The flower petals look very similar in size and font to ID tag stamps. The 'hatching' looks like knurling from an industrial workshop lathe.
The flower petals look very similar in size and font to ID tag stamps. The 'hatching' looks like knurling from an industrial workshop lathe.
15th Waffen SS Division Grenadiers 1st Latvians
Just recently received, this little aluminum flare gun cartridge shotglass was dug by a Russian digger outside of Leningrad near the town of Ostrov in the Pskov Region. It shows considerable age and deterioration from it's many long years in the ground, as most aluminum pieces do, but the decoration on it is still legible and good. Found in the positions of the 1st Latvian troops, it features the collar emblem of the 15th Waffen SS Division Grenadiers. It was formed in the beginning of 1943 by Latvian conscripts("Volunteers") and fought along side it's sister outfit, the 19th Waffen SS Division Grenadiers-the 2nd Latvians. They met their doom outside of Leningrad a little more than a year later in the Summer of 1944.
At first, I had thought that this might have been a candle holder, but in hand, it's obviously a drinking glass. An interesting little piece with a sad history to it. Probably best that it isn't truly known...
Last edited by Wagriff; 05-21-2017 at 07:43 AM.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
You should really take them all out and take a family picture!!!
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Would need a wide angle lens! lol
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Ilmensee 1943
Unexpectedly came across another interesting little glass today. Nothing particularly amazing about it, but it is very well made and has the name "Ilmensee 1943" added to it. Ilmensee is a large lake by Novgorod in Russia where some particularly bitter fighting went on for almost a years time and nearly 100,000 German soldiers were in a tight fix for a long hairy time. The fool who dug it thought he was doing me a fine favor by polishing it up nice and pretty! Thankfully, brass tarnishes back down fairly quick. To appease my indignant grousing, he included the little glass shown in the last photos to shut me up. Again, nothing noteworthy, but extremely nicely made anyway. I Do, however, have a nice find coming in sometime in the hopefully near future that I will have to set to work on photographing. It will be a challenge, but a definitely interesting find. So, in the meantime, here is my newest "Ilmensee 1943" shotglass and it's plain little cousin. The little one would make a very practical "user"...
Last edited by Wagriff; 05-21-2017 at 07:42 AM.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Nice William. I just opened a new bottle of Blanton ' s Whiskey so send it over and I'll give a try
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
1942 Christmas in Russia for the Rapid Response Unit of the 122nd Division
Here is a set that I newly acquired that I had seen in a collector's stuff some good few years ago but he was not looking to sell it. I was quite surprised, then, when I recently saw it being listed for sale by a Seller that was nearby to the collector! For some totally unknown reason *cough* I'd liked it when I first saw it, so I picked it up and here it is.
First of all, there is a brass tray that has been nicely hand made(note the Luger bullet tips it uses for feet) and measures roughly 10 1/2 inches by 7 3/4. The edges are curled under for easier carrying and there is an inscription in the center of it stating that it was for Christmas in 1942 for the Rapid Response Unit of the 122nd Division and they were located southwest of the Ilmensee area.
There are 12 shotglasses that are on it(were there ever more?) and bear the names of at least 2 locations in Lithuania and the rest are in Russia down in the Demjansk area, Novgorod etc. Some of the names are difficult to decipher, as they seem to be German spellings of what apparently is the way the soldiers were hearing of how the places they were occupying were pronounced. The 122 ended their military careers eventually in Kurland in May of 1945. It would be a fascinating story by itself to puzzle out how this set ended up where it is today! Maybe the soldier sent back home a shotglass from every place he'd been? It's a very interesting set, in any case,and here are the photographs of it that I've got.
The town names are, as best that I can decipher them-Pachino, Karbusselli, Kality, Kaloma, Wessjutschis-Bor, Krassnij-Bor, Lissi-Gorki, Sintauta, Schumilow-Bor, Konetschki, Jonawa, and Dubowik. 2 of these may have been from Lithuania(Sintauta and Jonawa) and another May be from the Ukraine-Dubowik. Or then again, they may Not be and only the soldier who made them knows for sure where he was!
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Stunning piece William. Would be great to take this out at Christmas time for some nice eggnog!
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Wolchow 1943
Just recently, I was rooting about in some more boxes in the basement and found this shotglass in one. It's been a number of years and I'd totally forgotten that I had it. It was dug not too far from Leningrad and has pin punched onto it "Wolchow" and "1943". The Wolchow side looks to have been in contact with the soil more so than the dated side, and in any case, the digger had foolishly over cleaned it , probably trying to raise the writing to read it, but that's no big problem. There is abit of damage to it from long time burial, but the inscriptions are perfectly legible still-despite my poor photographic efforts, of course. I have a couple of more pieces coming in from a digger eventually (they're presently languishing in Customs in NYC at the present moment) and when they come in I'll try to see if I can get some viewable shots of them.
Last edited by Wagriff; 05-21-2017 at 07:41 AM.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
113th Infantry Division-261st Jager Regiment
This one came in not too long ago and was a corroded crusted ball of crud, but I could see that there was writing on it, so I took a shot at it and picked it up. I had to soak it in vinegar for 2 days to loosen much of the corrosion but was quite pleased with the end result-despite it being abit too "shiny", but it will tone down nicely in the days ahead and look just fine. I particularly liked the Unit Marking above the writing which depicted the 113th Infantry Division and also included the Regiment number below as the JR 261st. On the body of the casing the maker had included the names of 3 hotly contested Russian battles-"Charkow-Kiew-Kalatch". An ironic ending, to finish up in Stalingrad after making it alive through Karkov, Kiev and Kalatch. But, such was the maker's eventual fate, as his Division was obliterated in the Stalingrad cauldron in January-February of 1943. One wonders if he was one of the few that ever made it back home, or do his bones lie forever somewhere in the Russian wilds in a pit by a POW work camp... Not the Finest of craftsmanship-look at the botched "6" in the 261, for example...but he Tried,anyway! lol
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
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