has any details or where you can obtain additional information

Todd, I am a C.E.F. collector so British stuff is certainly not my forte. Other than Ancestry I don't know if there is any other avenue for research. I assume you have his MIC? If not it can be found and purchased at this link. There will not be much info on it IIRC. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_fn=James&_ln=+Quintin+&_no=&_crp=&_ttl=&discoveryCustomSearch=true&_cr1=WO+372&_dt=M&_col=200&_hb=tna

My pleasure...

I have an Android but it works good on it as well

@Steve T, I consider your title to be a fine veteran bring back DAK title with provenance. The variant titles are not fake, but the tartan weave/ diamond back copied the variant version. I have been collecting Afrika Korps/Tropical items since 1989 I think I can say with certainty that your title is original. D

To be honest with you there is one thing that I know for definite. The veteran brought it back from Africa, along with lots of other bits. I can see similarities between mine and the so-called-fake, but also between mine and the authentic one. I posted numerous pictures of the front and back on WRF some years back, and everyone agreed it was original. Not one person cast any doubt on it. That's good enough for me. Oh, and @Davejb has seen it in person and he is in no doubt.

Hi @Steve T, From the photos you have posted I can see your title matches the variant title he disputes and not the standard one that everyone trusts.. perhaps it's just the photos you have posted, but the R&P look like the variant version to my eyes?

Hi @Lenny His name is Mike Seager Thomas and here is a link to his paper. http://www.academia.edu/13068211/Faking_the_Afrikakorps_contextualizing_the_manufacture_and_trade_in_imitation_Afrikakorps_material_culture D

Hi @Steve T Your title is a fine and original variant Afrikakorps cuff title. You don't know how happy I am to see more evidence that these disputed titles are indeed original. Here is one attached to the photo album of a Signals unit member that was killed or captured at El Alamein, but this was not enough evidence for our academic friend. The extra photos are of another original title in my collection and the highlighted areas in red are the reason these titles are regarded as fakes. I believe the confusion is due to the diamond back/tartan weave fakes that are copies of this original variation. D

My inspiration for starting the MCN back in 1998 was the BCN, the Bayonet Collectors Network, founded by John Jacobi. Here's their patch and tinnie, which I also shamelessly stole for the MCN tinnie. I'm about to do another run of MCN tinnies, only available in the MCN store. Pre-orders taken soon...

One of my least favourite steelies, mainly because it's shape is so nondescript, nevertheless that's a nice example Mark.quite unbelievable they're still being used to this day too!

One of my favourite items...

I couldn't agree more. My dad spent 4 years in Eygpt in WW2. I've got a couple of pics, sadly the British uniform/kit was dull in comparison. But as they say, it's not all about who's best dressed!

A week in the carboot world is like a month anywhere else, I daresay he had two other boots in that time

Never heard of them, but that doesn't mean anything either. I am going to watch this to see what is said. -Mike