#1 German occupation made   #2 British made WW2   #3 US made WW2 production.

Not a lot of time to do much garandizing lately but I did get the rear sight installed tonight. It even works. It was a bit tricky until I realized the cover thingee was slightly bent out of shape. Nothing a small pliers couldn’t fix. 

Hello all,           I recently acquired what I think is a camp axe. I wasn’t familiar at all with these, only the larger Jeep axe so I picked it up.       I would appreciate any opinion on this as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of information online. I know there has been some discussion here in the past about these but is there a general idea of the production years for these? It does appear to be in pretty nice shape so it will display nicely for sure.    Thanks in advance for any input.    Sincerely, Hayman    

Several years ago, one of the officers who was my student at the National War College was promoted to Colonel and assigned to command The Old Guard after graduation.  I visited him in his office on Ft. Myer, had a long discussion, showed him the old Army uniform regulations as well as several of the original 'field grade' officers' dress belts in my collection, pointed out that TOG wrote its own uniform regulations, and explained that the gold stripe on today's Dress Blue trousers was exactly the right width to fit on the leather that underlay the dress belt they wore.  He agreed, the folks at TOG's uniform issue shop created several of them, and the rest is history.  TOG switched to the 'field grade' officer's dress belt, and they have continued to wear it ever since.   First is an earlier photo of a field grade officer in TOG wearing the 'company grade' dress belt before the switch.  Next is a photo of a field grade officer in TOG wearing the 'field grade' dress belt after the switch. Somewhat to my surprise, even field grade officers wear nylon braid on the bands around the base of their dress caps, rather than gold bullion braid.    

Actually, there is a traditional company-grade belt that could be worn by FA or ADA or ENG officers.  It is issued to officers and the Drum Major of Pershing's Own, the US Army Band.  

Quite a beard on the NCO in the background.  The maroon beret indicates he is on airborne status.

Robert Carl Miller was born on August 15th, 1920 in Ohio to Charles and Effie Miller who eventually had three children. Robert graduated high school where he was a star football player which continued when he attended the University of Dayton to get a Bachelor of Arts degree. During his studies, the United States was dragged into World War Two with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Robert immediately signed up for officer training through his college, joining the Marine Corps on March 17th, 1942 for assignment to the Platoon Leaders’ Class as he finished his degree. It was not until March of 1943 that he finally got sent to Parris Island for recruit training and Officer Candidate School, which he graduated from on June 16th with a 2nd Lieutenant commission. Further training was required through the 30th Reserve Officer Class at Quantico, but 2nd Lt Miller was very eager to get back at the Japanese. He wrote to the Commandant of the Marine Corps requesting an assignment to the Paramarines which was granted upon his graduation on August 25th, 1943. Miller trained with Company B, Parachute Training School, Camp Gillespie, California until earning his jump wings by the end of October and then completing the Chemical Warfare School by 1944. By this point, the Paramarines were not seen as a crucial unit for the war effort and were disbanded a few months later. Miller was instead sent to the newly activated Company A, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division which later moved to Hawaii to train for the Iwo Jima campaign.    Iwo Jima On January 4th, 1945, 1st Lieutenant Miller left onboard the USS Deuel commanding 2nd platoon for amphibious landing exercises before making their way offshore Iwo Jima on February 19th, 1945. Naval ships hammered the island’s defenses a few hours prior to the landings until the Marines scrambled into LVTs to await the assault. Marines hit the beaches precisely at 0900 into light enemy resistance, at least until they advanced roughly 300 yards inland. The Japanese patiently waited until the beaches were clogged with men and supplies before unleashing hell on the now startled Marines who began diving for cover. Casualties rapidly became severe, necessitating 1/26, held in division reserve in LVTs offshore, to land at 1700 at Red 1 and fall into defensive positions behind 1/27 at the southern tip of Airfield 1. At 0830 the following day, Miller’s 1/26 alongside 3/27 began their assault across relatively open terrain west of the airfield, leaving them exposed. Most casualties occurred from Japanese mortar fire which wounded Miller across his right cheek and right hand but he pushed on while refusing evacuation. The Marines gained 800 yards before consolidating for the night, and then managed to gain 1000 yards on February 21st before the battalion rejoined their parent regiment on the 22nd when they relieved the 27th Marines which was completed under heavy enemy fire and enemy counterattacks. It was during one of these actions that Lieutenant Miller was awarded the Silver Star:   “Assuming command of a rifle company during a heavy enemy counterattack, which broke through our lines, First Lieutenant Miller re-formed his company’s lines in the face of intense hostile fire and, encouraging his men in determined and aggressive action, succeeded in repulsing the attacking forces in his sector. His inspiring leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”   1/26 was fully relieved from the line at 0700 on the 23rd during which Miller officially took command of Company A after the loss of nearly all of their higher ranking officers. 1/27 followed their other two battalions as they attacked towards Hill 362A and became the 27th Marines’ reserve battalion when they took over the drive on the 27th. Miller’s battalion was ordered into the assault the next day along the beach towards the ridge but could not move further until other units took the high ground which was causing them trouble. When the other elements of the 26th Marines attacked towards Nishi Ridge and Hill 362B and caused a gap in the lines, 1/26 was pulled to close it and joined the attack. On March 3rd, they drove north to relieve 3rd Marine Division units near Hill 362B and then launched an attack to clear the enemy facing 1/28. The rugged terrain in front of them was a maze of enemy gun emplacements that caused heavy casualties among the advancing Marines. The battalion was relieved later in the day just to be thrust back into the fight on March 4th to make local attacks to straighten the lines. It was during one of these skirmishes that Lieutenant Miller suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh and evacuated to the beach for treatment. After going through hell and witnessing what the enemy had done to his men, Miller disregarded his wound and returned to command his company early the following day in time to relieve 2/26 and attack towards the northeast coast. 1/26 advanced at 1245 but were halted by stubborn Japanese defenses for the day. They revised their plans for next morning’s attack and jumped off without any preparatory bombardments to surprise the enemy. Their plan was successful when they overran their objective by 1140 but ran into more mazes of pillboxes that stubbornly stopped any attacks for days until relief.   Miller’s 1/26 was attached to the 27th Marines on March 11th for the assault towards Kitano Point and attacked into savage enemy resistance. The Japanese knew the Marines were close to securing the island and refused to give up without a desperate fight. The Marines relied on their weapons companies and artillery to blast enemy weapon positions at near point blank range. This continued for days and through heavy casualties until serious gains were made at Kitano Point, allowing the 26th Marines to advance rapidly through to the north coast on March 17th, cornering the remaining Japanese defenders in an intricately defended deep gorge. The Marines drove slowly down the ravine into stubborn and relentless resistance until the enemy were silenced. After an exhausting month of brutal combat on Iwo Jima, Lieutenant Miller boarded the USS John Land and returned to Hawaii where he became Executive Officer of Company A. Upon the surrender of Japan which formally ended WW2, Miller and his regiment shipped off to Sasebo, Japan as an occupying force in September, but he only carried out this duty until October 19th. Miller returned to the United States and was released from active duty on March 9th, 1946. He remained in the inactive reserves and gained the rank of Captain by 1952. Robert married Claire Krafcik and had three children, but never left his home state of Ohio. He passed away on April 8th, 2013.   I restored everything but the EGAs.  

Omg. I had a feeling there was a cult following. Lol

I only have a few models in my collection, such as T700

Here's  a Leather patch I did of the 421st Night Fighter Squadron , via an image of a 'rare" variation cloth in country made patch, Enjoy :)