Article about: Hi Guys, I have just joined the forum, so I thought that I would write an introduction about myself and my interests. Some of you may already know me from the WAF forum? I have been collecti
Hi Guys, I have just joined the forum, so I thought that I would write an introduction about myself and my interests.
Some of you may already know me from the WAF forum?
I have been collecting just over 30 years now. I began collecting WW2 German militaria when I was aged 15. I have never stopped in my interest of German items, but over the years my interests have widened. I collect mainly Heer, Waffen SS and Luftwaffe FJ/Ground forces: headgear, uniform, field gear, weapons and awards. I do have a few political items as well, but not many.
I have all this time been a keen WW2 re-enactor. It is through this that my interests have widened to include British Airborne Forces and the RKKA. My British interest started after I discovered that my 1942 Ford GPW Jeep, which I bought in 1988, was ex British Airborne.
Since 2001 I have been very interested in the RKKA. This interest grew over many years as I learnt how the Wehrmacht was defeated in Russia. I am 2 i/c of the UK's leading and largest Red Army living history group, "2nd Guards Rifle Division". I am keen to try and collect as much original Red Army gear as I can. Currently I am trying to obtain an example of each weapon used by the RKKA. I have a few awards too and this is another area I hope to expand into.
In 2004 I married my wife Lez. (She has just joined the forum too, user named "Larisa") We had a WW2 themed wedding in Arnhem, Holland. Lez also collects and she specialises in WW2 British womens uniforms of the ATS and has a large collection in her own right. She re-enacts too as a member of 2nd Guards.
I think you are a very lucky man to have a wife that enjoys collecting military items along with you. Happy New Year to you both and good luck with your finds in 2008!
Hi Ade & Lez, hope you guys are both ok and had a good xmas down in S Derbys, we had a quiet one up here but enjoyed it most the same. Nice to see you guys and looking forward to seeing your Horde of gear you have stached away in your house
Hi David, there are only a couple of drawbacks to us both collecting: lack of space and spare money!
We actually met at a LH show. Lez was not into the hobby at the time and she had come to the show with mutual friends, but as she is a ex Soldier she soon got interested. We have been together since we met there, ten years ago in May.
Hi Ben, we had a good Christmas and New Year's Eve down in the south of the county. You will have to come down to see the collection. Not many buckles though, but lots of other stuff.
Hi Dimas, it is a really nice gas mask bag. We bought it at Beltring (the UK's biggest military show) a few years ago from an ammo dealer from Flanders. He did not really know what it was, just that the Germans had left it in his country. We paid £10 for it. It had a nice black Soviet button on the inside like found on the Obr35 Gym's.
Lez uses it as a handbag at shows and is full of all the usual womens rubbish
An Introduction
.
Bookmarks