Table of contents for April 2026 in Military Trader

Late soldier to receive MOH for war camp heroics KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Roderick “Roddie” Edmonds, a World War II hero from Knoxville, is finally getting his Medal of Honor. Master Sgt. Edmonds is credited with risking his life protecting about 200 Jewish service members while imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp. He was scheduled to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor March 2 at the White House. Edmonds’ son, the Rev. Chris Edmonds, received a call from President Donald Trump on Feb. 3, informing him of the honor.” Edmonds was a noncommissioned officer captured by Nazi forces. He was imprisoned at the German Stalag IXA camp. When a Nazi officer demanded to know which of the 1,200 Allied captives were Jewish, Edmonds refused and said “We are all…

During WWII aircraft of the Royal Air Force “Bomber Command” flew more than 373,500 sorties or missions between 1939 and 1945, losing some 10,123 aircraft in the process. The strength of Bomber Command was 125,000 airmen, of which some 55,573 were killed with many more wounded. They attacked many types of targets, from factories to railway sidings, dropping over 950,000 long tons of bombs. Among the operations carried out were some of the most daring of the war, such as the low-level mission code-named “Operation Jericho” on Feb. 18, 1944, which successfully blasted a gap in the walls of the prison in Amiens to release members of the French Resistance being held by the Germans. Undoubtedly the most famous of all the missions was carried out on the night of…

Pop Goes the Jeep Q: I bought a 1952 M38 which I’m going to drive as well as restore. It pops out of second gear when going downhill or coasting to a stop. Do I need a new transmission? - Ralph Parsons A: Not necessarily. Jumping out of second gear on compression (deceleration or going downhill) is probably the most universal complaint of all early model jeeps. Although the transfer case is practically bullet-proof, the transmission is a light-duty unit originally intended for Willys cars. 1 have seldom owned an early model jeep that didn’t jump out of second gear on compression, and one usually just develops a habit of holding the shift lever when decelerating or going downhill. Rebuilding the transmission, or even just replacing the second gear and…

Drunk with power and no longer deeming it necessary to follow the draconian restrictions imposed on Germany through the Versailles Treaty, Adolf Hitler and the “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” (NSDAP – Nazi Party) began their public buildup of military arms and equipment shortly after taking power in 1933. Both large and small industries produced a huge stockpile of materials meant to equip the German armed forces with the latest technologies, while other companies manufactured needed consumer goods. Products made for a public hungry for those items that had become scarce during the great depression would both help fund the economy, and placate the German public. This supply of civilian goods demonstrated the “greatness” of Hitler’s German Reich, which was slowly, and covertly, gaining control over its citizens’ everyday lives. Due to…

Sitting in my home office/collecting room should give me a sense of joy. Even as I’m hard at work, I’m literally surrounded by items that I greatly cherish. My wife certainly believes the room should give me joy, as I spent a great deal of time, money and energy obtaining my collection. Yes, the objects clearly mean a lot to me. Yet, as I write this, I can state without much hyperbole that collecting is stressing me out. The reason is that an item I bought off eBay hasn’t arrived as scheduled. A delayed package is common today, but in this case, it wasn’t because of a winter storm or other bad weather. Instead, it’s because the package had the wrong address, and I don’t understand how this happened. I…

Several decades ago, I purchased this Third Reich administrative officer’s uniform at a WWII U.S. Army veteran’s home where it had been stored in a cedar chest since he returned from Europe in 1945. At war’s end he said that he had ventured into an apartment and found the tunic and pants precisely folded, laying on top of a bed along with a visor cap, army officer’s dagger, small Mauser pistol and a pair of shoes. Evidently, he had wandered into the German officer’s old home, its original inhabitant having discarded (though neatly) his old clothing, put on a civilian suit and disappeared into the German countryside. The GI grabbed everything on the bed but the shoes, packed them in a carry bag he found and made himself comfortable in…

A quick “Did you know” fact about the Austin 7. In 1927 the German motor manufacturing company of Fahrzeugfabrik of Eissenbach acquired the rights to produce Austin 7 vehicles under licence, at first using parts imported from Britain. Later vehicles were produced using part supplied by the company of DIXI, a subsidiary of BMW. By 1929 Fahrzeugfabrik had turned out over 9,300 using British supplied parts and nearly 19,000 more using BMW-supplied parts between 1929 and 1932. These German-produced versions of the Austin 7 were known as “DIXI 3/15” and designated as the DA-1, which identified them as Ersite Deutsche Ausfuhrung, meaning “First German Version”. At the time the German Army was still constrained by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which limited what weapons, equipment and vehicles it…

MILITARY COLLECTOR SHOWS Mar 21-22 MD, Timonium. Baltimore Antique Arms Show. Maryland State Fairgrounds Cow Palace. Collectable rifles, revolvers and sporting shotguns, Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 9am-3pm Mar 21 IL, Countryside. Countryside Military Show. 6200 Joliet Rd, Countryside. Dealers: 7am-4pm, early access 7:45am, public 8:30am-3pm. www.chicagomilitaryshows.com/countryside Mar 27 MI, Livonia. Military Antiques & Show. Livonia Elks - 31117 Plymouth Road. 9am-3pm, dealer setup 7-10am. Karl Kithier 586-549-3150, svmil1943@gmail.com, www.michmilitaryhistory.com Mar 27-28 MS, Biloxi. The Gulf Coast Military Relics, Antique Arms & Collectibles Show, Joppa Shriner’s Center. Show hours Fri. 11am-5pm & Sat. 9am-4pm, terrell.hamilton@gmail.com, 228-224-1120, or Biloxicollector@gmail.com 228-860-3575 Mar 27-29 WI, Janesville. 2026 Annual Badger Knife Show. Holiday Inn Express Convention Center. Factory knives, custom knives, military knives, antiques, dealers, suppliers. www.badgerknifeclub.com Apr 11 MI, Wyoming. Super Militaria Show. Knights of…