General introduction. I have always had a fascination for foreign volunteers in the service of the Reich in World War Two. One can say that these volunteers were wrong to serve Germany, but such a point is double edged. Germans, Dutchmen, Frenchmen and a host of other nationals fought in British uniform, following the logical conclusion, then that must have been wrong too!
Anyway, I am interested in all foreigners that served in German military service, with a special interest in British Empire subjects, be it British Free Corps, Free Indian Legion (Azad Hind) or the Free Arab Legion. One could add the British Abwehr Agents and the radio broadcasters, but these did not wear uniform.
From a collectors or reenactors point of view, the foreign units add a wealth of national armshields, and if Waffen-SS also cufftitles. Because there was such a considerable amount of units, which often changed their insignia as the war went on, so there are hundreds, if not thousands of insignia items that could be included for study.
This is intended as a guide for reenactors who wish to reenact the BFC unit, original BFC insignia is impossible to obtain, and what is available is very suspect.
1. Correct armshield, colour shades could be a little lighter, but shield does go down to a point.
2. Correct shape, but wrong colours, much too bright.
3. Colours correct, but shield is rounded at the bottom, it should go down to a point.
4. correct shield, I have placed it next to an arm eagle so you can judge the correct size. Some armshields on the market recently are much too big.
5. The position of the shield based on the 4th June 1944 photo of Minchin and Berry. It has been stated that later in the war the shield was moved to the upper right arm, but I have yet to see proof of this in a photo.
6. One of several variations of the collar tabs. (Note: There seems to be several variations, and there may be several unknown to me).
7. Wrong, bodies much too thin and front paw facing upwards.
8. Wrong, heads look wrong and paws too stiff.
9. Wrong. Paws too straight and tails too thin.
10.Correct. Front paw pointing downwards.
11. SS Map from 1944 showing foreign volunteer units. Note the BFC emblem on the map, the front paw is facing downwards as in figure 10.
12. Text correct, but wrong script.
13. Text and script correct.
14. Wrong. BFC was never written in German.
15. Again wrong, but better quality.
16. Correct. Silver officers version, can be called "walking out" version.
17. Wrong. "Legion of St.George" never had insignia. (The BFC did not get theirs until 20th April 1944). Incredible as it may seem, these items were sold on e-bay.
18. Full and correct insignia for the BFC.
19. Cufftitle "Black Prince" a still from the film "It happened here" 1964
20. Arm Shield "ENGLAND" from the film "It happened here" 1964
21. An unfinished collar patch discovered at the end of the war. On display in a Canadian museum. Kindly sent in by Earl Chapman.
