Bill Shea's WWII Memorabilia Blog RSS

Thanks for all your feedback on this blog topic. You told me you learned a lot and so did I. That’s why I decided to do another segment on this topic. Over the years I have purchased countless thousands of items from veterans or their families. I would honestly say I’ve acquired 1000’s of medals, badges and cloth items. I’ve also bought hundreds of helmets, flags and daggers. The list is a long one as I’ve been collecting since just 14 years after the war ended (1959). But do you know what I have never purchased directly from a veteran?...

IMPORTANT UPDATE: To purchase any edged weapon item from the Ruptured Duck, please contact us to place your order by calling (978) 928-4495 or emailing our team at info@therupturedduck.com. Online checkout is not supported for edged weapons items. Please note that some items are listed as "SOLD OUT" for this reason. All edged weapons items listed on the website are available for purchase. Please contact us for any questions, thanks!    I must confess to you that having started collecting in 1959 as a lad of 13, I was all over the place. Anything military was fair game as I devoured the stories from...

After 13 years, I, Bill Shea, have finally finished my first book and it's "hot off the press"! This is the first in a series of three books and it represents a cross section of interesting and fascinating anecdotes dealing with my love of history and my passion for collecting souvenirs from WWII. You've been asking me for years to write this book and now, I am proud and excited to say, it's done! Hundreds of relics from the common to the extremely rare that I have owned over the years will be pictured and discussed in this gripping book! - Written by Bill Shea 350 pages...

The Model 1935 Double Decal SS helmet, also known as the Stahlhelm, is one of the most desirable of all the production helmets of the Third Reich. Many books have attempted to cover this topic, but no one book has all the answers and no single book is 100% accurate. However, good, solid reference material combined with technical assistance available through some forums, websites, collectors and dealers is helpful. It wasn’t until about 20 years ago that there was ever a reference that dealt exclusively with SS helmets. That book was entitled “SS HELMETS, A Collector’s Guide” by Kelly Hicks....

Units of the US Army including the 45th Division(The Thunderbirds) arrived at the Dachau Concentration Camp on April 29th, 1945. The camp is located about 28 kilometers from Munich. These battle hardened units had little idea when they walked through the gates that they were entering a full-fledged concentration camp complete with gas chambers, crematoriums and factories where inmates were worked to death in horrible circumstances. The resulting actions were chaotic and swift retribution was meted out to those camp guards and administrators who were still there. The US authorities did their very best to stabilize the situation bringing in food...