Looking for info/help on German WW2 uniform insignia

[SeaMac]

Hello to All,
I have 11 German ww2 uniform insignia patches that i am looking for information on. They were in a old scrapbook dedicated to my Grandfather that fought over seas during ww2. Unfortunatly most were glued to scrapbook paper and now have this glue/paper residue on the backs of them. If anyone can give me info. on how to properly correct this problem (if any) id appreciate it. Also any info on the patches like proper name of each patch, year issued (if possible), value, offers etc..
If any more informtion is needed from me please let me know and i will try and assist.
Thanks in advance,
Mike

[ObKrieger]

I cannot comment on their authenticity, but if they are original, you are a VERY lucky person!

The cufftitle is very rare and worth a considerable amount of money if original. It was for member of this division: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The SS collar tab is, in my opinion, a good, used late-war example. These are also worth several hundred dollars. The black rank patch with the silver chevrons, if it belonged to the same man that the SS insignia belonged to, would be for an SS-Rottenfuehrer. The other rank patches are Kriegsmarine (Navy) and possibly coastal artillery, but I am not the best person to comment on that.

The breast eagle is also KM, and the various other anchor and star patches are KM naval ratings. I think the star ones are for a boatswain, but I am not sure about the others.

The kicker here is the 'Wiking' cufftitle. Wait for more opinions on it. I am not a cloth insignia expert but to my slightly trained eye, I would say that these are authentic examples, which is important to note when there is a sea of fakes out there.

Welcome to the forum!
Mo

[SeaMac]

Thank you for the information. It is exciting learning about all of this, and kinda helps gives me a vision of what my Grandpa might have encountered over there if you know what i mean. As far as authenticity, they were taken off dead soldiers as the story goes in the family...along with all the other memiorablia (sp?) included in the scrapbook id be pretty amazed if these were not real. Thanks Again!
Mike

[ObKrieger]

Although it is possible that he got them off of a dead soldier, it is much more likely that he was present at the surrender of the 5. SS in Austria, and then took the insignia from a POW, perhaps in trade or by other means. Wiking spent pretty much its entire career fighting the Soviets, so the vast majority of their casualties occured while they were on the Eastern Front.

I would personally be interested in seeing other items from the scrapbook, i.e. photos, that could confirm that he was in fact in Austria at the time. You could narrow it down to his unit this way.

[crazy horse]

I cannot comment on their authenticity, but if they are original, you are a VERY lucky person!

The cufftitle is very rare and worth a considerable amount of money if original. It was for member of this division: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The SS collar tab is, in my opinion, a good, used late-war example. These are also worth several hundred dollars. The black rank patch with the silver chevrons, if it belonged to the same man that the SS insignia belonged to, would be for an SS-Rottenfuehrer. The other rank patched are Kriegsmarine (Navy) and possibly coastal artillery, but I am not the best person to comment on that.

The breast eagle is also KM, and the various other anchor and star patches are KM naval ratings. I think the star ones are for a boatswain, but I am not sure about the other.

The kicker here is the 'Wiking' cufftitle. Wait for more opinions on it. I am not a cloth insignia expert but to my slightly trained eye, I would say that these are authentic examples, which is important to note when there is a sea of fakes out there.

Welcome to the forum!
Mo

I think you nailed it pretty good, but I'm no expert at all I gotta go with what you said though.
marty

[ObKrieger]

By the way, please make an attempt to keep these things together. I already cringe at the fact that they were removed from the scrapbook!

If you sell these, please pass on the history and put as much research into your grandfather's service as possible. Not only will that add value, it will preserve your grandfathers memory within the collecting world.

[SeaMac]

Interesting....there were no photos of him specifically in Austria unfortunatly. There was the western union telgram my grandma received from him being wounded but havent checked that out to much yet. It is mostly newspaper clippings and news articles about my Grandpa. (long story short) He was wounded in the neck with shrapnel and could not breath. The field medic searched my grandpas pockets and found a "pen". He then emptyied it out and then inserted it into his neck so he could breath. This was the first tracheotemy on record. The kicker of the story is my grandma had just sent him the pen that saved his life because she felt he didnt write her enough. So it is mostly tons of articles about that story...The field medic was awarded medical scholarships for his outstanding service and also articles about him.

[ObKrieger]

If you don't mind, I'm sure we would all love to see pictures of other items in the scrapbook that are even remotely related to his military service. Usually all it takes is one town name, commander, date, etc.

[SeaMac]

By the way, please make an attempt to keep these things together. I already cringe at the fact that they were removed from the scrapbook!

Will do...There has to be a better way for me to preserve these patches than glued inside a old smelly scrapbook?

If you sell these, please pass on the history and put as much research into your grandfather's service as possible. Not only will that add value, it will preserve your grandfathers memory within the collecting world.

.

[davejb]

The fact that these were in the scrapbook actually adds provenance to the pieces and should be kept together, im with Mo on this, to me they look completely genuine and worth a great deal of money, which shouldnt be a deciding factor but the family history is all important