My Cap Star Collection So Far

**Kilroy Was Here** · 06-24-2009, 03:48 AM

Hi, took some pics of my Caps stars I found so far. 2 of them are from a friend in Estonia.

and also what started me looking for more of these stars all the time.

These stars are VERY tricky to collect. I feel very good about these being war time stars.

One star is attached to what I think is a Luftwaffe soldats coin purse. It appears to be just that.

I am not familiar with the 2 British?? crown insignia, Or the small insignia with "RR" ?? on it.

I am also not familiar with the Soviet WW2 insignia, what I think are called "rank pips/bars" What would these have signified in the Soviet Red Army?? An Officer, NCO? I see they are both slightly different shape/size. Do you think they came from POW's or KIA's, or?? Where do you think the German soldat got these?

What are these other insignia, if any members know???

Regards, Steve

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 06-24-2009 03:48 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-24-2009, 08:04 AM

Hi Steve, see my other answer to your questions in your other thread on this purse.

Cheers, Ade.

**Dimas** · 06-24-2009, 08:09 AM

Nice stars you have! Also I'am vondering abouth the Ukrainian tridient, any history with it?

**Kilroy Was Here** · 06-24-2009, 08:29 AM

by Dimas

Nice stars you have! Also I'am vondering abouth the Ukrainian tridient, any history with it?

Hello Dimas!! you like the 2 larger stars??

I like them also. I try to find many now. No real history on the coin purse. The person/dealer/ friend I got from here in the US, said he got it 10 or so years ago from his friend in Germany, and he got it at a "flea market in Germany.

I do not doubt his story where he got it. That is all I know, and that I am $90 poorer now.

It may be expensive for this little coin purse to some, but I think it is great, and had to get it.

What are the Crowns?? do you know? What are the rank bars called, and what rank? Are they older than WW2 pre-war?

When Ade says Socialist not Soviet Trident, what does that mean? Were not the Ukrainians on the side of the Russians? A little history lesson please. You do not know what the "Trident" is?

Regards, Steve

**Dimas** · 06-24-2009, 08:56 AM

I would say all of the stars is nice. Ukraina was a part of Soviet union, but tridient is a national symbol, and cannot be used in that time, Only in German side or in any kind of national formations.

**Kilroy Was Here** · 06-24-2009, 09:10 AM

by Adrian Stevenson

Hi Steve, see my other answer to your questions in your other thread on this purse.

Cheers, Ade.

AhHa, I see, (maybe

) it was the Ukraine SSR, under Soviet control?? Too confusing. I thought in Russia? in WWII, all the same under Stalin. Very complex CCCP, USSR, Soviet, Russian, Ukrainian....... My Tokarev says CCCP on the grips. Is it Russian, or Soviet? What's with the Trident pin, is it military related?

You need to explain my mistake, and explain better what you are speaking of. I am dummy. Me do not know Ukrainian socialists.

Regards, Steve

**Kilroy Was Here** · 06-24-2009, 09:18 AM

by Dimas

I would say all of the stars is nice. Ukraina was a part of Soviet union, but tridient is a national symbol, and cannot be used in that time, Only in German side or in any kind of national formations.

Hi Dimas, I do not understand. "Only in German side or in any kind of national formations"
Is the Ukrainian pin from the same time period, WW2, as the other items on the coin purse? It looks to have been there as long as the other rank bars, stars etc. Do you know what the crowns are, or can you find out? Maybe another member will know about crowns too.

Thanks. Regards, Steve

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-24-2009, 09:46 PM

Hi Steve, here goes your first history lesson. Take notes, as there will be questions afterwards

Calling the Soviet Union "Russia" is really a common misconception in the West. The USSR was made up of 11 separate National Republics during WW2. Russia was, of course, the largest and the dominant one. But any kind of Nationalist sentiment was deemed "anti Soviet" and would land you in big trouble. The Ukraine suffered very badly in the 1930's under Stalin and once the German invasion took place various Nationalist groups sprang up. They misplacenly thought the Germans were "liberators". The Ukrainians were truly stuck between "a rock and a hard place". On one hand the Soviets and the repressive Stalinist regime or the Germans who treated them with a mixture of either contempt or badly handled "support". The Nazis had no plans for a Free Ukraine and support for Nationalist groups were really only given due to expediency, ie they needed the men as the tide of the war changed.

Does that help?

Your pin would have been worn by someone who was pro Nationalist and so would have been pro German as a result.

Cheers, Ade.

**Kilroy Was Here** · 06-24-2009, 10:06 PM

Hi Ade, thanks, Yes that helps. But why is the pin on the side with the LW soldiers enemies pins, the "Soviet" pins ( is that correct, Soviet? )

If he was maybe on the side of the Germans as you say, the pin seems out of place.

When I say I have a Russian RGD-33 or a Russian Tokarev, this is the wrong terminology? I should be saying Soviet pistol and grenades? I have always used both for describing my WW2 items. I would like to be correct after collecting 35 years.

What about these 2 Crowns, no definitive answer on those?? Maybe someone will ring in. I would like to know where they are from.

Regards, Steve

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-24-2009, 10:29 PM

I think the soldier simply put them on as souvenirs without any kind of thought to who's side they were from. Hence the mixture.

Yes, I would always go with "Soviet" as the correct terminology. At our living history events people always call us "the Russians". We try to educate them otherwise. In fact, my alter ego is based upon someone from Byelorussia (Modern day Belarus).

Try and research Denmark as a possible source for the crowns.

I am answering you in three threads about this item