S.A.Militaria Update - October 2007

[James MacKenzie]

 

                                                                                                                                                     J.D.N.MacKenzie
                                                                                                                                                                                          P.O.Box 1893
                                                                                                                                                                                          Bellville
                                                                                                                                                                                          7535
                                                                                                                                                                                          South Africa

 

Dear Collectors

 

Please be advised that I have updated my website, http://southernafricamilitaria.com/.  You may have to hit the refresh button to open the updated pages.  Please make a note in your diary to check for updates on the 1st and 15th of each month. 

 

I also list items on eBay from time to time.  My user name is "s.a.militaria" and if you list me as a "Favourite Seller" eBay will let you know as I add items.

 

Any collector who wants to reserve something for a month or so, or who wants to pay goods off over a couple of months, can let me know.

 

If you have any surplus militaria that you would like to sell or trade for items on my list, please let me know.  I am mainly interested in Southern African militaria, as that is what most collectors contact me for.

 

Please remember to keep me up to date with any change of postal or email addresses.

 

For my own collection I am always looking for medals, awards and decorations to the British Parachute Regiment and Commandos, any Special Air Service and South African Navy medals.  I am also collecting medal groups with awards and decorations, with preferably two awards in the group, even if the second award is a Mention in Dispatches.  No broken groups or renamed medals.

 

I also collect South African named medal groups with combinations of the different WWII campaign stars and bars, only complete groups, no broken groups, and am looking for groups with the following medals or clasps in them: France and Germany Star or Clasp, Atlantic Clasp, Air Crew Europe Star or clasp.  I am also looking for the different South African Navy cap tallies starting with H.M.S.A.S., S.M.S.A.S. or  S.A.S. and then the ships name, S.A. (anchor) S.A., TRANSVAAL NAVAL BRIGADE, ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION, R.N.V., S.A. SEA CADETS, GYMNASIUM, GENERAL BOTHA, a tally with an anchor and a dolphin to each side - facing the anchor, and the S.A. Navy Gymnasium metal cap badge (CO 2519). 

 

Warning to collectors who buy goods on eBay. 

Collectors of Koevoet and Rhodesian badges must be warned that they never wore metal arm flashes/shields at any time.  The Koevoet and Rhodesian arm flashes/shields that turn up on eBay are all recently made "commemorative" badges, never worn.  These, and many other arm flashes, South West African pocket flashes and Executive Outcomes pocket and beret badges are being reproduced in Pretoria.  At least one trader on eBay, "south*africa", lists them as commemorative, so you know what you are buying, but others deliberately avoid doing so and catch unsuspecting collectors.

 

Other badges being reproduced are the 32 Battalion beret and collar badges in both brass, supposedly "1st issue", and in chromed metal.  There was never any brass 32 Bn badges worn.  A couple of them came out of the factory without being chromed and unfortunately ended up in a book on South African badges, listed as "1st issue".  This has led some unscrupulous traders to have non-chromed badges made up.  There is also a complete set of 32 Battalion flashes, full size, pocket size and affiliation pocket fob size in metal, as well as their Company flashes, which were never made or worn during their existance.

 

Recce Operator badges and combination Operator/Combat Diver badges in cloth are also being faked.  These are fairly easy to spot because the handle of the combat knives are very wide and bulge to one side.  Most of these also have a plastic backing to the badge.  The plastic embossed on nutria flashes, or tupperware flashes, as they are commonly known, are also being reproduced.  So far I have seen 1 and 5 Recce, both with the compass rose colours back to front; all the 32 Battalion and all three 61 Mechanised Battalion group flashes, as well as all the S.A.Police Air Wing and Task Force flashes.  The Mechanised Infantry metal beret flash is also being reproduced in both the 1st pattern green/yellow/black and the 2nd pattern green/black/green, both with the Ratel too far to the left, not centered.  The 61 Mechanised Battalion cap badge and other are also being reproduced. 

 

I have copied some of the fake badges and flashes to just below.

 

Do a search on closed lots on these items, and you will quickly see who is selling them, and the amount that has passed through his hands over the last few months - far too many original rare badges for one man to turn up.

 

 

 

I am happy to check photos of any badges that you want to buy before you bid on them.

 

This chap, Michael J. Allsopp, trading as "michael34810", "avril390", "sunshine_x10", "simone10_16", "jr-st", eBay stores JR's Store, CAPBADGE & MEDALS4U, email address micka...@msn.com, sells fakes/repros/castings, and hides the fact that you are buying a "copy" after the description of the item he is selling, and not in the description itself, where most decent people would list it.  I bought a Rhodesian General Service Medal from him.  His description read "IN GOOD ORDER MAY NEED CLEANING SIZE IS 5CM STAMPED ON RIM 725572 A/CPL K. BOTHMA".  Any medal that has a name stamped on the rim should be original.  He did not state that this is a casting and that the name is on the rim through the casting, not stamped in.  Half way down his payment methods he states, "IF NOT STATED AS GENUINE IN TITLE THE ITEM IS BEING SOLD AS COPY OR RESTRIKE OR WHATEVER YOU WISH TO CALL ITEM, ALSO NOTE ITEM IS MADE FROM UNKNOWN BASE METAL APROX AGE 1900-1999".  He is now also selling castings of the Selous Scouts beret badge and had a casting of a Selous Scouts Rhodesian General Service Medal listed on eBay.  Something he does is have most of his lots as "Private Listings".  I was also not able to leave feedback for some reason.  Avoid this crook.

 

Another one to avoid, eBay user name "cunnard", who sells patches, para wings and shoulder titles "bought in the early 1950's", is Alan Wilkie, email address KING...@aol.com, of 69 Kindle Lane, Levittown, PA 19055, USA.  After me querying whether these are original items again, and even though all the items I bought are WWII period items, he replies that "patches are not advertised as ww2 original patches".  Read his descriptions carefully.  Do an eBay search on his user name and see his stock, 99.9% fakes, made mostly in India.  He regulary lists LRDG shoulder titles.

 

Something pointed out to me recently is this "Extreme Makeover" of a Queen's Crown RAF pilot wings, eBay lot 290146551061 bought on 12 August 2007 by gayt1, converted into "A very rare double wing Air Gunner brevet from World War Two.", eBay lot 260150944166, listed by the same gayt1.  Listing closed on 24 August 2007, reserve not met.

 

 

 

Look at the "dip" in the right hand wing and the missing cotton on the bottom right hand wing tip/feathers, also, on the "AG makeover" you can actually see the holes where the old black stitches were on the reverse when you compare it to the above, original, photo.  He seems to have taken some of the padding out from behind the Crown and "stretched" higher to make it look like an older Crown.

 

Black Listed Collectors and Dealers:

The following collectors and dealers I have blacklisted for either non-payment of items sent or who have ordered goods, promised to send off payment but have not done so for a few months, and I would like to warn other collectors and dealers about dealing with them.  I do not add someone to this list easily, give them every chance to sort it out, but most choose to ignore all emails, just don't have the decency to reply.  

1. Allsopp, Michael J. - micka...@msn.com, 44 Duke Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV11 5PY, U.K.
2. Arendt, Norman - njar...@tds.net or njar...@execpc.com, of the U.S.A.
3. Brower, Mike - CSMPara...@aol.com, of P.O.Box 272, Nash, Texas, 7569, U.S.A.
4. Burtscher, O. - oburt...@aon.at, of Gartenstrasse 8, A 6714 Nüziders, Austria.
5. Dooris, Jason - jason_...@hotmail.com, of New Zealand.
6. Dutton, Vaughan - vaughan...@stx.ox.ac.uk, of St.Cross College, St.Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LZ, U.K.
7. Forans, Anthony - soph...@bigpond.com, of 38 Shaw Street, West End, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
8. Gallet, Peter - jope...@yahoo.co.uk, of 20 The Nook, North Shields, Tyne and Wear NE29 0JL, U.K., eBay user name "reboksg".
9. Garcia, Fernando - europ...@hotmail.com, of c/Concepcion, 1 (atico, 5), Alicante, c.p. 03004, Spain.
10. Gough, Anne and Owen - medala...@xtra.co.nz, of the New Zealand Medal and Badge Company Ltd. trading as A.C.Gough Medals, P.O.Box 7042, Invercargill, 9501, New Zealand.  Some comments from a collector, to me, on the Gough's.  "I think you do this industry a great service by naming the 'rogues'.  In NZ we are well aware of the Gough's of Invercargill.  Initially it was the husband (Owen) who caused all the trouble.  None of us will deal with him because of the bad debts he has accrued.  We all know that his wife is now the 'front' for what he's doing and no doubt, over time, a new bunch of unsuspecting collectors will end up being ripped off."
11. Kincaid, B.Andy - las...@ametro.net, of 6001 Woods Road, Picayune MS 39466, U.S.A.
12. Marshall, Chris - christopher...@ntlworld.com, of 40 Burydale, Stevenage, Herts, SG2 8AT, U.K.
13. McKerron, Ralph - rli...@tiscali.co.uk or mcker...@btinternet.com, of Flat 2, 3 West Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7AW, U.K.
14. Quintana, Luis Gonzalez - lu...@lgasesores.e.telefonica.net, of Cl Santiago Bernabeu nº 10 1ºA, 28036, Madrid, Spain.
15. Reber, Jan R. - jrr...@pobox.com, of P.O. Box 101, Southport, CT 06890, U.S.A. trading on eBay as "jfoxr".
16. Sanchez, Thierry - sanchez...@yahoo.fr, of 14 Rue des Vergeaux, Amiens, 80000, France.
17. Scapelliti, Stephen - Ash...@aol.com, of 35019 Quaker Way, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 4833, U.S.A.
18. Si'Ree, Robert - pathfin...@msn.com, of 5 Parkhouse Grove, Low Moor Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD12 0PS, U.K.
19. Van der Vlies, Willem - wvande...@combiforce.nl, of Sevillaweg 130, 3047 AL, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
20. Walsh, Rick - Wals...@aol.com, of the U.S.A.
21. Wilkie, Alan - KING...@aol.com, of 69 Kindle Lane, Levittown, PA 19055, U.S.A.
22. Wolfson, Kira - tua0...@temple.edu, of 2614 Beulah Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19148, U.S.A.

If you have received this letter by mistake, or want to be removed from my mailing list, please send me an email to let me know.

 

Best wishes

 

James D.N.MacKenzie

S.A.M. - Southern Africa Militaria

http://southernafricamilitaria.com