Chinese Militaria

Chinese air force officers wore these daggers with their everyday uniforms. These daggers were used from around the 1930s up to the end of WWII. The handle wrapping came in different colors, such as green, pink, yellow, and white (pictured). The eyes of the bird were mostly made of glass and some were of cut rubies.  Recently, there are fakes being sold on online auctions. These are being sold directly from China. One of the biggest sign it is fake is the polished steel scabbard. The originals are nickel plated.

One of the most familiar hats worn during WWII and with an European influence, is the Chinese army ski cap. I have seen it often mistakenly been called the "M43" of the German WWII ski cap produced in 1943 (I am not familiar with German WWII uniforms). The shape resembles more of the Finnish version; circular in shape vs. oval and doesn't have a peak on the front end. There were many types that were made. Most times based what is available locally. There were different cloth types and colors used. Some had one button. There were a few that tried to save cloth by having a fake ear/neck flap instead. Normal hats would unfold and cover the neck area. For some caps, the buttons were sewed on permanently and can not be unbuttoned.  Many were brought back by American vets from the China Burma India theater.  They were slowly phased out by replacing them with peaked/visor caps after WWII, but they continued to be used until the very early 1950s on Taiwan. Hats of the Taiwan peri

There are a vast amount of warlord era medals that were created and awarded around 1912 to 1928. The Republic of China that was created after the fall of the Qing Dynasty was very weak. Warlords of the era has become more powerful than the Republic itself. The Republic has many national awards issues. Some of these included the Order of the Striped Tiger, Order of the Golden Grain, and many others. Local warlords and provinces also created their own special awards. Some of these warlords even placed pictures of themselves on to the medals. Many of these medals has its reasoning to why it was awarded lost to history. Even though surviving the tumultuous 20th century China, some medals has even lost its name. The enameling work on these medals are intricate and shows the craftsmanship that was put into making each medal. Most of these medals were made out of copper or silver. A vast majority had the five striped flag national flag as the ribbon itself.  

The Chinese Air Force or Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF - 中華民國空軍) of WWII was very limited in planes and pilots right before the Second Sino-Japanese War. Many Chinese-American pilots in the US left to China to help early on with the war effort. In the early 1940s, around 100 American pilots volunteered to go to China to help fight the Japanese before the US officially entered WWII. These pilots were known as the American Volunteer Group or commonly as the Flying Tigers. Hundreds of Chinese pilots were trained in the United States to help fight the Japanese. After the war, the ROCAF grew to a well trained force with assistance from the US Air Force through out the 1950s and 70s. ROCAF pilots few U2 spyplanes to help monitor Communist Chinese activity for the United States. One of the first "kills" of a modern air to air missile technology, the AIM-9 Sidewinder, was used by an F-86 of the ROCAF. Today, a few ROCAF pilots continued to be trained in the US at the same base a