Italian east

Buy Italian East Africa 1938 Eagle & Lion of Judah 2L imperf pair being a Hialeah forgery on gummed pa for R140.31

Buy Italian East Africa Medal 1936 de Wet Medal with ribbon German 1st World War Medal for R770.00

Buy WW2 very rare Italian East Africa 10th Colonial Brigade medal for R2,100.00

        Due to time constraints only limited information can be supplied in the listing. However, have a look at the description and photograph/s above and if in doubt, please ask.     MEDAL GRADING SYSTEM MINT - As minted. EF - Extremely fine; showing little if any wear and the design appear sharp and clear. NEF - Nearly extremely fine. VF - Very fine; showing little wear but clear wear on high relief of medal. The medal still has a pleasing appearance and design is quite clear. NVF - Nearly very fine. F - Fine; majority of the original detail is still visible, but there will be moderately heavy wear all over the medal. G - Good; should be poor with very little of the original detail visible. Edge knocks and field/rim contacts: all edge knocks and/or rim contacts are mentioned. At no time will a medal be down graded in order to conceal those field contacts, or other contacts/knocks or other. Renamed/part renamed or other: these will always be clearly described and mentioned, as will official mint corrections.  

Italian Fascist Medal  Colonial War 1936 Italian Fascist Colonial war Africa Orientale (Italian East Africa)

Buy ITALIAN MILITIA BADGE-BLACK SHIRTS BNS IN EAST AFRICA- NO PINS for R300.00

Buy A GATHERING OF EAGLES The South African Air Force in Italian East Africa 1940 JAMES AMBROSE BROWN for R210.00

Buy ABYSSINIAN CAMPAIGNS The Official Story of the Conquest of Italian East Africa Issued for the War Of for R115.00

Buy A Gathering of Eagles -The Campaigns of the South African Air Force in Italian East Africa 1940-1941 for R350.00

Buy A GATHERING OF EAGLES JAMES AMBROSE BROWN The South African Air Force in Italian East Africa 1940 for R300.00

Buy A GATHERING OF EAGLES JAMES AMBROSE BROWN The South African Air Force in Italian East Africa 1940 for R290.00

    WWII SPECIAL SERVICE BATTALION TITLE BADGE The Special Service Battalion (SSB) is a South African military unit formed on 1 May 1933 under the patronage of Oswald Pirow, Minister of Defence. The object was to give training to youths, between the ages of 17 and 23, who, in the wake of the 1929 depression, could find no suitable employment on leaving school.   History Lt Col George E Brink was given the responsibility for establishing the battalion at Roberts Heights and was the first commanding officer. The SSB was established to save the youth from physical and moral degeneration caused by massive unemployment due to the Great Depression. The SSB was to teach the young men military discipline, fitness and various trades to enable them to be employed by the Department of Labour and Welfare. The SSB men received a salary of a shilling a day causing the SSB soon to be known as the "Bob a Day Battalion".  In 1934 detachments were also established for 100 trainees at Durban and 150 at Cape Town. Training included elementary military subjects and physical training. After a year of the young men usually found employment in government departments or with civilian employers. By 1936 the output of the SSB totalled about 2000 youths a year. In 1937 the South African Railways established at Roberts Heights a special school to prepare boys for the railways. In 1937 3788 youths passed through the ranks of the SSB. A total of 882 of them joined the Permanent Force.  With the expansion of the South African Air Force in 1937 the SSB provided 248 air apprentices for special training but, with the improvement in the economic situation, the waiting list to join the battalion had dwindled to almost nil.  With the outbreak of war in September 1939, members of the SSB were posted to units requiring immediate reinforcement to get on to a wartime basis. An example of this being the Coastal Artillery. In February 1940 a number of troops were transferred to the 1st and 2nd Field Force Battalions. These served with distinction in East Africa, Abyssinia and the Middle East as part of 1st South African Division.  SADF era 1 SSB Commemorative Letter In August 1941 all members of the SSB below the age of 18 were transferred to the Youth Training Brigade. The remainder formed an infantry battalion, which was converted to an armoured car commando in 1942.  In February 1943 the SSB, under Lt Col EG ('Papa') Brits, became part of the 11th SA Armoured Brigade. In March 1943 the Field Force Battalion was disbanded and other ranks and some of the officers were transferred to the SSB, thus providing a nucleus of battle-tested veterans.  The unit sailed for the Middle East with the 6th SA Armoured Division in April 1943. In 1944 the division crossed the Mediterranean Sea to take part in the Italian campaign. The regiment played a prominent part in numerous actions during the campaign.  In 1946, SSB was resuscitated as a Permanent Force unit and reorganised on a two-battalion basis with the 1st Battalion as an armoured unit and the 2nd Battalion infantry. The former became a training regiment in 1953 and the latter was renamed the 1 South African Infantry Battalion (1SAI) in 1951.   CONDITION:  Very Good. Lugs in tact. UNCLEANED. Sold as seen in the images. Images form part of the description.

1982. Hard covers with dust cover; 507 and 424 pages. Very good condition. Tightly bound and neat. The dust covers have some edge wear. Over 1kg.   Part 1: The formations of the South African Engineer Corps and its operations in East Africa and the Middle East to the Battle of Alamein Part 2: The operations of the South African Engineer Corps in the North African and Italian war, from the Battle of El Alamein to the end of World War II, with a brief description of subsequent developments.

This is the thoroughly researched account of the life and times of a South African WW2 pilot, the author's father, Ted. It is highly personal, drawing on family history and changing lifestyles as the central figure fights his way through a series of experiences, flying coastal strike missions in the Mediterranean and North Africa, then in the Far East against the Japanese.  The story gets off to an engrossing operational start before tracking back to the personal family story to provide a context. Images of a lost world haunt pages that relate to an era in which a decisive individual could challenge the system and get results.  As the story of Coastal Command is often overlooked, the exploits recorded here serve as an overdue reminder of the unit and the part it played in the Allied effort.  Ted's wartime exploits include the first mid-air skyjacking in history; the daring solitary attack on the Italian fleet after he had lost the rest of his strike team; narrowly surviving being burned in a horrific air crash in the Ceylon jungle; many emergency crash-landings; and finally as commander of 27 Squadron carrying out dangerous rescue operations behind enemy lines for members of the Indian Resistance Movement operating in the Burmese jungle. These exploits, written largely in the voice of Ted Strever, and extensively illustrated with photographs, come vividly to life. Hardback, 228 pages. Published August 2014    

 The Black Beret: Beginnings to the Invasion of Madagascar 1942 Volume 1 - William Steenkamp -   Publisher: Helion and Company Publication Date: 2016 Hard cocer  with dust cover as new. Volume 1 of "The Black Beret" starts with the early history of South Africa and ends with the invasion of Madagascar by the South African Forces during WWII. This volume covers topics such as how armor came to the battlefield, the use of horses vs armored car in German South West Africa in 1915, the first steps to mechanization, the birth of the Tank Corps, and the deployment into East Africa through Abyssinia to Addis Abba during the early years of WWII. We next experience the reverses and victories of the desert campaign with the 4th Armored Car Company amongst others, fighting alongside the Desert Rats, Operation Crusader, the disaster at Tobruk, through the Gazala gallop and on to the victory at El Alamein. We meet the newly reconstituted SA Armored Corps training at Khatadba in Egypt for deployment in the Italian campaign with the famous South African 6th Armored Division, and we ride with the armor element that takes part in the invasion of Madagascar. The development of the various marks of South African armored reconnaissance cars are touched upon but will be discussed in more detail in a later volume. This is an important and overlooked story, one told by Willem Steenkamp in a rich and unique style, and drawing on a significant number of sources, ably supported by many photographs and maps.