Posted 10 years ago
Mocha123
(1 item)
Does anyone know what this buckle is? I've seen other buckles with 'In treue fest' on them which were Bavarian, but none exactly like this. I found it when clearing out my grandfather's things from WW2 - he was in the RAF - and wondered if anyone could help - many thanks in advance!
Very strange indeed. I would think this was a fantasy item, except that it came through your family! "In Treue Fest" (In True Faith") usually identifies an item associated as WWI or Pre-WWI Bavaria. The Swastika and SS Runes would rule that era!
I did a little research and it appears to be a version of the Croatian Nazi SS Buckle. There were several SS units which were not German, and Croatia was a Nazi puppet state. These troops spent most of their time fighting Yugoslav partisans.
If I am right and if this is real, you have a very rare buckle indeed!
Chris
My knowledge is not that detailed, but you might research Nazi RAD as the shovel etc. is their symbol & was a labour corps. Bon chance.
I thought about RAD first too, but that's not a shovel, it's a shield. I did find the exact insignia on a circular buckle and also a discussion forum through that mentions it. For me this is not absolute proof. There is misrepresentation and wrong information all over the internet - but these are two unrelated websites that point to the same answer.
http://www.epier.com/biddingform.asp?2038359
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14094&page=2
By the way, on the epier URL, the seller does state his is a reproduction, but then claims if his were real it would sell for $3,000. The seller may have pulled that figure out of his posterior extremity, but the discussion on the Wehrmacht-awards web site also mentions 4-figure prices. To e that means it's well worth verifying what you have.
Thanks for flipping around the photo - I was getting tired on doing a headstand ;)
There is light at the end of the tunnel! I've actually seen that! Been there, done that!
Wow, that's great - you've been really helpful! You're right, it does look similar to the photos on those two websites. My grandfather was with the RAF in Southern Italy for some of the war, so it's in the right geographical area too - maybe he did some swaps! Thanks so much for your help.