Mr. Scratch

I'm assuming these are 19th Century US, based on the Federal eagle on the lone surviving button and construction. Can anyone tell me what I have here?

😄 Yes. Yes I guess I did. Sorry. Mods, please delete. I guess it's time to get my eyes checked. 😑

Eh. Maybe if the price was right. Just trying to get an idea of exactly what it is time-wise at the moment. I'm feeling WWI based on it's construction, but want to be sure.

Close up

I've got this banner (I assume that's what it is, it has no suspension device). Double-sided. Made with some course, fairly light old-school cotton, with maybe lightly weather-proofed stars. 35" x 47". Has a pre-wwII , small-scale manufacturing feel to it. Anyone have any idea when this might have been made?

Nope. I just assumed they were some sort of obsolete British bayo grip, as they're stamped broad-arrow over WD.

I've got this giant cleaver of a weapon. I assume it is Australian manufacture, with the gear-tooth guard and the old Enfield bayonet grip. Does anyone know the maker? Anyone have any other examples?

Same here. He claimed to have some other stuff that I was ready to purchase once this deal went through. Even if he hadn't found the rest of the supply, I was prepared to buy everything he did have at full retail, and then purchase his supply of other fabrics that he had found. In all, I was ready to go a few hundred bucks down that road with him just to start. But he tried to jam me on a measly $125 for the time he spent looking for a thing he already sold me. And now he gets nothing, not even the $125 he tried to screw me for, and here I am blabbing about my bad experience to potential customers. Hell of a way to run a business.

Rise from the grave, or ancient thread long dead! Okay, I'm having some issues with this same seller, along somewhat similar lines. On NJ Sekela's website he has listed some WWII fabric scraps. Thinking I could use these as the basis of a larger cloth comparison, I asked to order his entire supply, and he agreed to sell the whole shebang for $125. That was on Oct. 7th. Now 2 months have gone by, during which time I have asked about them many times. He has told me that he has some of the scraps, but the rest of them are somewhere in his collection of 40 years of collecting, and that he hasn't found them yet. I've practically begged the guy to just knuckle down and find them or send me a refund, and he's basically said "yep, I'll get right on that" each time. So now the conversation has gone like this: ---- Me: "I figure if the scraps haven't been found by now, they probably won't be any time soon. Could you please send me a refund? Once the refund is received, we can talk about my buying the scraps that are currently available and ready to send." NJ Sekela: "I will send what I have. There is more" NOTE - I do NOT want this guy to send me a partial order before he has refunded me, as I don't want him being able to claim that he fulfilled the entire order, making it difficult for me to lodge a dispute if he sends me just a handful of scraps. I'm willing to buy the scraps he has on hand, but I want the old order nullified first, so the next purchase can be from a clean slate for a lesser amount. I've been down this road before. Me: "Well, send the refund first. THEN we can figure out what pieces are available to send right now, and I'll pay for those separately. I don't want a partial shipment associated with this payment, I want the full payment returned so the next charge can be calculated separately." NJ Sekela: "This is getting absolutely childish. I am NOT refunding you after tearing through my warehouse gathering everything for you, because you thing that it has taken too long. I will send what I have along with swatches of what else is here. It is over 40 years of collecting all in multiple tubs. I will send that today and we will go from there." Me: "Do not send me an item I have not ordered. I am launching a dispute with Paypal. I don't give a damn about how much time you spent searching for the scraps. I am not paying you for your time and/or carelessness in losing something you claimed to have, I am paying you for the item. No item, no payment." ---- I've launched a dispute with Paypal. I've been a Paypal user for nearly 20 years but I've never had to launch a dispute through them, so I'm hoping this turns out okay. But either way, I can see this guy obviously doesn't give a damn about his customers. Evidently I'm just a cash cow, and once he has my money in his pocket, he feels no real compulsion to live up to his end of the bargain. EDIT - Paypal forced the refund, so there's that.

Also, going over the Camp Carson 3rd Ranger informal photo just now - this section is really great. Partly because dogs always make for a better picture. But also, it goes to show how a poorly-timed yawn can forever become part of a unit's historic record.

Just want to add the link and pic the the helmet, in case anyone comes across this thread in the distant future while doing research on the 187th. The shell and liner both have Beddingfield's name and serial number written in them in yellow paint. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/334807-187th-airborne-paratrooper-m1d-with-dui-decal/

The rest of the grouping can be found here. The helmet was held back by the previous owner, but it is now back with the rest of the grouping. The group is from Sgt.Truman Beddingfield, who was also a Ranger in the 3rd Ranger Co. in Korea. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/324104-documentsphotos-3rd-ranger-co-187th-airborne-infantry-reg-rakkasans/ He gets mentioned in the book about the 3rd Rangers, "The Cold Steel Third", the story of the 3rd Ranger Co in Korea. In one anecdote his squad was hit by a Chinese ambush, and Beddingfield was knocked to the ground by bullet impacts. He felt a sticky fluid oozing down him, and hollered for a medic. The medic arrived, assessed the situation, and discovered the bullet had struck a can of peaches in Beddingfield's rucksack, and the liquid was the syrup from the peaches. That story was apparently a very popular tale in the company, and it was related to the author a number of times from different sources. One officer who related the story said that they had to retreat from the ambush and Beddingfield had to leave his bullet-riddled rucksack behind. This frustrated him because he apparently had $400 in his field jacket pocket, still inside that rucksack. The officer said he offered to let Beddingfield go back and retrieve it from now-Chinese territory, to which Beddingfield expressed a very unhappy reluctance. The officer concluded that some people have no sense of humor.

So, poking around a little online, I came across other helmets like this. In particular, this one posted by WARPATH: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/252927-187th-airborne-rct-m1c-jump-helmet/ The above is obviously an earlier WWII-era helmet.There are other similar examples, but this is the best of them. It appears that the 187th, for a time, made it a point to semi-regularly embellish their helmets like this. Does anyone have any photos of these types of helmets in use with the 187th?

Thanks, Korea/thereabouts is where it should be, that was the date of the rest of the grouping. Close inspection reveals just a touch of staining to the sweatband, what I would expect from one or two short appearances on the parade field. Late WWII manufacture shell, Korea-era liner. I mistakenly labeled this as an M1D in the title, when it is actually an M1C. Just heading off the inevitable correction. (MODS - can you guys change my title to be more accurate?)

Interior Very little wear.