A fascination with the Second World War has led an Olds College student to amass a small collection of items from among several countries' forces that participated in the war.
Andrew Kelly, 40, has an early Hitler Youth trumpet flag, an American officer's side cap, as well as an officer's badge belonging to a member of the Luftwaffe, the German air force during the war, and a German soldier's helmet. Kelly also has a signed letter from Rudolph Hess stating that Hess looked at a Mercedes typewriter he was interested in near the time of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Kelly said he had many of the items authenticated at a recent Calgary gun show by experts who are familiar with the details of various items such as material used in war helmets.
“For the banner and the helmet and the Luftwaffe patch, I contacted a person down in Calgary who dealt with World War II items, and then I went to a gun show a couple weeks ago in Calgary and (an expert) looked at (the Hitler trumpet banner, and Luftwaffe officer's badge),” he said.
On Oct. 8, Kelly said he had the winning bid during an online auction for two Second World War-era German field radios. He is also awaiting a pilot's bush jacket used by a member of the Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and a British field radio used during the Second World War. He plans to get those authenticated as well.
Kelly's fascination with the Second World War from an early age led him to try to get a few items.
“As a young kid I was always just fascinated with World War II, watching documentaries and having relatives in the war. I was fascinated by division battles and tactics. I want to use those items and put them on display,” he said, noting he found many of the items on liveauctioneers.com and put in bids.
The items also serve as a solemn reminder of the brutality of war, something Kelly said he hopes doesn't happen again.
“Having these items shows that this has been proven. It's also a way to say that, hey, let's not repeat what happened 70-odd years ago,” he said.
Since beginning to amass this collection about a year ago, Kelly said he has spent about $6,000 on the items through various auction sites.
