Bill Shea's WWII Memorabilia Blog RSS

Welcome to Part 3 of the 8-part series of videos on "The Need for the Stahlhelm".  I sincerely appreciate the kind feedback I've received and glad to see that this has been a source of entertainment and information.   Part 3 gets into the ins and outs of the German Model 1916, or otherwise known as the M16 helmet.  There are also references to the M17 helmet and I am sure this will provide some tidbits of information that you have not heard before.   Remember, you don't have to wait to view the rest of the videos. They are...

Welcome to Part 2 of the 8-part series of videos on "The Need for the Stahlhelm". I have been astounded by the number of views that these videos have received in the week since we posted them. I decided to keep track and there have been more than 1,200 views in just seven days. I sincerely appreciate the kind feedback I've received and glad to see that this has been a source of entertainment and information.   Part 2 gets into the who, what, when, why and where my interest in German steel helmets began. It focuses on the early development...

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PART ONE Back in 2009 I was on The Board of Directors for The Wilson History and Research Center located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its founder, Robert J. Wilson Jr., who has now passed away, had a lofty goal to collect as many pieces of military headgear from the 20th Century as he could. He was a great guy and accumulated a huge number of interesting pieces of headgear from all over the globe. All military headgear including spike helmets, steel helmets, visor caps, side caps, tschakos, berets etc...were to be included in this collection. All makes...

Part 7 FINAL    Military Trader: And finally, the question we all want to ask the experienced veteran collectors, such as yourself, “How will Third Reich collecting change over the next ten years?” Bill Shea: I do believe the internet will continue to play a vital role in spreading the word and keeping collectors informed and networked. Periodicals like Military Trader still serve an important purpose to those of us who still enjoy having something in hand. The feel of turning those pages and having something to read on the “throne” still works. I have two main concerns about the future. One...

Part 6...      Military Trader: We all have our story about the “one that got away.” Tell us about the one item that slipped through your fingers and can still keep you awake at night. Bill Shea: It’s a treasure trove of extremely rare medals and badges that was taken from a castle in Austria called Schloss Klessheim. This was where the Germans had stored cases of rare decorations including Knight’s Crosses, Eagle Orders, German Crosses with diamonds etc. The list goes on and on. There was enough stuff there to last a thousand years. US soldiers stumbled on this place....