A thread on the rampant miss-selling of militaria.

An example based upon this tweet from @Medical_Int who kindly knew I’d be interested in a German WW2 medical pouch.

As ever, I took a look & this is what I found.

1) https://twitter.com/medical_int/status/1276628615816339456

A ‘Proofed original WW2 German Army Wehrmacht......’

It Ain’t.

For potentially £320.

Wow, lucky me!

Let me explain....

2)

But first, let’s marvel at what I am getting for my £320.

Something that’s ‘very rare’!

It’s not.

Something that’s ‘very nice’!

That’s stretching it some.

And in ‘excellent condition’!

No, it’s certainly not.

3)

But the cherry on the cake is this. ‘Bought back by a WW2 US veteran.’

If he was, he was a Doughboy.....

4)

On the left is the ‘WW2’ pouch.

Compare to genuine WW2 pouches on the right.

All are dated. Not the conditions of the pouches in both pics.

The pouch for sale is not dated....

5)

I think I’ve ID’d the eBay pouch as a Krankenträger (stretcher bearer) right-hand pouch, as it seems to be marked ‘K’ & ‘R’.

Contrast to my WW2 Krankenträger pouches in pics 3 & 4 re the labels.

We can match the eBay labelled version to WW1, though....

6)

Compare the eBay pouch label to a correctly described WW1 pouch in pic 2.

7)

As for ‘authentic WW2 items’, 2 small dressings are, the rest may be of the period but without doubt not carried by a Krankenträger or Sanitäter.

8)

So, to summarise, we have a ridiculously priced, average condition WW1 stretcher bearer pouch, with 2 WW2 dressings.

Nothing like as labelled or described.

If you’re selling militaria, research hard to be correct & so accurate in your descriptions.

You’re accountable!

End)