I did originally have a thread detailing my small military collection but I changed domains and moved house and inadvertently lost the path to the images. Since then it has expanded a little but is still nowhere close to where I want it to be - there is such a lot of stuff out there but my wife would kill me if I bought it all :p
I am into all military things from South Africa, Rhodesia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Israel and the former Soviet Bloc. At the moment I don't have anything from the latter two but I'll get there.
BADGES1 Para Bn cap badge
44 Para Regt cap badge
1SSB cap badge and collar badges
Rhodesia Regiment cap badge
Not a badge per se but on the obverse it reads "In memory of my military-service at Walvis Bay". Not quite sure how many NDP's were issued with these - this particular example was my Dad's when he was stationed there in 1969/70.
I believe that these are current day instructor wings, can anyone confirm? They appear as if they might glow in the dark but they don't (thankfully, not very tactical otherwise).
Also not a badge per se but given that I have so few rank insignia I have included it here. SA army LT COL post 1994 & pre 2003? (L) and pre 1994 (R).
Was quite lucky to get this, post 2003? SA army LT GEN rank slide before they went all Eastern Bloc with the red shoulder boards.
das Verwundetenabzeichen Wound Badge 1939 - for those wounded once or twice by hostile action (including air raids), or frost-bitten in the line of duty. According to wiki, also awarded to civilians post 1943.
Hitler Jugend Hitler Youth belt buckle - the inscription reads "Blut und Ehre" (Blood and Honour), not quite the things a youth should be concerning themselves with in my opinion.
UNIFORMSSAP W/O (A/O Afrik) tunic. It is missing a SAP shoulder title and a few buttons on the cuffs I believe (thanks Wxxxxxxx)
W/O insignia
SAN pre 1994 Commander's mess tunic. The officer used to work at Silvermine in intelligence and judging by the garment, must have been quite small in stature.
Some pretty good tailoring there on the executive curl and the lion
Apparently these folks are no longer in the business?
Natal Carbineers SGT tunic - can anyone please tell me why they have Natal Carbineers shoulder titles and only wear the rank on one arm?
Overalls as worn by RNZAF flight crew (yes those are my hands).
Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) with name badge and rank slide - have the trousers too
Beret - Royal Canadian Dragoons (armour). Taken from Wiki:
n armies of Commonwealth Realms, most other "royal" regiments feature St Edward's Crown on their cap badge. The cap badge of The Royal Canadian Dragoons is special; it features a springbok with no crown.
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), during the advance to Pretoria, the RCD set up camp in a field. Regimental legend has it that one of the sentries noticed that some springbok were behaving erratically, and alerted the officers, who ordered a stand-to. This resulted in the defeat of Boer forces that had been trying to sneak up through the fields to attack the Canadian force.
There is no documentary evidence of this incident. The Commanding Officer at that time, Lt.-Col. Louis Lessard, makes no mention of it in his personal papers or his official reports. It is more accurate to state that the RCD wear the springbok as a recognition for the regiment's sterling service in South Africa. Three members of a single unit winning the Victoria Cross in a single action on a single day has been surpassed only once, at Rorke's Drift in 1879.
The commander of the RCD then put a request to King Edward VII, the reigning monarch, to officially have their cap badge changed to the springbok, which was finally accepted in 1913.
SAAF flight cap and SAP cap.
South African Infantry (Intel?) School of Armour? National Ceremonial Guard
Corps belt - Army Intelligence?
Corps belt - School of Armour?
FLASHES1 Para Bn (1980s) E Coy (restrike
1 Para Bn (1970s) metal
Para Bn D & G Coy? Can someone confirm please which is which or if I've got it totally wrong
School of Infantry - B Coy
Western Cape Command HQ - E Coy (restrike)
Reconnaissance Regiment HQ
MEDALSMilitary Merit Medal (MMM), Pro Patria, South Africa medal?, General Service Medal, 10 year Good Service medal
UNITAS medal - awarded for integration of SADF and liberation "forces".
Rhodesian General Service Medal - this one belonged to my Dad
German campaign medal (SFOR) Yugoslavia
NATO medal for the same campaign
MISCELLANEOUS44 Para Regt challenge coin
A board of unit flashes that I acquired years ago from my friend's (who was in the SAAF at the time) Oupa who was a W/O in the SAMHS for many years. It used to have a little SA flag in the middle but it got lost, I recently threw together the quad-services graphic but by paper cutting skills let me down so it is a little squiff.
The flag I bought at the Voortrekker monument before I left South Africa.
First row3 Electronic Workshop, North Western Command, Southern Cape Command, Natal Command, Orange Free State Command, Witwatersrand Command, Defence Headquarters, Army Gymnasium, 1 Signals Regiment, School of Signals, 2 Field Engineers.
Second row2 Signals Regiment, School of Engineers, Southern Cape Command Workshop, Witwatersrand Command Workshop.
Third rowTechnical Services Corp Training Centre, Northern Transvaal Command Workshop, School of Armour, Orange Free State Command Workshop.
Fourth Row82 Technical Stores Depot, 83 Technical Stores Depot, 84 Technical Stores Depot, 86 Technical Stores Depot, 61 Base Workshop, North Western Command Workshop, School of Artillery, 35 Engineers Support Regiment, 1 Special Services Battalion, Danie Theron Combat School, Natal Command Workshop.