SS arm eagles

[John Wilson]

I've seen copies of Italian arm eagles made on black and red wool, were there wartime ones made on field grey material?

[supermario]

John,

No, there wasn't. The red backed ones were replaced with the black backed ones. No field grey were produced, and to be fair, not many of the other types found their way to the 29th ss div either.

Neil

[John Wilson]

Mmm, cheers for that bud, that is quite interesting (well respected dealers in militaria do get things wrong at times it seems)

[Crazy Feldgendarme]

Yes John, just look at the number of cuff titles on the market in RZM that were never made in that style and indeed the number of complete fantasy ones as well.

[John Wilson]

Oh! cuff titles Britisch Freikorps anyone? The Turkish ones were good though=authorised and made, but never issued, hence why there were loads found in camps at the end of the war and floooded the market. (I never mentioned oriental or pakistan sweat shops, right!)
I'm not too clued up about the Italian stuff though, it's good to learn.
Has anyone seen one made on grey wool?, or could anyone suggest a reason for making one at all? (other than monetary profit)

[supermario]

Never seen one. To be honest, one of the hardest divisions to research is the 29th Italian ss div. I can tell you that they tended to wear pre armistace M40 uniforms, with the Telo tenda mimetico worn as a poncho over the top. They also wore the M41 para troop uniform as well. No german uniforms were worn by troops. A lot of what is available for Italian ss is pure fantasy anyway, but there are experts out there. If i'm allowed, and if your interested, i'll pop up a link to another forum were there are some seriously clever people when it comes to Italian ss.

Neil

[John Wilson]

That would be appreciated, PM me if you have to but all knowledge is good as far as I'm concerned.

[supermario]

Here is alink to some guys who researched the 29th to reenact in the US.

http://home.comcast.net/~babela29/ItalianSS.html


You will note that the sleeve eagle is not the standard ss one, rather an eagle clasping the 'Fasces'.



Neil

[John Wilson]

Well, yes I do know there is a world of difference between the eagles, should there not be black stitching somewhere on the ones you've shown?
( If I may be so bold as to say they look like cheap copies)
But I'm open to learning more.

[supermario]

John,

The italian eagles were embroided using traditional machine methods, unlike the Bevo style stitching you see on German insignia.

Here is an original



I suspect the eagles them selves were produced in Italy, using Italian manufacturing techniques.

Neil

[supermario]

And yes, if you compare the two, they are cheap copies, but it was the first picture i found to emphasise the difference


Neil

[John Wilson]

It is well recieved Neil, I am still intrigued about the repro ones that are around with black stitching accenting the wings and axe though, is there evidence of them?
I'm just thinking, did someone make a shite copy from a picture years back and that set the bar for repros?

[supermario]

I assume they did. Black edging doesn't seem to feature on the originals. Hell, i've seen a repro Alpini eagle cap badge, with gold edging on it. Never existed, yet someone tried to pass it off as original.


How we laughed!


Neil