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Impressive Luftwaffe Night Reconnaissance Officer's Grouping Including a Gold Etched Presentation Da

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military / Armory - Daggers Start Price:7,500.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Impressive Luftwaffe Night Reconnaissance Officer's Grouping Including a Gold Etched Presentation Da
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Impressive Luftwaffe Night Reconnaissance Officer's Grouping Including a Gold Etched Presentation Dagger a Fine Grouping of Badges and Medals Two Flight Logs and Four Photo Albums from Leutnant Fritz Edelhoff, Artillerist Turned Recon Pilot

According to information supplied by previous owners, the contents of this lot were the wartime property of one Fritz Edelhoff. Starting his military career with the 4th Mounted Batallion of the 3rd Prussian Artillery Regiment as a Kanonier (a Private), Edelhoff transferred to the Luftwaffe, logging his first fight on June 7th, 1939 in a Junkers Ju 52 multi-engined transport/bomber. His career would last through the very end of the war, seeing him rise through the enlisted ranks to become an officer in his own right, earning a wide cross section of German awards in the process. The cornerstone of the grouping is a wood bodied, glass topped display case, which holds the following items. 1) Eickhorn Presentation Luftwaffe Dagger, 15 1/2 inches overall. The 10 inch blade is blue and gilt, with "1.Fern/Nacht Aufkl.-Staffel" and a unit insignia of an angel holding a candle while riding across the night sky on a telescope on the obverse, and "Deine Kameraden 10.8.1942" above the Eickhorn Squirrel on the reverse. Darkened alloy fittings, with a wire wrapped white celluloid grip, silver portapee, and proper scabbard. 2) Presentation Etched Luftwaffe Style Dagger, 15 1/4 long with a 10 inch blade marked "LEUTNANT FRITZ EDELHOFF 1./(F) NACHT AUFKLARUNGSSTAFFEL" on the obverse, with alloy fittings, silver portapee, wire wrapped white celluloid grip, and alloy scabbard. 3) An assortment of Luftwaffe/Nazi items, including the Iron Cross in Second and First Class, the Reconnaissance Badge in bronze, silver, gold, and gold with pendant, the "Krim" campaign patch, the medal and patch for the German Cross in Gold, Pilot's Badge, Sport Badge, Nazi cap eagle, Luftwaffe Cloth Eagle, Wehrmacht Service Medal with "4" on the back, Eastern Front Winter Campaign Medal and a pair of silver bullion/yellow waffenfarbe collar tabs for a Leutnant. Also included with the lot are six separate items from the Leutnant, as follows. 4) Two "Flugbuch" flight logs for Leutnant Edelhoff, covering a period from 1939 to 1945, with 701 flights listed. Edelhoff spent most of his listed flights in Dornier Do 217 and Heinkel He 111 aircraft, though a number of other craft are listed. The final listed flight is May 7, 1945, 8:00 PM to 9:05 PM, Koeniggraz (now Hradec Kralove, Poland) to Graz, Austria, with the surrender instrument for Nazi Germany signed by Admiral Doenitz the next day. 5) Four wartime Nazi photo albums of Lt. Edelhoff, covering the period from his enlistment as an artilleryman through his career as an aviator. The photos within cover a wide cross section of the war, with photographs of his unit both in formation and at times of leisure, natural and urban landscapes in a variety of conditions, including post bombardment, photographs of assorted Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground, in the air, and post-crash, and others. In some of the pictures, Edelhoff has been explicitly pointed out. Revolving rifle parts, wood stock, black forearm, 2 butt stock plates

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1) Excellent, with some fraying of the portapee and mild wear overall. The gild and blue finishes are both excellent. 2) Fair, with pitting and polishing/sharpening marks on the blade, mild handing marks overall. 3) Good overall. The Pilot Badge shows some bends in the swastika. 4) Very good, with some mild foxing and stains. 5) Very good. Some of the pictures have been dismounted on their backings, and some mild handling marks and wear are visible overall. A superb grouping of Heer and Luftwaffe memorabilia.