Hi from Perth Australia

[Wingy]

Seeking info on very old flag

[MAP]

Welcome to the forum Wingy. I'm sure we can help out. Further you can use the search function to find similar old threads that may give you the information you are looking for.

[reneblacky]

Hey Wingy say G'day hey! from a south easterner!

[Wingy]

Hi and thanks for the welcome. I should have written a more interesting intro - Im the grandaughter of the lost/forgotten/ignored Aussie private who escaped Oflag 7b through a tunnel under latrines into a chicken coop and ended up in Colditz...except the Aus War Records refused to acknowledge he was in Colditz despite the portrait having Colditz and SS stamps. Basically for decades unless we wanted to donate the portrait neither my father or I could get past the secretary answering the phone. I ended up finally getting onto one helpvul guy who put me onto a war historian who flatly denied anything about any aussie privates in Colditz unless on the remote chance he might have been an officers bat boy. I thought he said bum boy so took great offence and flew from PNG where I was diving and made a snap decision to go to Colditz myself and sort this out once and for all.....so i went from a bikini in the tropics to driving from Prague over the mountains on snow on the wrong side of the road to get to Colditz in 4 days ... so I was there on rememeberance day to recite In Flanders Field before the clocktower 11/11/2016. Epic...but still not enough proof for AWR even when Steffi from Colditz Historical society verified the stamps could only have come from colditz. Finally on Anzac day last year I got a brilliant present from AWR confirming he was indeed in colditz after his shit and chicken coops escapade and that he also took part in the battle of 42nd street....Grandpa was no ones bat boy or bum boy!

While obviously his portrait or a bayonet medal im having trouble identifying are not for sale I do have an unusual looking very old german flag id like help with

Thanks again for the welcome!

[Jordan Wills]

Welcome to the Forum, I’m in Perth too. Looking forward to seeing this flag.

Jordan

[Willmore]

Welcome to the forum.

Your grandfathers story sounds really interesting and I look forward to hearing more.

I will say what you wrote is the most Aussie thing I’ve read lol.

I’d think bat boy is another term for a bat man.

A batman or an orderly is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. ... Before the advent of motorized transport, an officer's batman was also in charge of the officer's "bat-horse" that carried the pack saddle with his officer's kit during a campaign.

[Wingy]

Thanks Willmore and Wave - Hi Jordan - glad to see other Aussies around. Apologies for half a story and many typos...I repeatedly forget I promise to not post while not on land. Ok, the flag I thought my ex had left here is in UK with him and our sons as he is terminal with cancer and did ask for some of his stuff when the boys flew to London - without sounding callous when he passes they will no doubt bring that back home when Australia lets them in.
He left this small flag here although not in very good condition im still curious about this little leather cornered old one.
The portrait I failed to provide background on was done by a british POW who sent the portraits he painted back to his mother so at some stage in the 1970s he or his family traced down my grandfathers address and sent it to my grandpa before he died. The portrait was painted during his tenure at Casa Colditz. He was in Colditz until liberation. He simply tucked the painting away with his medals and all he ever mentioned about the war was telling my dad his mate in Colditz Castle painted it after an escape (he appeared to be quite fond of escaping) through a tunnel once. When he died I wasnt even a teenager and my dad tried to find out more as did my grandmother but until last year when all of his war records were found and put together (probably to stop me ringing AWR monthly to argue the point!) that I finally got the AWR to reflect he had indeed been in Colditz for quite some time. Fantastic to have found out so much more giving me more to investigate...when Covid lets me travel again I guess I have very aussie business to attend to in Crete - thanks for the good explanation of what a bat boy/man was!

[MAP]

Wingy,

As this is the new member introduction section of the forum, photos are automatically blocked to prevent spam.

That said, we do have a section for it where members should be able to help you out with your flag. It appears to be some type of Unit Standard. But not something I am well versed in

You can start a new thread and repost the photos in the link provided below. Measurements and some close up photos of the leather tabs would help.

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/flags-banners-pennants/

[Wingy]

Thank you Map...shall do