Misc: '40s Fun in't Fens!

NB - This post is rather out of sync, having originally been drafted months ago. It's just taken ages to get around to finishing and posting it!

Moving house has seriously interfered with blogging. We've moved from rented Georgian splendour to our own 'umble Victorian abode. Guess which is which:

As well as the move itself, there's much redecorating to be done, and even some renovation. And the garden? Aaaargh!!! It was the Fenland equivalent of the Amazon rainforest when we moved in: massively overgrown and possibly quite dangerous to enter, only with very dull vegetation and wildlife - just the odd rogue horny-toad [1], and forests of brambles!

One odd thing that I noted during my recent absence from posting here was a massive - but sadly short-lived - spike in traffic to this 'ere wee blog o' mine [2]. I do hope people return in droves!? [3] Otherwise I'll feel I missed an opportunity...

Moving into The Fens is, as alluded to above, a kind of mutant-homecoming, of sorts, for me (if not perhaps for Teresa). But, swiftly leaving that topic on one side, I was amazed and very pleasantly surprised that the very weekend we moved in, March - our new home town (not the month!) - was host to a 1940s themed event.

The posters for said show made it very obvious that the military aspects of the '40s would be central to the event, with re-enactors, vehicles, and even a Spitfire fly-past. Cool, methinks. March is shaping up to be my kind of place! 

When we got there I was a trifle disappointed there wasn't more stuff of the sort I was looking for - WWII German uniform apparel, basically. Nevertheless, although there wasn't half as much as I'd hoped for, there was some. I bought a German officer's hat, a green military style shirt (of no obvious affiliation), and sundry other bit and bobs, inc. some vintage mags for the Mrs.

Here are a few pics from that March event:

I've subsequently discovered that I was perhaps overcharged a little for my Panzer officer's 'crusher cap'. But I love it, so what the heck. It's a replica, by the way. [4] I think the guy that sold it to me may have suggested it was an SS Panzer officer's hat. The pink piping means it certainly is Panzer-crew. However, another stall-holder (at a similar event in nearby Ramsey, only a few later) said that the 'death's head' badge doesn't equal SS per se... so I'm confused now!

Anyhoo, as already mentioned above, less than a month later, there was a similar but even bigger event, just outside the nearby town of Ramsey. Here's a pic from that show:

A confused outfit that would almost certainly distress many a fussy re-enactor.

I didn't get the 'Dad's Army' style Home Guard sergeant's tunic. I really wish I had! But the Mrs sagely suggested that the post-purchase cash-flow rather mitigated against such spur-of-the-moment outlays. There were also a great pair of WWII SS oak-leaf camo' trousers that I'd really like to have bought. Maybe I'll have opportunities to get these at other similar shows? I really don't want to have to wait a whole year to do so!

Several things I did feel I could run to were: a replica 'potato-masher' grenade, some vintage Commando comics (nostalgia bites deep again!), a couple of Osprey titles, and firing two clips of 'BB' ammo on a mini shooting range. I fired a replica 'broom-handle' Mauser first (pictured below), followed by a replica Luger. My shots were at least more or less all on target, if not hyper-accurate. These replicas fired pellets, not bullets. But, Gott in Himmel, it was fun shooting them!

A replica 'broomhandle' Mauser.

My two clips of ammo: left was the Luger, right, the Mauser.

I enjoyed both shows. And I've definitely got the '40s bug (perhaps, being in my 40s myself, I'm particularly susceptible?), both civilian and military. I have to admit I found the re-enactment odd, albeit still enjoyable. It didn't seem very realistic, with 'marshals' wandering about (I think they were supervising the explosions), and the large contingent of overweight or overage re-enactors, all of whom (whatever their age/weight!) generally behaved very much as if they were safe in the knowledge it was all just dressing up for fun.

But who am I to criticise that? Especially as I've definitely contracted the dressing up for fun bug. I plan to gradually acquire a British WWII outfit, poss Home Guard, and lots of German gear. I'll probably just wear such stuff around the house, especially when engaged in my military hobbies, or to shows. Outside of those activities... hmmm!? Probably best avoided, esp. the 'Jerry' stuff. People might get the wrong idea!

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[1] It transpired I wasn't the only priapic web-footed creature in the undergrowth!

[2] That's wee as in small, as opposed to wee as in micturate... obviously!

[3] Droves are, we've discovered, plentiful in the fens, if not of the kind I'm after here.

[4] My mum was somewhat relieved to learn it wasn't a genuine WWII Nazi's hat. I think, bless her, that she was worried that if it were, it might, whilst sat atop my noggin, somehow infect my brain with an aura of evil!

Book Review: Osprey Men-at-Arms 56 - The Mexican American War, 1846-1848 - Katcher & Embleton

NB: In order not to infringe copyright, this review is illustrated with, excepting the cover image, pictures that are not from the Osprey book under review! [1]

I've had a soft spot for the Osprey Men-at-Arms titles since childhood, when I first bought a couple of the titles. When I sold off my childhood wargaming armies, I kept the Osprey books; there were just the two: numbers 55 and 64, Dragoons & Lancers, and Cuirassiers & Carabiniers, respectively, both by the exotically consmopolitan sounding team of Emir Bukhari and Angus McBride.

The series as a whole had a certain allure for me, as they combinend the fascination I've always had for military couture, and the accosciated tradition of uniform illustration, with a small and collectible format. I had loved, when even younger still, collecting Tintin and Asterix. These more martial titles had a similar appeal to my tendency to serial acquisitiveness.

A beautiful plate from volume 1 of Liliane & Fred Funcken's Arms & Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, showing a motley and colourful collection of French Hussars.

However, it wasn't long before I also twigged that they were a potentially very costly way to gather the info I needed. Ever since that realisation, I've been very chary of buying them. Preferring instead to spend larger sums on more compressive works, like the two-volume L&F Funcken Arms & Uniforms titles (see above pic.), or the collected Rousselot plates, as a more cost-effective means to research 1st Empire uniformology.

Having returned to my childhood interests in military history and culture, in tandem with model making and wargaming - or at least figure collecting - I'm beginning to tentatively widen my interests a little, beyond the two former enclaves of Napoleonic and WWII stuff I used to concentrate on, and have returned to (as familiar first ports of call).

The American Civil War has always been another background interest of mine, but one that had lain largely unexplored, apart from a few magazine articles (for more on my obsession with certain ACW battlefield maps, see my previous posts [links to be added!]), and a couple of packs of Airfix 20mm plastic figures, one each of Confederate and Union!

A dragoon and a 1st lieutenant of infantry, wearing uniforms typical of Regular Army soldiers during the Mexican War. (Source: From H. Charles McBarron’s The American Soldier, 1847, Army Art Collection)

Looking into the ACW more deeply - I gradually acquired several books, and eventually bought and watched Ken Burns' epic and fantastic PBS series - alerted me to the Mexican American wars. Occasional references to this campaign in various places, especially the odd pic. or two, intrigued me, as the US troops were already starting to look more like they would in the ACW, whilst the Mexicans still clearly looked back to the 1st Empire of France, sartorially speaking.

This slim volume concentrates on uniform info, with only very brief summaries regarding the backgrounds of the antagonists, and, at the end of the book, a very slim synopsis of the military actions and the troops involved. I harbour a very long-standing desire, only explored in the most desultory and tentative manner as a kid many moons ago, to start sculpting and casting my own figures, and I have, more recently, entertained thoughts of starting with this conflict. Indeed, that's why I bought this book.

A number of black and white images by the artist James Walker are used in this book, although not this one (if I recall aright?), of The Battle of Chapultepec.

It's certainly a good starting place, on the subject of uniforms of the Mexican American War, but it leaves one wanting much more, and I suspect I'll use this book, and the notes it gives on sources, to find further and more unit specific ref. Gerry Embleton's artworks are very good, although not quite as much to my tastes as the work of my favourite Osprey illustrator, Angus McBride.

I'm no expert even on my chief areas of interest, such as Napoleonics, let alone in an area such as this, which is completely new to me, so I can't really judge the quality of the information in terms of accuracy, but the book certainly seems very usefully informative for a newbie like me. I do think there should be a glossary of terms as a standard feature in all such books, and sometimes Philip Katcher's writing style is less than crystalline in terms of clarity.

Gen. Winfield Scott, at the battle of Veracruz (source: Wikipedia 

commons). This is clearly before he grew to fat to sit a horse!

In addition to the standard Men-at-Arms format whereby you get eight pages of full-colour 'plates' in the centre of the book, there are numerous black and white pictures, many by an artist called James A Walker, whose work I will definitely investigate further online. There are also some interesting photos of actual weapons and uniforms, and a few of the leading figures, like US General Winfield Scott.

I got my brand new copy relatively cheap via Amazon UK's 'market-place', and think it a worthwhile addition to my militaria library. But I wouldn't say it's amazing value for money, as it's such a slight affair. I read it all the way through, sitting in a cafe one afternoon, in about 2-3 hours! So textually and visually, as informative as it is, it's really just a convenient introduction to what is undoubtedly, despite the short duration of the conflict at just two years, a much bigger subject.

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[1] I'm thinking I might well contact Osprey to ask if they'll give me permission to use a colour plate or two to better illustrate this post.