Legion of French Volonteers - 1941

 

The L.V.F., Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism, was created on July 8, 1941 (with the blessing of Marshal Pétain and the consent of Adolph Hitler), 15 days after the start of the invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Germany which took place on June 22, 1941. 

It was born of many French collaborationist parties, and is for its combat part within the Wehrmacht. In June 1942, the 'L.V.F.' will be transformed into 'Tricolor Legion', frowned upon by the Germans, it will be dissolved at the end of 1942 to become again L.V.F., which itself will be dissolved by decision of the Germans in September 1944.

The first issue of the L.V.F. takes place on October 21, 1941, with the block of 'l'Ours', printed in 30,000 copies with a charitable surcharge of 100F. The sale is carried out by subscription for the most part to dealers (5/6th) and collectors (1/6th). Forgeries are plentiful.

Genuine stamp

Original S/S with the key features of the genuine.

Note the inclined arms of the letters E & F

The Close perf holes

The large C 

Forgeries

There appears to be at least 2 types

This fake is close to the original but in a deep blue color throughout.

It also lacks the letter features of the original

This fake also lacks the letter and perf features.

Overall it is heavily shaded

This is noted as a "reproduction"

It matches the previous fake but the perf holes are noticeably larger

The cancel is fake & does not match the original.