Just reminiscing...

[bigmacglenn]

I grew up in Germany as a kid...When I was 8 years old, my mother was helping her boss-lady clean up an elderly relative's house & garden and I was dragged along...Whilst snooping around the barn, I came across a pile of about 5 dirty, smelly WH and LW Rucksacks, and was allowed to keep one of them, days later the boss-lady dropped off one more for me...Soldiers had been "Einquartiert" in the barn, and this stuff had been laying there unnoticed since 1945...That was the day I began collecting, going into abandoned buildings, houses about to be demolished, looking for bunkers outside of town, and looking through piles of trash...many of my teachers were WH Veterans, and I was the only kid who displayed any interest in the subject of WWII, which made me somewhat a "Stand-Out"...My Oma would help me with the Suetterlin Script when I found a box of WWI Postcards and I would drive her nuts with my many questions about the era, and her visiting friends were also fair game for interrogation once I knew them well enough to approach what was still a VERY sensitive subject at the time...By the time I was 12 I had an Army footlocker packed with WWII WH Equipment and various bit's of militaria I'd accumulated...Money? I had none, I was still a kid, but I tried to learn everything I could about the subject I'd become so passionate about...That thirst for knowledge began to bear fruit and still does to this day...I have absolutely no concerns about the State of the Hobby, just felt like sharing my beginnings with my fellow collectors and friends...

cheers, Glenn

[Ben Evans]

Where abouts in Germany was it Glenn? I remember talking to about it at Xmas but cannot remember what you told me?

[bigmacglenn]

This particular barn-find was in Viernheim...My mother is from nearby Lampertheim/Hessen, where I was raised and schooled...
cheers, Glenn

[Ben Evans]

Thanks mate, Sounders play today, my son is off to watch the match!!!

[Gwar]

I too was "Awarded" a lot of nice things from my relatives, War veterans and started young as well... Peers often called me a "Nazi".. I am not.
I like the history and the finding of war relics... I feel that since joining the WRF I have a better chance than others to display my items for members or curious people to learn or aspire to collect and educate themselves as well... I also find a great value in reading posts that I have no intention of collecting, but to better myself in collecting..G

[Sarge]

I began collecting WW 2 German by accident. I bought a K98k to hunt deer with - from an uncle whos brother had brought it back - in 1953. I got interested in German guns and began asking vets and anyone else if they had anything. Quickly began finding bits of everything - medals, uniform items, field gear, you name it. Being a high school kid whose only income was working in the hay fields in the summer and killing rabbits to sell in the winter I didn't have a lot of $$.
Fortunately things were cheap in those days - Yeah, right!!! The 98k cost me $25 with sling, rod, sight hood u. bayonet.
I was finding German medals for around .50 ea and other things similarily priced - for example a P.38 in the holster also cost $25 - $20 w/o the holster. My first MP 40 cost me either $20 or 25, I don't remember which.
Since I was making .50 an hour in the hay fields and rabbits sold for the same that was a lot of hay field work &/or a lot of rabbits. I spent every $ I got on German stuff.
Sarge

[MAP]

Great hearing how you all got hooked on this narcotic!

For me it was a few reasons. First my Dad, while never a collector and missing the war by a few years was an avid WW2 history buff. As a 7 year old he "gave" me a K98 that was given to him by a friend. Unfortunately it was a sniper version that someone sporterized. Oh well.

Also, my house was build over the camp (Camp Mills) where the WW1 Rainbow division was quartered/trained. (If anyone has for sale a WW1 Rainbow division tunic LET ME KNOW)

But the real kicker, was that my house was a stones throw from Mitchell Airfield. A major WW2 airbase. While mostly abandoned as a kid in the 70's, it was still partially untouched. We used to go to the "bunker" (actually a firing range where they used to test fire the fighter and bomber machine guns as well as small arms) and dig out the spent 50, 30-06, 30 cal carbine and 45 bullets burrowed into the rail road ties lining the back of the bunker as well as dig up the old shell casings. We always dreamed of finding a "gun"....

....I still have that old glass jar of bullets proudly displayed with my collection.

That and my fathers love of history (and watching World at War on the B&W TV with him is what got me hooked.

And to quote Paul Harvey..."And that is the rest of the story"....

My house would be located just out of the picture in the upper left corner beyond the coal silos (and yes we climbed them as well. Crazy).

Michael

Mitchel_Field_-_New_York_-_1968.jpg