EXTREMELY Rare Lighter Restoration – World War II Battle of Bulge 1944

Restoration of an EXTREMLY RARE LIGHTER from World War II Battle of Bulge 1944. This was found near Bastogne and got a very special badge attached to it. See me restore this 84 years old war relic into something awesome.

ABOUT THE RARE LIGHTER
This is a very special war relic from the Battle of Bulge World War 2 in 1944-1945. I have bought it from a family who lives near Bastogne where the Battle of Bulge took place. I got this old lighter and many other cool relics with me home including a Medicine bag a helmet and the famous whiskey hip flask that I already have restored – See the video here: https://youtu.be/_Qjp5V5rWkg.

You can still go certain places in Europe and do some very cool World War 1 and World War 2 founds with and without metal detecting gear. There were millions of tons of military garbage and rare items left behind to be found.

This item was found in the late 60’s early 70’s and brought to a barn where it has been contained together with a lot of other WW2 metal garbage, uniforms, helmets and other rusted materials. I was lucky to be able to buy a whole lot of relics from this family.

THE RESTORATION PROCESS
I was very curious about the badge who was attached to the lighter so I started cleaning this. When brushed off there was wings with a big A and some snakes and a needle maybe as old as World War I but I am not 100% sure. I have been told now by some of my subscribers from the US that it’s a WWII US Army Officer Ambulance Corps Medical Department Collar Insignia badge.

I heated the lighter to remove the Ambulance Corps Medical badge which were soldered to the lighter and there after I removed all screws. They were hard to remove I had to use force and some flames to get things apart.

I sandblasted the lighter using a mix of glass beads and baking soda and after the sandblasting I grinded the lighter with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit. I polished it blank and added all the small parts again. I equipped it with a new cap for the wick since the old one seems to be missing. I used my metal lathe and I used brass to match the material used on the rest of this war relic. I also added new wick, cotton and a new flint spring to ensure that it will lit.

The beautiful Ambulance Corps Medical badge was cleaned in vinegar and 40% alcohol before it was attached to the lighter again.
I hope that you enjoy this restoration video as much as I did. Please subscribe if you want to see more cool upcoming projects 🙂 And DON’T FORGET TO SEE my RARE Whisky Hip flask Restoration - https://youtu.be/_Qjp5V5rWkg – This come from the same batch as this cigarette lighter.

Thanks for watching my channel. See you soon.
Best wishes and stay safe ❤ Martin