WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

Original 1930’s Third Reich Portrait of Rudolf Jordan Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg & Magdeburg-Anhalt and Former General of the SA, Gruppenfuhrer der SA

Most rare surviving example as almost all around 450 original, 1930’s German portraits of Hitler’s inner circle and high command are now in the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington.

Many of these portraits were either commissioned, or acquired by Hitler personally, and they are all part of the record of Hitler and his elite commanders rise to power, in order to satisfy his determination to conquer the world and subjugate and destroy all who resisted. The US high command in 1945/6 realised just how important it was to keep and save as many such portraits as possible, as a permanent record and reminder for the future, of the monumental fight and sacrifices in order to subdue the axis powers from their schemes of world domination, during the two most significant decades of the past 300 years..

This is original portrait, in oil on canvas, of Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan (21 June 1902 - 27 October 1988). He was a Nazi Gauleiter in Halle-Merseburg and Magdeburg-Anhalt during Hitler’s socialist Third Reich. One of the notorious and prominent high command of Hitler’s Third Reich. An original Nazi oil portrait from the 1930's. Most similar in the new Aryan style of the Nazi portrait painter Fritz Erler, and his painting of 'Minister and Gauleiter Adolf Wagner', 1936. It was exhibited in the GDK, the Great German Art Exhibition, in 1939, in room 23. It was bought there by Hitler for 12.000 RM. In fact he bought two paintings by Fritz Erler: Portrait des Staatsministers und Gauleiters Adolf Wagner and Portrait des Reichsministers Fricke. They are now in the possession of the US Army Military Center of History. Possibly this portrait was also in that exhibition with the two other Gauleiter Wagner and Frick. Erlers similar style portrait of Hitler, also painted in his SA uniform, in 1931, is currently valued for sale at 725,000 Euros. Around 450 portraits depicting Hitler and other Nazi-officials and symbols are currently stored in the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington

From 19 January 1931, Jordan was appointed Nazi Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg, and then began rising within the Party ranks, acting as member of the Prussian Landtag between April 1932 and October 1933 and being appointed to the Prussian State Council and made an SA Gruppenfuhrer. In the same year began the publication of the Mitteldeutsche Tageszeitung newspaper, led by Jordan. In March 1933 came his appointment as Plenipotentiary for the Province of Saxony in the Reichsrat and in November 1933 his election as a member of the Reichstag. On 20 April 1937, Adolf Hitler personally appointed him Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) in Braunschweig and Anhalt and NSDAP Gauleiter of Magdeburg-Anhalt. Jordan was succeeded as Gauleiter of Halle-Merseburg by Joachim Albrecht Eggeling.

In the same year came Jordan's promotion to SA-Obergruppenfuhrer. In 1939, Jordan became Chief of the Anhalt Provincial Government and Reichsverteidigungskommissar (Reich Defence Commissar, or RVK) in Defence District XI. On 18 April 1944 came Jordan's last leap up the career ladder when he was appointed High President (Oberpresident) of the Province of MagdeburgIn the war's dying days, Jordan managed to go underground with his family under a false name. He was nonetheless arrested by the British on 30 May 1945, and in July of the next year, the Western Allies handed him over to the Soviets. Late in 1950 after four years in custody in the Soviet occupation zone Jordan was sentenced to 25 years in a labour camp in the Soviet Union. Only Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's visit to Moscow managed to persuade the Soviets to reconsider Jordan's sentence, and then he was released on 13 October 1955. In the years to come, Jordan earned a living as a sales representative, and worked as an administrator for an aircraft manufacturing firm. He died in Munich. The Gardelegen massacre was the cold-blooded murder of inmates that had been evacuated from the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp and some of its sub-camps on April 3rd, 4th and 5th. Around 4,000 prisoners had been bound for the Bergen-Belsen, Sachsenhausen or Neuengamme concentration camps, but when the railroad tracks were bombed by American planes, they had been re-routed to Gardelegen, which was the site of a Cavalry Training School and a Parachutist Training School. The trains were forced to stop before reaching the town of Gardelegen and some of the escaped prisoners had terrorized the nearby villages, raping, looting and killing civilians.

The man who is considered to be the main instigator of the Gardelegen massacre is 34-year-old Gerhard Thiele , who was the Nazi party district leader of Gardelegen. On April 6, 1945, Thiele called a meeting of his staff and other officials at which he issued an order, which had been given to him a few days before by Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan , that any prisoners who were caught looting or who tried to escape should be shot on the spot. In 1932, Nazi Gauleiter Rudolf Jordan claimed that SS Security Chief Reinhard Heydrich was not a pure "Aryan". Within the Nazi organisation such innuendo could be damning, even for the head of the Reich's counterintelligence service. Gregor Strasser passed the allegations on to Achim Gercke who investigated Heydrich's genealogy. Gercke reported that Heydrich was "... of German origin and free from any coloured and Jewish blood". He insisted that the rumours were baseless. Even with this report, Heydrich privately engaged SD member Ernst Hoffman to further investigate and deny the rumours. The last two pictures in the gallery of Jordan with Hitler and his Gaulieters at his 50th birthday examining his convertible Volkwagen Beetle, and the Erler painting of Gauleiter Wagner, bought by Hitler. 2 foot x 3 foot unframed. Water stain at the rear of the canvas. Surviving original portraits of Third Reich leaders are now very rare for at the end of the war thousands of paintings, portraits of Nazi-leaders, paintings containing a swastika or depicting military/war sceneries were destroyed. With knives, fires and hammers, they smashed countless sculptures and burned thousands of paintings. However around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S. From 1933 to 1949 Germany experienced two massive art purges. Both the National Socialist government and OMGUS (the U.S. Military Government in Germany) were highly concerned with controlling what people saw and how they saw it. The Nazis eliminated what they called Degenerate art, erasing the pictorial traces of turmoil and heterogeneity that they associated with modern art. The Western Allies in turn eradicated Nazi art. Whatever one considers about the actions of all of the entire third reich, art is art, and every piece is a representation of a portion of history, good or bad. One thing we learned very well from the tragic 1930s and 1940s is that classifying art as non-art and forbidding books or art for political reasons is a dead-end street. No matter how much one dislikes or despises the infamous despots and dictators of history, such as Hitler, Caligula, Pol Pot & Stalin, and no matter how much their depictions were used as propaganda, a painting or sculpture of them cannot be re-classified as 'non art'. This painting depicts a member of Hitler’s notorious inner circle, that for a brief period of world history very nearly placed the entire world in subjugation to the will of Germany and it’s ally Japan. It is the embodiment of why the preservation of such art can remind the thousands of its observers, for generations to come, that those people such as Rudolf Jordan, who were just ordinary looking nondescript individuals, that if left unchecked would have condemned the entire world to a nightmarish dystopia, of slavery, starvation and misery. And thanks to great leaders such as Winston Churchill, who had the talent and skill to embolden a solitary nation, racked by trepidation, facing the free world’s greatest foe alone, they were utterly routed and deposed by the near defeated and subdued great democracies. Part of the theory of Hannah Ahrend Johanna "Hannah" Arendt, 14 October 1906 - 4 December 1975 was a German-born Jewish American political theorist. Though often described as a philosopher, she rejected that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular" and instead described herself as a political theorist because her work centres on the fact that "men, not Man, live on the earth and inhabit the world." This portrait would nicely improve with some cosmetic restoration and cleaning.  read more

Code: 20504

A Fabulous Piece of British Armed Forces Helicopter Aeronautica. A Souvenir of the Falklands War, A Westland Wessex Helicopter Cyclic Control Grip With Wiring

We acquired this from a former SF Falklands War veteran, who brought it back from the South Atlantic. It came from a Westland Wessex helicopter that had, apparently, somewhat, come a cropper. Of course we have no idea which chopper this control grip came from, and it certainly couldn't likely have come from a maritime loss, but none the less it is a great original part of the Westland Wessex, in pretty good condition, considering its circumstances of acquisition. It bears a serial number and its wiring portion.

Around 55 Westland Wessex HU.5s participated in the Falklands War, fighting in the South Atlantic in 1982. On 21 May 1982, 845 Squadron's Wessex HU.5s supported British landings on East Falkland. The type was heavily used throughout the conflict for the transportation and insertion of British special forces, including members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS). A total of nine Wessex (eight HU.5s and one HAS.3) were lost during the Falklands campaign. Two HU.5s of 845 Squadron crashed on the Fortuna Glacier in South Georgia during an attempt to extract members of the SAS during a snow storm, six of 848 Squadron's Wessex HU.5s were lost when the container ship Atlantic Conveyor was sunk and the HAS.3 aboard HMS Glamorgan was destroyed when the ship was struck by an Exocet missile.

The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.

The conflict was a major episode in the protracted dispute over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina asserted (and maintains) that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory. The British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty. Neither state officially declared war, although both governments declared the islands a war zone.

The conflict has had a strong effect in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films, and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the unfavourable outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall and the democratisation of the country. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected with an increased majority the following year. The cultural and political effect of the conflict has been less in the UK than in Argentina, where it has remained a common topic for discussion.

Diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, at which the two governments issued a joint statement. No change in either country's position regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit. In 1994, Argentina adopted a new constitution, which declared the Falkland Islands as part of one of its provinces by law. However, the islands continue to operate as a self-governing British Overseas Territory  read more

Code: 24587

Original Vintage Scottish Pringle Clan Bonnet Badge, with Latin Clan Motto 'Amicitia Reddit Honores' With Clam Shell Crest Hallmarked Edinburgh Silver

The motto reads 'Friendship Gives Honour'. In the 14th century the family were close allies of the Earls of Douglas, to whom they were squires, and about the end of that era they are first defined as Hoppringle of that Ilk, holding the lands of Earlside in Lauderdale. Descendants were much in evidence at the Courts of James IV and V, at least two being trumpeters in the tail of James IV and one falling at his side at Flodden in 1513. For 100 years, from about 1489, a succession of Pringle ladies, usually younger daughters, were Prioresses of the Convent at Coldstream. The association of Pringles with the woollen industry may be traced to 1540 when one of their name held the responsibility for overseeing the shearing, storage and transportation of the wool from the King's sheep. In 1592 various Pringles appeared before the King, with other Border lairds, giving an oath to faithfully serve the Wardens of the East and Middle Marches, and evidence of their extended land-holdings is shown by no less than six cadet families standing surety, one for the other, in keeping the peace. Five years later, Pringle of that Ilk and Pringle of Smailholm subscribed to a Bond of Manrent, taking it upon themselves the burden of ensuring the good behaviour of Pringles in general. The last Pringle of that Ilk died in 1737, after which the principal family became the Pringles of Stitchill, the lands of which were acquired c.1630. Of this latter house, Sir Robert was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1683 and, although the lands have now been sold, the Baronetcy has survived into the 21st century, the current baronet title being.

Sir Norman Murray Archibald MacGregor Pringle of that Ilk and Stichill, 10th Baronet

Several Pringles have become Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland, which comes with the title and rank of Lord of Session.

On 6 June 1718 Sir Walter Pringle became Lord Newhall.
On 1 July 1729 John Pringle of The Haining became Lord Haining.
On 20 November 1754 Robert Pringle became Lord Edgefield.
On 14 June 1757 Andrew Pringle became Lord Alemore.  read more

Code: 21050

A Most Rare Japanese WW2 Torpedo Bomber Warning Plate

WW2 Imperial Japanese Airforce Japanese aeronautical archeological finds are simply as rare as hens teeth, due to the location of such planes being so few and far between, and in 1945 those that were found were quickly removed and scrapped, with very few souvenirs taken, and although small this is a fabulous piece of WW2 history.

Taken from a crashed Mitsubishi G4M Mitsubishi G4M Bomber in 1945, in Japanese it reads "Danger Do Not Turn, Engine May Fire Up"

The Mitsubishi G4M was a two engine bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. Codenamed "Betty" by allies, there were 2,435 GM4's produced by Japan between the years of 1941 and 1945. The Mitsubishi G4M was used as a bomber and a torpedo bomber.

The Mitsubishi G4M was used in the sinking of The Prince of Wales and Repulse in 1941. It was also the aircraft that Admiral Yamamoto was in, when his Mitsubishi G4M was shot down by American P-38's.

The Mitsubishi G4M was the aircraft that the Japanese attached (to the bottom) the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka or "baka" rocket powered, kamikaze attack bomb/plane. The G4M would carry the bomb/plane with 2,000 lbs of explosives, underneath, until they were in range of a ship or target and then release it. The pilot would then glide the bomb/plane towards a target, then fire the solid fuel rockets, at the last, until it hit the vessel or target.

The Mitsubishi G4M was powered by two, Kasei, fourteen cylinder, radial engines and had a top speed of 265 mph. The G4M had a service ceiling of almost 28,000 feet. The Mitsubishi G4M had extreme long range of over 3,000 miles.

The Mitsubishi G4M was armed with one 20 mm auto cannon and four 7.7 mm machine guns. The Mitsubishi G4M could carry almost 2,000 lbs bombs or torpedoes. We do not know other than in the Pacific theatre of war whereabouts this plaque was recovered from the crashed plane.  read more

Code: 20979

A Large Original Recovered Piece of a WW2 German Crashed Bomber's Alloy Wing Top Panel

Taken from a crashed German bomber, with original wing-top paint. Numerous rivet holes and rivet heads present. Typical german wing-top paint for a bomber aircraft. There is a partial printed word on the underside and with dilligent research it should be traceable to a specific bomber type.

Over the years we have had some amazing aeronautical archeological finds, and most have been identified by their approved, and gov. registered recoverers, yet this fine piece was placed in storage, and it’s plane I’d was mislaid, so the research for it has to start again if it is needed, but the price reflects that, and it may well reveal wonderful results.
14.75 inches x 22.0 inches. Just over 3.5 pounds weight.  read more

Code: 21589

Imperial German Peaked Cap for Fire Protection Officer of Lubeck

Blue wool cloth with two red piping borders and single red and brass disc roundel. In super condition, worn areas to the lining and sweatband, as to be expected, but the peak and dark blue cloth are superb. Made in WW1 Imperial period, worn right through the later Weimar period and into the early Third Reich era. When used in the Third Reich era, by the Fire Protection Police, it was an organization that was an auxiliary to the Ordnungspolizei, and during the war was absorbed into the SS. Feuerschutzpolizei. By 1938, all of Germany's local fire brigades were part of the ORPO. Orpo Hauptamt had control of all civilian fire brigades. ORPO's chief was SS-Oberstgruppenf?hrer Kurt Daluege who was responsible to Himmler alone until 1943 when Daluege had a massive heart attack. From 1943, Daluege was replaced by Obergruppenf?hrer Alfred W?nnenberg until May 1945.

ORPO was structurally reorganised by 1941. It had been divided into the numerous offices covering every aspect of German law enforcement in accordance with Himmler's desire for public control of all things.
A very attractive and interesting piece in super order and totally complete.  read more

Code: 21181

A Most Scarce Piece of Early 20th Century Movie Equipment. A Mitchell Camera Corporation Movie Camera Tripod. Known As The Camera That Filmed Hollywood

1920 patent. Three adjustable legs, bears the Mitchell movie corporation maker label with serial number, company address, model name, and patent number. Photos in the gallery of Buster Keaton with his camera and same Mitchell tripod, plus Rudolph Valentino, the most famous silent movie heartthrob in the world, with his, plus a movie director and cameraman with theirs. Original Mitchell tripods, complete with their mounted cameras can now command six figure values. Overall in very nice condition for age.

The Mitchell Camera Corporation was founded in 1919 by Americans Henry Boeger and George Alfred Mitchell as the National Motion Picture Repair Co. Their first camera was designed and patented by John E. Leonard in 1917, and from 1920 on, was known as the Mitchell Standard Studio Camera. Features included a planetary gear-driven variable shutter (US Patent No 1,297,703) and a unique rack-over design (US Pat No 1,297,704). George Mitchell perfected and upgraded Leonard's original design, and went on to produce the most beloved and most universally used motion picture cameras of the Golden Age of Hollywood under the name of The Mitchell Camera Company. The company was first headquartered on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, then building a new factory in West Hollywood and moving there in 1930, and finally moving operations to their final factory location in Glendale, California in the 1940s.

Mitchell Camera Corporation was privately and quietly purchased in mid 1929 by William Fox of Fox Film Studios, just before the Great Depression began, though George Mitchell continued working with the company until he retired in the 1950s. Although William Fox had lost control and possession of his own Fox Film Studios and theaters empire in March of 1930, he apparently quietly retained possession of the Mitchell Camera Company, as William Fox's two daughters still owned the Mitchell Camera Company when the company closed operations and ceased in the late 1970s. The famous Mitchell Tripod - a wood base tripod was introduced about 1920, this tripod was manufactured and sold by Mitchell with very little change, other than the addition of a "Baby" shorter version introduced in 1928. 75cm high with legs extended.  read more

Code: 24261

Mightier Yet! A Superb and Original, Large, British WW2 Propaganda Poster For the Royal Navy

A rare and amazing artefact of WW2. Printed for H.M Stationary Office by Fosh & Cross Ltd. A propaganda information and recruitment poster. Britain re-created the World War I Ministry of Information for the duration of World War II to generate propaganda to influence the population towards support for the war effort. A wide range of media was employed aimed at local and overseas audiences. Traditional forms such as newspapers and posters were joined by new media including cinema (film), newsreels and radio. A wide range of themes were addressed, fostering hostility to the enemy, support for allies, and specific pro war projects such as conserving metal and growing vegetables. In 1940 in particular, Winston Churchill made many calls for the British to fight on, and for British units to fight until they died rather than submit. His calls for fight to victory inspired a hardening of public opinion. Determination raised the numbers of the Home Guard and inspired a willingness to fight to the last ditch, in a manner rather similar to Japanese determination, and the slogan "You can always take one with you" was used in the grimmest times of the war. British victories were announced to the public for morale purposes, and broadcast to Germany for purposes of undermining morale.

Even during Dunkirk, an optimistic spin was put on how the soldiers were eager to return.

When the U-boat commander Gunther Prien vanished with his submarine U-47, Churchill personally informed the House of Commons, and radio broadcasts to Germany asked, "Where is Prien?" until Germany was forced to acknowledge his loss.

The turn of the war made BBC's war commentaries much more stirring.

We never normally comment on the investment potential of any collectable, but the potential for all underpriced WW1 and WW2 posters must be incredible, for example the more famed poster, 'Keep Calm and Carry On' can now sell for over £20,000.
Good condition with central folding creases. 20 inches x 30 inches.  read more

Code: 20768

A Very Fine Pair of Cased WW1 Great War Imperial German Epaulettes

For the Imperial German 40th Infantry officer. Used by the German regimental officers that fought in the trenches with Adolf Hitler's infantry, and apparently the 40th relieved Hitler's company within the List Regiment, the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment). In their original storage case in mint condition overall. Mid blue cloth background with gilt crescent and Infantry number 40. Red back cloth. During the war, Hitler served in France and Belgium in the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment). He was an infantryman in the 1st Company during the First Battle of Ypres (October 1914), which Germans remember as the Kindermord bei Ypern (Ypres Massacre of the Innocents) because approximately 40,000 men (between a third and a half) of nine newly-enlisted infantry divisions became casualties in 20 days. Hitler's regiment entered the battle with 3,600 men and at its end mustered 611. By December Hitler's own company of 250 was reduced to 42. Biographer John Keegan claims that this experience drove Hitler to become aloof and withdrawn for the remaining years of war. After the battle, Hitler was promoted from Sch?tze (Private) to Gefreiter (Lance Corporal). He was assigned to be a regimental message-runner The List Regiment fought in many battles, including the First Battle of Ypres (1914), the Battle of the Somme (1916), the Battle of Arras (1917), and the Battle of Passchendaele (1917). During the Battle of Fromelles on 19?20 July 1916 the Australians, mounting their first attack in France, assaulted the Bavarian positions. The Bavarians repulsed the attackers, suffering the second-highest losses they had on any day on the Western Front, about 7,000 men  read more

Code: 22240

A Very Rare Original,1930's Aeronautical Collection of Wide, Wool Felt, Sleeve Patches for Early Airships & Aeroplanes

Shoulder sleeve insignia. For the Farman Biplane USA, Astra Monoplane, Curtis Biplane USA, Delagrange Biplane, Ferber Biplane, Bleriot Monoplane, French Military Dirigible, Wright Biplane, Reid-Curtis Flying Boat USA, and the Mengin Monoplane.

In the early 20th century US military the 81st Infantry Division "Wildcat" is generally agreed to have been first U.S. Army unit authorised shoulder sleeve insignia or SSI. In 1918, during World War I, the 81st Division sailed for France after training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. On their left shoulder the men of the division wore an olive drab felt patch with the silhouette of a wildcat - after Wildcat Creek, a stream that flows through Fort Jackson. When men of the other fighting divisions challenged the right of 81st soldiers to wear the patch, General John J. Pershing ruled that the 81st could keep this distinctive insignia. He also suggested that other divisions adopt shoulder patches of their own. This patch was officially adopted by the U.S. Army on October 19, 1918. The first patches were often primitive but by World War II, the manufacture was regulated.

By World War II, all army groups, field armies, corps, and divisions, as well as all major Army commands, had unique SSI. These SSI would often be created with symbolism alluding to the unit's formation. Examples include the 82nd Airborne Division, which included an "AA" on its patch alluding to the "All-American" soldiers from every state that made it up, and the 29th Infantry Division, which included blue and grey to allude to soldiers that made it up being from states on both sides of the American Civil War.

Most US formations had unique patches which varied greatly in size and makeup, with the exception of U.S. armoured divisions (as well as 1st Armoured Corps and the U.S. Army Armour Center & School), all of which adopted the same patch (a yellow, red and blue triangle with a symbol for armour in the middle). Each division and I Armoured Corps then included its number in the upper yellow portion of the patch to distinguish it. The SSIs of those armoured units which survived into the Cold War became irregular pentagons (some units later than others) with the addition of rectangular section at the bottom, bearing the division's nickname or "U.S. Army Armour Centre". In the past we have individual examples sell for a few hundred pounds, but we have never seen a complete, or near complete, set of 10 before. They would look stunning bespoke framed. Wide sleeve type patches, approx 6 x 3 inches.

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Code: 23859