Biography

Born into a Navy family, Willi spent most of his growing up years in Jacksonville, Florida. Willi became interested in World War II history early in life, his first two favorite television programs being The Twentieth Century and Air Power, both hosted and narrated by Walter Cronkite. After two enlisted tours of duty in the Navy, he has worked in the Department of Defense contracting world in the areas of training, computer systems test and computer security. Willi also collects autographed photos of the Knight's Cross holders, American fighter aces, and other WWII personalities. In this regard, Willi has traveled to Germany several times to attend Luftwaffe reunions, as well as those of the American Fighter Aces Association (AFAA). Many of Willi's tunics and headgear are published in major collector books, most notably those of the late Michael Beaver. Willi currently teams with other collectors and exhibits at shows and events in Virginia and supports educational programs on the history of World War II for other collectors and the general public.

Introduction

I began collecting WWII German Third Reich militaria as an extension of my long interest in the history of the Second World War. I was introduced to WWII German militaria when I was in the U.S. Navy and stationed at the Washington Navy Yard from 1972-74. I discovered Unique Imports in Alexandria, Virginia and struck up a friendship with George Petersen. After my discharge from the Navy and living in Southern Maryland, I again picked up the hobby and focused on the uniforms and headgear of the Waffen-SS. Everything that I collected up to that point was traded or sold. For the first 18 years I was constantly upgrading; trading for better pieces. Only since 1993 have I finally been able to grow my collection but always with an eye on quality. I have to date acquired 30 Waffen-SS tunics including some rare pieces like the panzer camouflaged uniform and the camouflaged field cap with original camouflaged insignia. I hope that these pictures of my collection are an inspiration to the young and up-and-coming collectors.