Doesn't look legit to me...

Something supposedly brought back by a Chindit, captured from a japanese soldier, and brought home as a souvenir...
No detail and all looks rather "new"...

CAPTURED CHINDIT ORIGINAL WW2 IMPERIAL JAPANESE SOLDIERS PAPERWORK & LETTERS | eBay

 

um

cint evun git thee speelling rite on thae discription

wide berth me thinks

 

The seller has had lots of "nice" bits, but I cant see myself bidding on anything he lists - I'm sure I also saw him mentioned on another forum.

Alistair

 

Just a thought - can anything be read into the postmark - I know from POW threads/cards that in Japanese the dates are not written in Western form and years

TD

 

Good point TD. I can't read any date from the postmarks, but if these were of the time, then the Showa calendar would be in play with the year first, then month, then day. WW2 years are 17,18,19 and 20.

An example being: 18/4/29--- 29th April 1943.

 

No provenance at all HC, I'm with you on this one.

 

Clearly a fake!

However, I am willing to part with Adolf Hitler's genuine dessert spoon, for the right price.

 

I know from personal experience that some items from the war, stored away over the years, can appear to be in remarkably fresh condition, even though not on acid-free paper. And that the info accompanying a sale can be accurate, even if it seems almost too good to be true.

Via the Japanese government in 2000, I helped a British woman to return a letter to the widow of a Japanese officer, from whose body she had removed the letter in early 1945. The letter was in great shape, and its words (news from home in Tokyo) were quite moving. The British woman was in the Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma). WASBies served tea and so forth to the British troops in forward areas sometimes, and it was in such a forward area, near Kalewa, Burma, where she'd removed the letter from the body, found after a skirmish.

I am willing to keep an open mind to the possibility that some things offered as originals are what sellers say they are -- although forgery and flimflam are far too common. So it really should be "buyer beware". Furthermore, while something being sold might be original, the accompanying support info might very well have been embellished, or just plain fabricated. And we can never know the truth oftentimes. We would like to have trust in all strangers, but that's naive, isn't it?

I'd be curious to see the translation of the Japanese on this alleged original souvenir. Reminds me of a story I heard of a weightlifter who'd had Japanese kanji characters tattooed onto his back. "What does it mean?" he was asked. "Courage, honour, sacrifice!" replied the weightlifter. "Oh no," replied another, seeing the tattoo. "It reads, 'This man is an idiot.'" So, again, it's a "buyer beware" world out there.

Canuck, wow, you have Hitler's genuine dessert spoon! I wonder if it was ever used by Gen. Erwin Rommel, the Dessert Fox??? Must be worth a ton -- almost as much as my autographed copy of the menu for the Last Supper!

Lastly, I was conned years ago on a fabulous Robert Taylor aviation art print depicting a B-24 during the Ploesti low-level raid of 1 Aug 1943. The seller, a legitimate art dealer in California who had held war-themed symposiums at his gallery (such as a gathering of American Volunteer Group pilots), promised me an extra Ploesti-related signature if I bought the limited-edition print from him. I'd successfully acquired some extra legitimate AVG signatures from him on another Taylor print (I know they're legit), so I took the bait and received the print. A year or two later I realized that my extra signature was Jack WOODS -- but the actual flight commander whose signature I thought I was getting was Jack WOOD -- no "s"! I tracked down the widow of Jack Wood, and she confirmed the forgery. It was too late to get a refund; the dealer had been convicted of forging other signatures! At some military show, he was caught adding "Erich Hartmann" to photos and then selling them as legit autographed photos of the all-time leading ace.

I stopped collecting signatures from that point.

Rambling is over...

Cheers,

Matt

 

This is good a resolution as I can get from the advert. Not sure if it will help.

 

I would second you on that WW2 Imperial Japanese Soldies Paperwork and Letters, being rather new. If he hadn't used Suf Dry Cold water wash to make it look so clean. It still looks like we have the start of another type of con job. Blutto email says it all. The original bag the letters were in would I think started some mold or fungi, from moisture in the air. 73 years old. Velly cleen hobjects,
Best Regards Ken B. Couldn't see if the word "Rangers" was around.

 

I suppose the details could be emailed to the Japanese embassy and ask them to see if the letters are addressed to anyone in particular or some fictional address etc - that would give some clarity.
The letters could as Matts scenario shows be addressed to the equivalent of Noddy & Big Ears, Toy Town ??

TD

 

It wasn't so much that these could not possibly be contemporary items; just that they have been nailed by the seller to a Chindit. Using the C word is always tempting when it comes to Burma related artefacts, as it can increase any profit made by quite an amount.

 

trust no one

 

Having looked at genuinely old documents and letters over the years, my impression - and that's all it can be - is that:
1. The letters are genuine but not necessarily period items and not necessarily related to the bag, however they appear 'genuinely old'. The letter with the stamp folded over is intriguing because that's the only one where the date can be read...but the Year and month Showa numbers are 'conveniently' hidden by that stamp which has clearly only recently been folded over (look at the fresh colour of the envelope where the stamp had been).
2. The bag is a reproduction but might be influenced by a period item
3. A bit like the term 'D Day', the word Chindit is click bait attention grabbing Sales speak
4. Of course the items could also be totally genuine and from one related Chindit source!......

Note: overall I concur with the scepticism expressed in previous posts and especially regarding the authenticity of the bag which, bearing in mind the jungle/atmospheric conditions it has supposedly seen, is in remarkably 'good condition'.

 

Wouldn't buy based on this feedback regardless:

 

It is this neutral feedback that needs to be taken into account. It seems that he has done it before.



Genuine items, false history. Excellent communication, impressive imagination! Buyer:
a***h ( 199)
During past 6 months

• Reply by jobrown1001 (15-Jan-18 20:51):
  all history correct, offered to have it back yet you refused..no partial refunds

WW2 POLISH INFANTRY MONTE CASSINO VETERANS NAMED HELMET & MEDALS (#263397375421)

 

Just to add, I contacted the seller three days ago.
Did he know the name of the Chindit who captured the items?
Did he know that Chindits Regiment?
Did he know that Chindits Brigade?
Did he know the area the items were captured?
Did he know which year the items were captured?
The answer to all the above, No reply.

 

A year or two ago I bought what I was told was Japanese military map of either Burma or Malaya from the same site. Not being able to read Japanese I took the seller's word and bought for not a lot of money. It arrived and I left positive feedback. On researching it using the height of a volcano is a starting point I discovered that the map is of a tourist area of Japan. Having left positive feedback I was unable to return it. I now keep it too remind me not to get carried away when bidding. As the old adage goes, "buy the item not the story".

 

Asama-Yama active volcano Altitude 2,542 in Gumma prefecture (Honshu). The volcano is part of Joshin' etso Kogen National Park.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d36.4!4d138.516667?hl=en

I keep telling myself that Joshin' etso Kogen was to be the location of the third Chindit Expedition but as yet I have found no documentary evidence.

 

The only good thing about Ebay is that you can use Paypal and stand a chance of getting your money back (although Ebay look to be changing that after having sold off Paypal for lots of quids) . What is actually sold requires the same discretion and big pinch of salt that should be used for Facebook and other online resources.