Polish Cigarette Case - Italia 1946

[Spitace41]

Hi all. Thought this latest purchase might be of some interest. Made to commemorate the Polish Army in Italy in 1946. I find this interesting as it represents a time when members of the Polish armed forces in the West faced an uncertain future, the War being over but no return to their homeland in sight. Quite cheaply made from plastic but very nice in my opinion.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Interesting piece, i like that.

[sirio]

Interesting piece, i like that.

the yellow cross on white field badge in the middle of the case, is the patch of the British Eighth Army.

[rra227]

Never seen that before. Rich A. in Pa.

[jamest8]

A small geeky observation Spitace41. You will notice that the backing to the 8th Armoured shield and the 2nd Armoured Div badge is slightly pearlescent. These are probably made from plastic sheeting liberated from one of the accordion factories in the area of the town of Ancona in Northern Italy. Accordion keyboards are set into pearlescent boards. Quite a lot of Polish badges from 2 Korpus can be found made of this plastic which was often reversed so that the pearlescent coating was on the back. It is perfectly possible that the whole cigarette case was made from plastic from one of the accordion factories. A very interesting example of making do with what was available.

[Spitace41]

Not a geeky observation at all, mate. A much appreciated one in fact that having just googled insignia made from the same material adds a very interesting provenance to this piece.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Very nice. I have a similar one shown on the forum somewhere.