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De Oppresso Liber badges


brian c
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This is one I purchased from kaulka in Augsburg Germany along with some early 10th group crest. Kaulka said he made both for 10th group guys at Tolz. I have another set that has Screw posts instead of the nail posts that is a German made one.

 

 

So my unfinished DUI is definetly a Kalka made one.

 

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This is one I purchased from kaulka in Augsburg Germany along with some early 10th group crest. Kaulka said he made both for 10th group guys at Tolz. I have another set that has Screw posts instead of the nail posts that is a German made one.

 

 

Boy was I wrong about this SF beret badge as I thought Kalaka used nothing but Lucite in the manufacture of their insignia based on two unit crests (10th SF Grp & 87th Inf Regt) I've come across in the past. Thanks for sharing this as we now know that there are two German firms that made their versions of the SF beret badge. They must be super rare as I've been searching for variations of the early SF beret badge for many years now and never came across any.

 

The information I have on the SF beret badges made in Niger is that they were made in 2008. They also made a version of the early Trojan Horse beret badge as well as a US basic paratrooper wing.

 

 

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Just to further stir the pot, these are ones I had made when my team was in Niger. These are made out of melted down old French coins.

 

 

Here is a photo of what I was talking about. Here you have a slight variation where black enameling has been added to the SF beret badge with the lettering being raised instead of incised.

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

@ firefighter: I had 10 of the crests made/ 5 with the ugly black paint which did not look that great. So the next five were with no paint and engraved letters. I had 10 of the wings made and maybe three of the Trojan Horses. All were engraved on the back with the ODA number. I had all the insignia made at the Zoo in NIamey. There is a small craftman area and I found a Taureg silversmith there and gave him a bunch of old French coins with silver content that he melted down to make the insignia.

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firefighter

@ firefighter: I had 10 of the crests made/ 5 with the ugly black paint which did not look that great. So the next five were with no paint and engraved letters. I had 10 of the wings made and maybe three of the Trojan Horses. All were engraved on the back with the ODA number. I had all the insignia made at the Zoo in NIamey. There is a small craftman area and I found a Taureg silversmith there and gave him a bunch of old French coins with silver content that he melted down to make the insignia.

 

 

Very nice.

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  • 4 years later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi team

 

Here is a GEMSCO NY variant .

 

Note the dagger and knife covers the DE and you can just see the R in Liber.

 

It looks like it was glued on?

 

Not as pretty as the other skull variations and quite been there done that look.

 

I gather this will be an earlier type,what years would this have been used?

 

 

Phill

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Hi team

 

Here is a GEMSCO NY variant .

 

Note the dagger and knife covers the DE and you can just see the R in Liber.

 

It looks like it was glued on?

 

Not as pretty as the other skull variations and quite been there done that look.

 

I gather this will be an earlier type,what years would this have been used?

 

 

Phill

Based on these photos it looks like the crossed arrows and bayonet fell off and it was reattached a little too low.

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Hi Team

 

Here is a "3rd Type" DUI. Based on Geoff Barkers article from the drop.

 

Apparently its rare than the skulls Type. Skulls are more desirable by collectors.

 

I do have other hallmarked DUI from an ex NZ SAS veteran who worked alongside US SF/US Navy Seals 1960's-70'sand into the 90's and like most operators collected/traded items with various units.

 

The DUI and flash were together.

 

However this early 5th Group flash also came with the group without DUI. The pin holes match the clutch back pins, unsure if the DUI and 5th Flash were together, this is how I received the group.

 

Phill

 

 

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I agree that the non skulled with Fat handle dagger is much harder to find.

 

If this is a type 3, what is a type 2, assuming that the dueling skulls is a type 1.

 

Ive always considered this a type 2?

 

Thanks

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I Know that skulls has been labeled as Type I and fat dagger as Type II then the approved Type III.

 

However the original was Primus Bello design which was disapproved. That might not have been in production so the above might be the so called unofficial "Type's?"

 

Open to opinions.

 

Phill

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What is this Primus Bello design you speak of?

 

e19 posted a link #28

 

The article has been there for 6 years.

 

The images and article are not mine to publish.

 

It was a proposed design.

 

Phill

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  • 1 month later...

Just picked up this example. 

It was in a group of crest spanning from WW 2 to the 60's.

Appears to be a classic kissing skulls type crest.

Opinions? Comments?

 

IMG_20200513_122044.jpg

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Just picked up this example. 

It was in a group of crest spanning from WW 2 to the 60's.

Appears to be a classic kissing skulls type crest.

Opinions? Comments?

The clutch backs say JANDY REG

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  • 6 months later...
USMarineCorps

Here's another German made piece I picked up recently. I believe it was made at Kalka given the unperforated eyes. I've always loved this design, and don't understand why they ended up going with the current design. 

 

 

SFDUI.jpg

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USMarineCorps
5 minutes ago, 37thguy said:

Are the 'eyes' partially drilled or just painted on?  Any Hallmark?

No hallmark on this one. I’ll post a picture of the back shortly. The eyes are shallow dimples with paint applied over them.

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  • 4 months later...
USMarineCorps

Here's another cool one. This one was made in Colombia for the 2/7th SFG(A) MTT and their Colombian counterparts.

 

Fred

 

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

Been trying to learn more about authenticating SF DUIs and am happy a friend and fellow forum member remembered this thread. I've had a single "kissing skulls" variant for over twenty years that I got through The Dog Tag that's unmarked at back and looks identical to the one Tonomachi added a photo of in post #25 of this thread . Guess now I'll have to add a hallmarked variant as well. Here's the back of a standard variant that looks to be of vintage manufacture I just picked up off ebay. Any input would be most welcome. 

 

1stSpecialForcesDUI1-3.jpeg.a905f810ec0342ccd702e03a7ef6d97c.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/13/2023 at 5:34 AM, immurement said:

Been trying to learn more about authenticating SF DUIs and am happy a friend and fellow forum member remembered this thread. I've had a single "kissing skulls" variant for over twenty years that I got through The Dog Tag that's unmarked at back and looks identical to the one Tonomachi added a photo of in post #25 of this thread . Guess now I'll have to add a hallmarked variant as well. Here's the back of a standard variant that looks to be of vintage manufacture I just picked up off ebay. Any input would be most welcome. 

 

1stSpecialForcesDUI1-3.jpeg.a905f810ec0342ccd702e03a7ef6d97c.jpeg

I believe you have a genuine piece with a slightly older NS Meyer (raised 22M shields) hallmark.  I'm guessing here but I would say 1970s to 1980s era after which NS Meyer changed their hallmark (incised 22M shield) in the 1990s.  There are examples of these incised hallmarks in POST # 12 & 36 (see photos 1 & 2 below).  I believe your hallmark is slightly older because there is the earlier so called kissing skulls SF beret badge with the same NS Meyer hallmark of raised 22M shields (Photo 3 & 4).   There is also an older version of this beret badge with an even older NS Meyer hallmark of raised 9M shields (Photo 5 & 6).  

1a 12.jpg

1c 36.jpg

NS Meyer.JPG

NS Meyer1.JPG

1g.jpg

1h.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
Toughguy

Is there a difference between the SF crest worn on the beret and the crest worn on the dress uniform. I have seen some with the clutch back pins running vertically and some with the pins running horizontally. Thank you

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