2021 SOS Haul

[TWS]

My annual post-SOS thread. Seems a few months late this year?

First are the smalls. I love the Aufklärer strap that the soldier took the effort to sew a piece of badge cloth over the number rather than pick it out. That and the Kradschützen-Abteilung 1 board came from PanzerBob and he said the covered number is likely "3" as it was discovered with other material from Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3.

[Eagle mtn]

Great finds. I love the shoulder insignia

[TWS]

I purchased three researched groupings from a U.S. WWII collector. First is to Salvatore Ventimiglia who was armored cav/recon and was allegedly wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, although the 5th "Victory" Armored Division was in the Hurtgen Forest around that time. He earned five campaign stars as well as the bronze star. Further research may turn up the citation for his bronze star award.

Second uniform is to Nicholas Rome (Romei) who earned the bronze star while serving with the 212th Armored Field Artillery Battalion in the "Super Sixth" Armored Divison. Rome also earned five campaign stars.

Third uniform is that of George Nichols who was an armored infantryman in 5th Armored Division. He was awarded the CIB and the purple heart. I believe that wound took him out of the fighting as he only received one campaign star.
Also pictured are some additional uniform pieces I purchased that are non-attributed to complete these uniforms for mannequin display.

[TWS]

Last but not least is a Waffenrock to an Unteroffizier in Kavallerie-Schützen-Regiment 7. I did some wheeling and dealing and ended up with it as the result of a trade deal. I hardly need yet another cavalry Waffenrock, but the unit was just too appealing. The regiment was part of 2. Leichte Division for the invasion of Poland. After Poland the division was reorganized and became the 7. Panzer-Division with the regiment becoming Schützen-Regiment 7. The 7th Panzer Division then took part in the invasion of France under the command of... you know this one... Erwin Rommel. Unfortunately the "S 7" on the shoulder straps was picked out per orders, but a nice unit stamp remains. I wish the tunic was named as the 7th Panzer was a premier unit, fighting with distinction throughout the war and it would be worthy of a research attempt to know the actions and the fate of the owner.

[Pauls1970]

Fantastic pick ups, glad you was able to go to a show.......normality eh ! The quality of those tunics are always first class !
Cheers
Paul

[John4022]

That Kradschützen board is a beauty! I'm happy to see you had a great show and hopefully you had a lot of fun (I'm sure you did ) Hopefully I can make it next year!

[TWS]

Fantastic pick ups, glad you was able to go to a show.......normality eh ! The quality of those tunics are always first class !
Cheers
Paul

Thanks Paul! Fairly normal. Although I did have to wear a mask the entire trip out and back. Still required at all times in airports and on flights.
Attendance was down a bit, chiefly because we lacked nearly all of the normal foreign attendees. A few still managed, however. Two collector/dealers from Belgium were there and explained they had gone on vacation in the Caribbean en route which allowed their itinerary. One Russian chap stopped by our tables, but I didn't know him and didn't ask how he managed.

[TWS]

That Kradschützen board is a beauty! I'm happy to see you had a great show and hopefully you had a lot of fun (I'm sure you did ) Hopefully I can make it next year!

Thanks John. I did indeed have a blast. I was stuck manning tables a lot more than usual this time and that added to my annual struggle to feel like I've "seen it all" and also to make sure and visit with everyone I know. We have a habitual "band of brothers" that attend together and we got an entire house again through Airbnb. So there's the show during the day and then drinking at night "around the campfire" as we regale each other with various wild collecting stories - some of them actually true.

[KMMorris]

Any general show photos Todd?
Looks like some great pick ups.

[TWS]

Any show photos Todd?
Looks like some great pick ups.

Thank-you sir.
Unfortunately no show photos. While I would love to help those who cannot attend get a view of the show, I found myself either manning the tables or running around like a lunatic trying to see everything and visit/chat with everyone that I wanted to. There's just too much to do and not enough time. I was there all day Thursday and Friday and up until 12:30 on Saturday and I struggled even the last day to make sure I'd seen and talked with all of my forum friends and conclude a couple deals that had been percolating.