Memorial Pegasus – The Pegasus Bridge Museum, Normandy
On the night of 5 June 1944, six Airspeed AS 51 Horsa gliders carrying 181 men from the 2nd Oxfordshire...
The funeral of General Trình Minh Thế and the Cao Đài badge debate
On 3 May 1955, while standing near his military jeep, Vietnamese army Brigadier-General Trình Minh Thế was killed by a...
The Cao Đài and its Militia 1926 – 1956
One of my main areas of collecting interest focuses on the airborne, commando and unconventional auxiliary units relating to French...
Dropping into the Cu Chi Tunnels
In January 1966, the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR), which had been attached to the US 173rd Airborne Brigade...
An unidentified French Indochina or 1950’s period Airborne unit badge.
This is an unusual and as yet unidentified early Vietnamese Airborne patch that I have in my collection. It is...
A WW2 South African Veterinary Corps Medal Group
During a recent visit to my parents in Melbourne, I was given this group which belonged to my father’s uncle,...
The Czech Police Museum (Muzeum Policie ČR) – Prague
The Czech Police Museum (Muzeum Policie ČR) is housed in the grounds of a former Augustinian monastery that was founded...
The Army Museum of Western Australia Part 2
Last week, in Part 1 of my review of the Army Museum of Western Australia, I showed some of the...
The Army Museum of Western Australia Part 1
This is the first of a two part review of the Army Museum of Western Australia. The Army Museum of...
An Australian souvenir from Operation CRIMP, South Vietnam, January 1966.
One of my collecting interests is Australian cigarette lighters from the Vietnam War. In recent years I have tended to...
The Pioneer Parachute Co. pin. Not a Caterpillar!
The Caterpillar Club, started in 1922 by Leslie Irvin’s Irving Air Chute Company, as a way of recording the names...
Australian Airborne Insignia #2. The 6RAR Parachute Company Group
In 1974, the Brisbane based 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) under the command of Lt Col Tony Hammett took...
The Southern Rhodesia Commando ‘Cobra’ Qualification badge – 1941 – 45
In 1941, fearing that the Japanese may launch an invasion of southern Africa from Vichy French controlled Madagascar, the OC...
BOOKS: British Airborne Insignia & Airborne Insignia Volume 2 by Oliver Lock
Airborne insignia provides a popular collecting focus for many collectors and as a result has become a lucrative market for...
A 1992 issue Switlik Caterpillar Club badge for a WW2 Soviet pilot.
Last week’s post featured the Caterpillar Club badge of RAAF pilot Patrick Heffernan who became member number 16000 of Irvin’s...
WW2 Caterpillar Club pin to RAAF pilot, Group Captain P.G. Heffernan
The Caterpillar Club began in 1922 shortly after an American aviator, LT H.R. Harris, made an emergency descent using an...