French Resistance Armband

[yoebuff]

Hello, Any information that anyone can provide as to possible area or additional comments would be greatly appreciated. I located what I believe is an authentic French Resistance armband. It appears to be of the pin type. no button hole or evidence of a strap. The only marking I can find on it is a number "36643". I assume this was issued to a fighting force member? I cant say I ever saw one with the with the Cross of Lorraine with a circle at the bottom. Any information will be appreciated.

[Rakkasan187]

I would be very skeptical without some very solid provenance on the authenticity of the armband. Although it states in the sale writeup that it was "recovered from a D-Day Museum in France" this does not guarantee authenticity. Museums are well known to have reproductions and knowing that they have reproductions is a cause for concern and in some cases embarrassment for the museum and they would just rather sell off the reproductions as originals in order to save face.

I would like to see period photos of this armband in use/wear and or some authentication from a former resistance member in order to validate authenticity.

Many of us have learned through the years to "buy the item, not the story"


WW2 French Resistance - Free French Original Arm Band - Sally Antiques

Smitty

[Larry C]

I thought the French Resistance were more covert and would not want to attract attention with identifiable articles of clothing.

We see this same scenario played out with German Officers in the field not wearing rank insignia in fear of being shot at.
Just my thoughts.

Regards Larry

[Rakkasan187]

Larry,

I agree that any identifying serial numbers or identifiers could be traced back to a source and in the event of capture and interrogation the person may reveal information about the location of the unit, people, etc.

Smitty

[yoebuff]

Thanks for the comments.....Ironically I have been watching the WW2 D-Day special by world war two time-ghosts. I suspect a better description would be freedom fighter fighters, however they do seem to be referred to as resistance fighters. It appears the French mobilized after the invasion with semi organized groups of men. I did in part 4 of the special numerous Frenchman in civilian clothing wearing white armbands with cross of Lorraine on them. However, I did not see this particular version with the "V". So, I have no doubt that resistance fighters wore armbands so they would be distinguished as 'friendly" if Allie's came upon them. My real delema then is authenticity of this one like Smitty pointed out. I have attached a photo of what I am referring to. basically an armed mob trying to ID themselves as friendly to the Allies. of course this hoto doesnt show enough detail to 100% compare the image to this armband

[Tinhat]

I think these are really interesting but a bit of a minefield in terms of originality. Even if you found a photo I’m not sure how much it would contribute to assessing the originality.

There are other examples, I apologize for the links and not the images but I’m a bit short of time. What’s odd here is that they claim to be from different regions.

French Resistance FFI Meurthe and Moselle Region
France. French Resistance FFI Meurthe and Moselle Region brassard/armband.Circa.1944-1945 – Relic Militaria – Military Antiques and Memorabilia

FFIs in the Epernay sector
Musee de la resistance en ligne

Brassards F.F.I de Meurthe et Moselle
Reunion des Musees Nationaux-Grand Palais -

This is interesting, the stamp fixture
Musee de la resistance en ligne

More stuff – looks to add significant weight to the Epernay region
Ma Kubelwagen Lili: MAQUIS d' EPERNAY

Steve

[yoebuff]

wow...Steve.....Thank you so much for those links....clearly then these are known examples to be used. As you mentioned the only real question becomes originality. As with any item in this time period. we can then only use our best information such as construction and black light material etc. BUT one thing I notice all of these are of the same construction style. pin applied and ink stamped. Thanks