Tollenaere badge...

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Salacious Crumb
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Tollenaere badge...

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Two bronze copies of the imense rare "Honourably Loyalty Badge Reimond Tollenaere" (het Eretrouwkenteeken Reimond Tollenaere). The left one a copy for re-enactors the right one a fake with the intention to fool collectors.

The badge was awarded to:

1. members of the V.N.V. before 10 May 1940 (German invasion of Belgium)
2. members of the Z.B. (Zwarte Brigade or Black Brigade: the protection force of the V.N.V.) before december 1941
3. members of the V.N.V. (Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond or Flemish National Union: the only legal political party during the war in Flanders) who had volunteered for the Flemish legion or the Waffen-SS

There was also a Silver class intended for officers (I've seen only two originals in private collections in Flanders) but it was not popular as it was more expensive and you had to buy it, so everyone bought the cheaper bronze.

The badge was made to comemorate Reimond Tollenaere who fell on 22 January 1942 in Kopzy (near Leningrad) by friendly fire of the Spanish Blue Division. Reimond Rollenaere was the propaganda leader of the V.N.V. before the war and as the Germans invaded Belgium and the V.N.V. became the only legal party in Flanders, Reimond joined the Waffen-SS to become one of the first Flemish officers. He became a SS-Untersturmführer and on the morning of Thursday the 22nd at 05:30 a.m. the frontline of the 2. Fläm. Kompagnie was pounded by Soviet artillary. The Spanish artilary responded awfully close to the snowwall of the 4th group. Then a second salvo hit the area close to the combat post of the companies and the third salvo hit the little barn... In the barn was a MG-Nest and when the men cleaned the remains of the exploded barn, they discovered four dead bodies ad a heavily woonded comrade. One of the deseased men was the platooncommander Reimond Tollenaere.

Original paper of the badge awarded to Reimonds brother Leo Tollenaere:
http://www.military.be/OorkondeToll.jpg
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Kriegsmarine re-enactment group
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