This commemorates the moment when Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to occupy the Saarland, hitherto under French control. The French army offered no resistance and, to compound matters, meekly packed up and left, offering the Reich its first bloodless victory!

These were introduced in 1933, when the black/white/red of the new regime replaced the black/gold/red colours of the Weimar era, adding a wreath of oak leaves to the former rather plain cap roundel. The Reichsadler was worn above this. There was also a bullion version in spun aluminium wire.

These were introduced in 1933, when the black/white/red of the new regime replaced the black/gold/red colours of the Weimar era, adding a wreath of oak leaves to the former rather plain cap roundel. The Reichsadler was worn above this. There was also a bullion version in spun aluminium wire.

These were introduced in 1933, when the black/white/red of the new regime replaced the black/gold/red colours of the Weimar era, adding a wreath of oak leaves to the former rather plain cap roundel. The Reichsadler was worn above this. There was also a bullion version in spun aluminium wire.

This is the 'contributing members' pin awarded to financial supporters of the SS. The translation of the German is: 'Thanks of the SS for loyalty // help in the time of struggle'. It is nicely stamped with RZM and some issue numbers on the reverse, as well as 'GES.GESCH.' (for patent pending).

One of the rarer Third Reich lapel pins (23 mm diameter), these were given to the civilians who operated as air wardens in Danzig (the present day port of Gdansk in Poland, which, in the 1930s, was a free port and an autonomous entity surrounded by Polish soil). They have the emblem of Danzig at the base of the badge on the white circlet.

One of the rarer Third Reich lapel pins (23 mm diameter), these were given to the civilians who operated as air wardens in Danzig (the present day port of Gdansk in Poland, which, in the 1930s, was a free port and an autonomous entity surrounded by Polish soil). They have the emblem of Danzig at the base of the badge on the white circlet.

These badges were given to the female drivers of the NSKK, in all probability a war time creation, as that is exactly when the women would have come into their own as auxilliary drivers within Germany. The translation of the German is: 'Wartime female driver'. As Party badges go, it is a relatively scarce one.

This badge was awarded for participation in the World Masters Ice Skating Competition in Berlin in 1938, remarkable for not having a swastika in sight, pride of place being taken by the Berlin bear! The inner ring of lettering (ie on the red) says: 'Eiskunstlauf-Weltmeisterschaften'.

This is aluminium dog tag is probably for the training battalion of the unit and is marked 'Neu' (=new) to indicate a replacement item. The First Panzer Army were famous for having got the furthest East (to the edge of Grozny in modern Chechenya) of any German units in WW2. 'O' indicates the blood group.