War And Peace

[Lesley Jones]

These two come as a pair - taken at the local War and Peace show and only a few minutes apart. I went along for my husband who is interested in this sort of thing, but took my old Leica IIIb just in case. The one with the sleeping soldiers is a genuine candid

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Excellent, Lesley.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Cheers Rob! How are you getting on with your old Leica? I can't spend as much time in here as I would like and I seem to lose track

 

[Rob MacKillop]

It's my wife's now, and I'm not allowed to touch it...

 

[Beth Carter]

very nice, @Kev Pugh probably wishes he was there. i'm glad your husband drug you along.

 

[Pete Askew]

Superb pair of images Lesley. Great atmosphere in both.

 

[Keith Hollister]

Great images, Lesley. Curious whether the MP 38 submachine gun the chap is holding in the second photo is a real one or a reproduction. Curious how this is managed with the firearms laws in the UK. I am under the impression that not many original MP 38/40's are still around. The Germans didn't deploy that many of them until later in the war after getting outgunned by the Russians, who had entire infantry companies armed with subguns at Stalingrad. After 1943, the MP38 & 40 were phased out in favor of the new SturmGewehr 44 (the first "assault rifle"). Unlike most WWII movies would have you believe, the MP 40's were not all that common among the Wehrmacht ground infantry.

BTW, the MP 38 was an earlier design that had a machined receiver. The MP 40 was produced in greater numbers and had a stamped steel receiver (cheaper to manufacture). You can identify a MP 38 by the large hex "nut" that holds the barrel to the receiver just in front of the magazine. The MP 40 has a smooth transition piece there. The barrel profiles are somewhat different as well.

I've been to several Civil War re-enactments, but WWII ones are much rarer over here.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Wow @Keith Hollister - what an incredible amount of information. Even though I work with both items in the above photographs, I have no knowledge whatsoever. I read this out to my husband this morning, although I rather think he is more into tanks than guns.

One interesting fact - I noticed at the time there were more German outfits around than the allies. It didn't register until there was an article on the local news about people with more than a passing interest in German affairs (if you see what I mean), using the show for recruiting purposes. It was only a couple of years later that the show on this site closed for good. It used to be one of the biggest in the country. It may have moved, but I don't think it is big now...

 

[Keith Hollister]

Can't speak to the UK, but the popularity of WWII German military stuff here is more due to the technology and military excellence of the Germans than any neo-Nazi/skinhead ideological sympathies. Military history enthusiasts and weapons collectors are drawn to the quality of the military machine rather than the politics & evil it was used to promote.

I spent all of my adult life working for or with the intelligence community and militaries of the US & UK up until I retired last year, so for me it is 40 years of professional curiosity.

Too bad about about the show closing - there is nothing like living history.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Well of course, I don't know about WWII military equipment, but my camera is German and was made in 1940

Edited to say I Googled Leica IIIb again and there is very little to read. One for sale (minus the second lens that I got) and they are asking more than three times the price. Mine is definitely coming out of mothballs...