Avatars: what is yours?

[sandgroper]

My uncle Jack Briggs of the 2/4th Australian Machine gun battalion, killed on the Burma railway through malnutrition and mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese in 1943. Again another photo expertly colourised by Bill.

[ToxicGas]

Yes I know.......

Ned, as soon I read the original comment, I had the same thought... I should have known you'd have got there first!

My avatar is my one and only SS piece: A Totenkopf cap insignia, given to a member of the Royal Engineers by a liberated prisoner of Belsen concentration camp. Because of it's history, it's the most precious possession of mine.

Full thread on it here: RZM M1/52 Totenkopf cap skull with a story

Mat

[Vegard T]

My avatar are of my 2 Norwegian "Deltagermedaljer"(Participation medals 1940-1945) and a marching badge. I put them down on a cap for a second and saw that the light was perfect, so I mixed them together and took the picture. What do you think?

CIMG2188.jpg

[DiggityDiggity]

My uncle Jack Briggs of the 2/4th Australian Machine gun battalion, killed on the Burma railway through malnutrition and mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese in 1943. Again another photo expertly colourised by Bill.

I can't imagine the conditions your uncle faced.... My great uncle also died in Burma, in May 1944. He was part of Merril's Marauders (General Merril's orderly). I'd like to think these boys avenged your uncle's death in some way or form. Any soldier in the SEA theatre was a supreme badass. The unforgiving environment and brutal climate proved to be an enemy in itself. Much respect for your Uncle Jack.

Cheers

[SteveR]

My avatar is of a Union Civil War enlisted man's belt buckle that belonged to my Great Great Grandfather on my maternal side. I have worn it for 40 years now.

[BOB COLEMAN]

My avatar is my favorite dog of all time, Klaus. By far, he was the smartest dog I ever encountered. In front of him is his passion, a boomer ball. Made of hard plastic, I would throw it out and he would bring it back like a soccer player with his front paws using his nose to steer it. All at a dead run!

[Dimas]

My avatar is a photo of my Great Grandfather. He was an ethnic German living in Ukraine. When the SS rolled in, he was forced to serve in the Schuma and SD. His exact history is a mystery, but we do know that he manned a post and served as a guide/ translator. He was last seen in the closing stages of the war. I assume he fell at the hands of the Red Army.

let me know his name, and date of birth, also his father's name. I will try to help you with his fate

[M422A1]

My avatar is my M422A1 "Mighty Mite" Jeep that I owned while in high school and college and beyond. It was mostly made of aluminum with an aluminum V4 air-cooled engine. They were made for the USMC and saw service in Viet Nam. The high cost of construction limited production to just 3922. At one time I owned two of them. I wish I still had one...

Mike

[Styx]

Oh, and I didn't really explain mine; I've just changed it so technically it's unfair but it USED to be a pair of 'Styx', who're my favourite characters in an otherwise awful series of books I've read, and now it's my relic SS helmet from a Das Reich soldier which I added to my collection recently.

Robbie

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Mines a photo of the original standard of the Polish Parachute Brigade.
The Standard was secretly embroidered in occupied Warsaw .... smuggled out and dedicated to the Brigade in Cupar, Scotland in 1944.

Yeah, that’s an amazing story, covered well in Brigade C.O. General Sosabowski’s WW2 memoir “Freely I Served”. A book that I would highly recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in WW2 history.

Cheers,
Tony