G'day all, this item arrived today, I'm pretty excited about it to say the least! The plate measures 152mm across and is in excellent condition. I also have a copy of a letter from the British army Officer who brought it back, I have transcribed the letter, it reads:
8th April 1995
Dear Mr Blabey,
I picked up your recorded message yesterday evening regarding an enquiry for further details of Hitler's plate sold for me at your auction on 21st March (lot 7+6 in your catalogue)
I am afraid there is not much I can add. As a British Army Officer I went into Hitlers bunker in Berlin a few days after Berlin fell towards the end of the war. There was still a smell of burnt paper there and little to see in the fairly small structure which was largely intact. But I did notice some shelves with about a dozen of these plates - clearly for use by the staff. I purloined one fortunately, as a less modest French Officer took several and was stopped outside by a Russian sentry! In these circumstances I had little opportunity to enquire further, but it seems pretty clear that the plate was among those for use by his personal staff, possibly including Eva Braun.
I hope this is of some help to your enquirer - I am at his disposal,
yours sincerley,
J.P. Ledboer
There are a whole heap of reasons why I think this thing is terrific, according to this officers letter the war was not even over when he visited the bunker, so he must have been one of the first British Officers to see where Hitler finished up! The fact that this plate came from out of the bunker, and not just the Chancellery above it, is in itself historic. I'm really pleased to have this in my collection, I hope you all like it too! (the party badge is to give it scale)
Cheers,
Davo.
Hi Dave, that is great, the letter of provenance really makes it for me.
Cheers, Ade.
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That is so true! You know when I read it the same images were conjured up in my mind.
Cheers, Ade.
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Looks fantastic Dave, such a great and rare item. Got to be pleased to have an piece like this in your collection. You have some great stuff Dave
Jason
Cheers Jase, do you think the fuhrer would be upset if I had a piece of vegemite on toast on his plate?......lol....all jokes asside I am really pleased with this, it is great!
G'day all, this item arrived today, I'm pretty excited about it to say the least! The plate measures 152mm across and is in excellent condition. I also have a copy of a letter from the British army Officer who brought it back, I have transcribed the letter, it reads:
8th April 1995
Dear Mr Blabey,
I picked up your recorded message yesterday evening regarding an enquiry for further details of Hitler's plate sold for me at your auction on 21st March (lot 7+6 in your catalogue)
I am afraid there is not much I can add. As a British Army Officer I went into Hitlers bunker in Berlin a few days after Berlin fell towards the end of the war. There was still a smell of burnt paper there and little to see in the fairly small structure which was largely intact. But I did notice some shelves with about a dozen of these plates - clearly for use by the staff. I purloined one fortunately, as a less modest French Officer took several and was stopped outside by a Russian sentry! In these circumstances I had little opportunity to enquire further, but it seems pretty clear that the plate was among those for use by his personal staff, possibly including Eva Braun.
I hope this is of some help to your enquirer - I am at his disposal,
yours sincerley,
J.P. Ledboer
There are a whole heap of reasons why I think this thing is terrific, according to this officers letter the war was not even over when he visited the bunker, so he must have been one of the first British Officers to see where Hitler finished up! The fact that this plate came from out of the bunker, and not just the Chancellery above it, is in itself historic. I'm really pleased to have this in my collection, I hope you all like it too! (the party badge is to give it scale)
Cheers,
Davo.
Hello Dave
You're a very very lucky guy. What an item to own in a collection! A real historic piece. Congrats and thanks for sharing it at the forum. Can only imagine your adrenaline levels...
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