Original German WWII USGI Bring Back Signed Tank Identification Flag - 38" x 46"
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Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This an excellent unissued condition cotton multi-piece construction German WWII Panzer tank identification flag. It measures approximately 38"H x 46"W, and has the standard NSDAP Swas (Hook Cross or Swas) dyed onto a circular white field. This was then sewn onto the red body of the flag. There is some light staining and a few small tears, but overall the flag is a great example of this type.
The highlight of this flag though are the many USGI's who signed their names to the white field on the flag, along with some phrases:
Marvin Hupp
TedE. Paul
GENE MURPHY
John Sparrow
JESSE - C - BEAM
PARFAIT
ARLEN BRADEN
HOWARD C. JARRELL
Guy Whiting
Edward Martin
Waldo Contardi
Frank Sheridan
James Dresback
Richard Blane
DONALD MAPLES
Phil "Johnson" Ghen (sp?)
JIMMY WALKER
"Pretty Boy"
J. CAMP
Many of these names are relatively common, so we have not been able to find much, except for potentially two of these men:
- Marvin Thomas Hupp was born 24 Jul 1923 in Illinois, and passed away 9 Jun 1996, also in Illinois. His gravestone can be seen here, noting his WWII service: Marvin Thomas Hupp Find A Grave.
- Waldo Contardi was born October 30, 1916 and passed away December 1964 at 48 years of age in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin. Waldo Contardi (1916 - 1964).
We have not been able to identify which unit these men were in, and leave it as an excellent research project.
This cotton flag features multi-piece construction and is single sided with grommets located in each corner. These grommets were secured to tension lines that secured the flag to the back of the tank laying flat. Thereby the flag was only visible to persons located above the tank. Generally these flags were intended to be seen by German airplanes so as not to be struck by friendly fire.
Most German tanks were destroyed during combat, so very few of these flags remained at the end of the war and most known examples were taken directly removed from tanks by USGIs in the field. This example definitely was, and then signed as a memento. A great piece of militaria!
- This product is available for international shipping. Shipping not available to: Australia, France, or Germany
- Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon
- Due to legal restrictions this item cannot be shipped to Australia, France or Germany. This is not a comprehensive list and other countries may be added in the future.
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