Hello guys Recently I discovered this czech cap badge in my barn located in Dunkirk , (French-border). I know it is from the czechoslovak army, but I don't know it is 1940 or 1944. I know that the 1st czechoslovak armoured brigade has been in De Panne in 1944 for a while, but I think they've also been around Dunkirk in 1940 (operation Dynamo). Can tis cap badge be from a 1940 czech cap or a 1944 one? The cap badge is certainly found in my barn, so i'm sure it has been there since the war...
It may be good to put this in the forum where militaria collectors post, either on this forum or elsewhere on the internet. Some militaria collectors are also researchers of the action involved and so may view this forum but some are not.
It seems that the brigade was formed in 1943 (first as infantry later converted to armoured) and first deployed in to France in 1944.
There's the start (and unfortunately thats about it) to an interesting thread here about the Czech army etc - Armed Forces of Czechoslovakia in September 1938 | Blitz Srbija I would suggest there is a chance that Czechs were in the vicinity of Dunkirk both in 1940 and 1944 TD Added: Czech National Army in Exile – WW2 Weapons At the Foreign Legion base at Agde in southern France, the Czechs were formed into the 1st Czech Division, made up of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments. The organization, equipment and armaments were French, although many of the weapons were leftovers from World War One . During the Battle of France the 1st Regiment (at Coulommiers) and the 2nd (on the Marne) tried to halt the 16th Panzer Division, but had their flanks turned and had to fight a rearguard action back across France: they were eventually re-grouped at Narbonne before being evacuated from Selte.
