The Canteen/Die Feldflasche, Part 4

As a follow-up to the last installment in this series, I have finally managed to get an accurate reproduction of the cavalry, or more properly artillery, canteen. Below is are pictures of the reproduction which is essentially an infantry pattern canteen with the appropriate straps and harness added afterwards. This canteen also has unit markings appropriate for the 2 Chevauleger. :-) 

Below are pictures of an original for comparison:

Note that in the top example, there is no cross-strap running across the canteen towards the top. In the next examples, the canteen used is the 1915 pattern and it does have a cross-strap at the top. Also, all the straps are ersatz.  

The version I had reproduced follows more of the second pattern. I opted for this since I felt that it would provide a bit more strength and stability for the harness, especially because of the strain caused by the weight of the water and that it would be moving violently on my person in the course of action and it's not unreasonable that 1907 canteens were used with the later 1915 pattern harness.

This is a welcome piece of kit and I hope to have some more made so as to equip the unit.

Horrido! 

Items for Your Impression - Matches!

On original box of German matches.

Oftentimes the small details are the important ones when putting together an outfit (or impression) for living history and reenactment. One of the most useful and often overlooked is the humble match. The match's utility is self-explanatory but how many times at an event have you seen someone pull out a modern box of matches or worse, a modern disposable lighter (and especially in some garish color such as hot pink or bright green). Nothing destroys an impression quicker that something that's so obviously modern in an otherwise period setting. Not good.

Well, we have created a way to disguise those modern wooden matches and at the same time have a nice little item that will add to your impression. Through the assistance of various people, both in Germany and the United States, images of original matchbox labels were procured and through the use of a photo-editing program were cleaned up and property sized. The resulting product is suitable for use on the modern small packs of Blue Diamond Matches which are available in grocery stores throughout the United States. Basically, the label has to fit a 1.5" x 2" box.

Below is a selection of German matchbox labels of the period. You can save these in jpeg format and work with them in a photo-editing program such as Photoshop or Paint:

Below are complete sheets of labels that I made. These are in jpeg format so you may have to re-work the sizing in a photo-editing program to get the correct dimensions.

If you want a full sheet of labels that I have already sized in pdf formal, you can download it from HERE. Below are some more pictures of the production process:

The start- Blue Diamond Matches and cut labels. A paper cutter proved especially useful.

Here are a few boxes drying. Each box required two labels and I found it easiest to apply the glue with an old paintbrush. I also glued a label onto an empty bottle that I had lying around.

The Finished Product

There you are, your very own German match boxes for living history. Now, I want to point out that the Blue Diamond matchboxes are not the same as original ones both in terms of construction and dimensions (originals came in a variety of sizes and shapes and some were actually made of balsa wood rather than cardboard) but this will give you a practical alternative that's cheap and easy and most of all, looks the part. 

Horrido!

P.S.

Since posting this, I have been made aware of that a more suitable matchbox may be available. My only issue is that at $4.90 a box, it's pretty pricey so you'll have to decide just how hardcore you want to get about something that's a consumable product (by comparison, you can get three packs or 36 boxes of the Blue Diamond for the same price). I know that's not exactly the proper living history answer but there it is.

New Cavalry Picture

Here is an interesting picture that I cam across today of an unidentified unit, most likely Western Front from 1917 on, judging from the stahlhelms. Note the one soldier in the front right appears to be wearing grenade bags along with the rest of his kit. It also appears they are wearing rucksacks and one has a pommel bag strapped to the rear. 

From all the excess equipment and the rucksacks that the soldiers are carrying, it would appear that this unit was making an administrative move rather than a tactical move with combat a possibility.

The photographic evidence above supports what Kraus' findings in regard to rucksack use by the cavalry and provides yet more documentation to support our impressions. It's little details like this that help up to do a better job with our living history.

Horrido! 

West Coast Militaria Show

Just to let you all know that the 2 Chevauleger will be setting up a display at the West Historical Militaria Collectors Show at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA on Saturday, May 9 from about 9 am to 4 pm or so. We will have some displays of uniforms and equipment so if you want to check us out in person, come on by, we would be happy to meet with you. :-)

Horrido!

At last year's show.

It's Been a Bit Quiet Lately...

Things have been a bit quiet of late but don't you worry, there are many things in the works as the 2 Chevauleger prepares for the West Coast Historical Militaria Collectors Show out at the Fairplex in Pomona on May 9, 2015 and the annual  Old Ft. MacArthur Days living history timeline event at Ft. MacArthur on July 11-12, 2015! In the meantime, I leave you with a couple of images of Chevauleger Landschultz back at home with the Frau. Horrido!

 

Chevauleer Landschultz with the Frau

Enjoying the time away from the front...

 

Riding Breeches/Reithosen, Part 2

To continue our story, one characteristic of both the 1908 and 1916 pattern Reitosen or riding breeches is that they are minimally tailored. Beyond the legs gradually tapering in, there is little of the extreme lines one normally expects with riding breeches or the more extreme lines found with officer's breeches.

1916 Pattern Reithosen, Front View-  Note the gradual tapering o the leg and that the leather seat extends down most of the leg.

1916 Pattern Reithosen, Rear View- Once, again, this is a relatively untailored garment and is in no way form-fitting.

Line Drawing of the 1916 Pattern Reithosen

So, as it can be seen from the above pictures, the Reithosen were generously cut and were intended for practical use out in the field. These were not designed to look good for parades and in fact, they go against popular concepts of what cavalry uniforms should look like. Wars will do that. 

Perhaps some of the confusion stems from the Reithosen being confused with Stiefelhosen,which were a more tailored fitted garment. The enlisted version of the Stiefelhosen were originally issued to soldiers assigned to machine gun detachments. Later, they were also issued to mountain troops and field artillery. Below is a line drawing of the enlisted 1908 pattern Stiefelhosen:

1908 Pattern Stiefehosen

But even here, there is not much difference between these and the Reithosen. 

Just for comparison, here is what people normally associate with cavalry breeches:

Second World War Era Officer Breeches. The extreme tapering from the hips to the legs is evident. This type of styling was characteristic of officer uniforms and was also in existence during the First World War.

In the end, more research will have to be done but it is safe to say that the Reithosen was a loosely fitted garment intended for practical use in the field.

The New Chevauleger Uniform

It's been quiet here for awhile so here's an update of the latest from the 2 Chevauleger. As many of you know, obtaining the proper uniforms has been a recurring problem almost since the unit was originally formed in 1997. At first, converting vintage Swedish Army tunics from the 1940s was the way to go but at best, this was a half-way solution that was makeshift at best. Sure, the outline of the proper 1909 tunic was achieved but that was about it. The color and the wool were completely off and when lined up next to a proper tunic, the differences are obvious. But, it was all we had at the time and there was no real alternative, especially since nobody in the group had any tailoring skills and there was nobody in the marketplace willing to attempt the project except at an exorbitant price. It also did not help that we did not have an original 1909 tunic to work off of.

With the unit dissolving in 2004 and an overall lack of interest, the status remained unchanged with the Swedish conversion tunics being the closest thing in existence. However, with the revival of the unit in 2011, further efforts were made to address this issue. With the growth of the WWI reenacting and the upcoming Centennial, there were more vendors coming into the marketplace plus more research sources were now available due to the internet- where before one had to really search for hard information, it was now more readily available and especially in the various works by Jürgen Kraus.

What was especially interesting was that several vendors, all located in China, were offering what they termed "Chevauleger tunics" but upon closer examination, they completely missed the mark. I ordered one such tunic and was able to examine it. While the workmanship was not bad, the details were off and it was evident that they'd never consulted any sources whatsoever (it's not like they're not out there and in fact, it's never been easier). After an unsuccessful attempt to contact the vendor to suggest some corrections, I decided that the only way we were going to recreate the 1909 tunic and the proper breeches was going to be doing it ourselves.

However, the big problem was that there were no patterns for this tunic out there- at least that were readily accessible to someone here in the United States. So once again, I pretty much had to shelve the project; in a pinch the 1915 Bluse per the 1916 regulations would have to do. 

But as luck would have it, through a strange series of events I came in contact with a vendor, Vijay Singh, in India and after several attempts, we finally managed to nail it down. The only downside is that I have to send him the rear belt ramps and the side belt hooks for him to sew into the tunic and I then have to sew the buttons on myself when I receive it (unfortunately, he was unable to procure the correct Bavarian lion buttons so I had to have those custom cast elsewhere).

Anyway, the first production model was made from feldgrau colored wool  that I had bought from Woolrich (the bad part is that Woolrich has a high minimum order- I bought some yardage from someone who had purchased a large amount) and then sent to India to be made (the shipping and duty cost me almost $200- I don't recommend this route). The uniform was meant as a private purchase uniform for garrison/away from the front lines (basically I use it for living history events that do not involve battle reenactments).

So, after a long struggle, here's the first generation production model. Here are some details:

I am wearing the 1909 pattern tunic, or Ulanka, with 1916 pattern riding breeches or Reithosen. The cap is a private purchase visored cap trimmed in carmine, the facing color of the 2 Chevauleger. The piping on the tunic is also the same carmine (obtained from Mehler of Bavaria, the original contractor). I am wearing the rank insignia of a Gefreiter or corporal. The sword belt is the 1911 pattern with sword hanger. The buttons are nickle plated (all I had were brass buttons and this was the only way to get them into the "white" which is the color for the 2 Chevauleger). For front line conditions, the buttons would either be dulled down with a coating of a yellow brown paint and lacquer or just a dull white brass. The boots are the 1916 pattern Universal Bavarian Cavalry boots.

Close up. I am wearing the 1911 sword belt with the sword hanger. The service ribbons are, for left to right: Bavarian long service, China, and Southwest Africa. 

Full length shot. This is the 1909 tunic with 1916 pattern Reithosen or riding breeches. I am also wearing Bavarian Gefreiter insignia.

Another view with the private purchase visor cap.

Overall, I'd say we have achieved complete success and more uniforms will be arriving soon. The only bad part is all the buttons I'll have to sew on (22 per tunic).

Horrido!!

GWHS Spring 2015 Battle - Some Pictures

Below are a few pictures from the GWHS Spring 2015 Battle. These are mostly of the unit itself. Enjoy!

The 2 Chevauleger Bunker - It's currently under construction so please excuse the mess and the occasional anachronism...

The two members of the unit present: me and new member Mike Schlecht.

A more formal portrait....unfortunately, the 1909 tunic being made for me had not arrived yet so I wore my older 1915 Bluse which I was hoping to retire from the trenches after long service.

New rekrut Michael Schlecht.

Central Powers Line-Up

GWHS Spring Battle - Post Mortum

Now that the Spring Battle is done with and I've had some time to think about it, the following are some observations/impressions of what occurred.

We assisted the Jaegers in defending their forward position on the right side of the Central Powers line. We've done this for the past two events and it seemed to be a good fit for us since both the Jaegers and us have been fielding low numbers. Also, it seemed that we were pretty much left alone and we could focus on providing support without getting directly drawn in.

Well, as I predicted, this changed with this battle. The right flank of the Central Powers line and our position was the center of focus for much of the Allies' efforts and especially with the Russians, assisted by the French and the Americans.

Making the situation worse, the Central Powers was seriously short-handed so we were forced to take up a defensive posture to the point where we were unable to maintain any sort of steady presence in no-man's land. This in turn allowed the Allies to take up positions relatively close to our sector with no fear of their plans being disrupted.

Worse, we had very few grenade simulators and what ones we had were made from wooden Easter eggs that proved to be too light to be able to be thrown far. In short, unless the enemy was directly on top of us, grenades were pretty much useless....

Which ties in with the Allied use of large quantities of smoke bombs capable of generating massive amounts of smoke (the smokes they used were of a variety meant for use in paintball and they're a short step down from the military issue M18 smoke grenades. In short, these were NOT the usual cheap firework stand variety smoke bombs that give off very little smoke.

The smoke was so intense that we had problems breathing and we were too busy trying to put out any fires to be able to devote ourselves to keeping alert for the enemy. The Allies were every quick in cutting through what barbed wire defenses there were (the front line had been extended with a cursory stringing of barbed wire that was in no adequate for the job).

With everything going on, it was impossible to deploy grenades and even basic shooting was impossible. And to top things off, the Russians were using a flamethrower (actually a glorified supersoaker done up to look semi period-correct). Basically, we were driven off the position and the Allies were able to punch through and reach the Central Powers main line.

It was a pretty dismal affair, there is no doubt about that. Bu at the same time, what did we learn from thins?

Well....

1. Better simulators- We need better grenade simulators and specifically, potato-masher grenades. These are not the easiest to reproduce but they have the heft to be thrown further and with luck, we can use these to disrupt their assaults.
   
   
2. Tactical positions- Integrating the forward listening/observation posts with the main battle line so they can be reinforced and there's a way to either advance or retreat that doesn't require moving over open ground.
   
   
3. More and better wiring- What we had was inadequate for the job and it took little effort for the Allies to cut through the defenses and then rush the bunker directly.
   
4. Greater presence in no-man's land- A more aggressive policy in regard to no-man's land. We need to conduct periodic sweeps. We have be eliminated or drive back BUT at least the Allies will not be able to operate close to our lines in perfect safety with little fear of us doing anything.
   
5. Increased vigilance- it's all too easy to not be paying attention and while we're relaxing, the enemy is sneaking up on us.
   
   
6. Better overhead defenses- It's critical that further installation of overhead cover be completed in order to secure better defenses against flying smoke bombs, grenades, and flashers. This means overhead cover and a less exposed position.
   
   
7. And of course, having more people attending the event (pretty obvious).

So there it is. We got hammered hard and it was a good lesson on how NOT to defend an exposed position. Hopefully we can get this right by the next event!

Horrido!

Gas attack on the Central Powers lines.

Preparing for the Spring Offensive

I've been silent here for a couple of weeks but real life has a way of creeping up on you...anyway, I have not been completely idle and I am in the process of building up the unit's stockpile of loaner gear in anticipation of the upcoming GWHS Spring Battle that is scheduled for the weekend of March 27-29, 2015. Once I obtain the necessary items, I then apply the official unit markings, something that every unit in the German Army did to much of their equipment, at least for items made from textiles.

Miscellaneous Equipment- Y-Straps, Bayonet Frog, and two Bread Bags

Rucksack and Y-Straps

It's been a slow process, subject to the availability of funding but it's important to maintain and improve. It's my hope that eventually some of these items will be sold to new members (and no, I will not be making any money off of this, just recovering my initial costs) and thus eliminate the uncertainties of purchasing that can happen when individual members are trying to obtain their uniform and kit.

See you at the battle!

Horrido!

The 2 Chevauleger Regimental Standard

Below is a picture of the official standard of the 2 Chevauleger:

The Cavalry Lives On at Boxberg...

The spirit of the Kaiserzeit Era cavalry still lives on today at Boxberg- for the past three years, the Deutsche Kavallerieverband e.V. has sponsored a cavalry competition at Boxberg drawing competitors from as far away as the United States. The competition consists of a series of individual and group events that test one's ability to function as cavalry. From the looks of the tests, they appear to be pretty rigorous and would definitely be a challenge to almost any rider. People represent a particular cavalry regiment and as you can see form the pictures below, it can be quite a mixed bag.

As you can see here, there's a mix of uniforms ranging from Prussian Dragoons, Kuirassiers, and Uhlans to Bavarian Uhlans. Unfortunately, there are no Chevaulegers.

Another group shot. There are definitely some modern modifications going on with the saddles and tack but oh well....

At the Races....

As a corollary to cavalry in Germany, prior to the First World War, there an extensive equine industry existed in Germany. While motor vehicles were coming into use, horsepower still made up a large percentage of Germany's transportation needs in the civilian sector. Horses were also viewed by the Germany government as a strategic resource and efforts were made to promote horse breeding as a means of building and maintaining numbers of horses that could be drawn upon in case of war. This even went as far as the German government registering privately-owned horses for use in wartime (sort of a "horse reserve"). Additionally, equestrian sports were encourage, often in cooperation with the military, and that included horse racing.

There were a number of horse racing tracks in Germany that drew large crowds. Many were interested in the horses themselves or were enthusiasts trying to promote horse breeding and the like. Also, there was the gambling that came along with it, much like today. Finally, attending horse races was considered a social event for the upper classes and it was one place that people could see and be seen.

One such track was the Boxberg at Gotha. Founded in 1878,  still exists to this day. Below are some pictures:

Boxberg during the Kaiserzeit

Boxberg Today

Guest Blog Post: Living History

The following is a guest blog posting from Chris Fischer, an individual who has been involved with living history both professionally and for a hobby. Mr. Fischer gives some fascinating insights that bear consideration in regard to historic personages appearing at living history/reenactment events:

Having been involved in Living History most of my life, as a hobby and a profession, and its use as an interpretative ducational tool as a teacher, coupled with an odd hobby and fascination with human behavior and in a relationship over 10 years with a therapist as well as being a teacher and having to attend several hours of class work on child psychology, I have some very different views of these people who dress as REAL historic "celebrities" and will list them. One problem is that these people who dress up as Hitler, Patton, Custer. Lee, Lincoln, etc. do so more often than not for one of two reasons. One is idol worship, some that are fascinated with or respect.

The other reason is simply just a sad cry for attention. "If I dress up as the cool kid from WWII, then all the WW2 people will think I am cool". It RARELY has anything to do with history, interpretation, alternative views, the dark side of the story or anything else. AS teachers we learn alot about negative attention (a key part about Attention Deficit disorder is not necessarily they can't keep attention, but were usually deprived of it too). Going to the Reading Airshow as Captain America is nothing more than an attempt to get yourself in a lot pictures with kids and co-eds. Showing up as Hitler or even Allgemeine SS you already know is going to start controversy, in other words you KNEW you would draw negative attention as soon as you cam e up with the idea to wear that outfit in public. They really don't "teach" much about history, they just stand around and wait for people to come up and ask to hold Patton's Revolver while you strut around with way too much fake bravado!

This leads me to a second topic line. To portray an historical figure is exclusively the realm of theatrics, not interpretation. I once worked at an historic site where we had one historical character portrayed. Why? Because of the reasons I noted above. The general public wanted to meet THE Colonel, have their picture taken, sip tea with him, etc. Depending on who was assigned that duty on what day, you got very different interpretations of the historical figure. Oddly each person regularly slated to portray that person would argue that theirs was the most accurate depiction! Its like the most recent "Lincoln" movie and everyone praising Danial Day Lewis for nailing Lincoln...the problem is all the critics seemed to overlook that Lincoln died 150 years ago, before the advent of motion pictures and even sound recordings. Mr. Lewis was never able to interview the man nor look over his mannerisms in film nor study his speech patterns from recordings...so it becomes very arrogant and presumptuous to say that he "nailed it"...this is my point.

In my personal opinion, I think it is disrespectful to portray "real" people. There is no way the interpretation can be accurate. I don't care how many books your read, original letters, diaries, or films you watch you ultimately were never that [person and never able to truly know and express their inner feelings ans secrets (people back then rarely wrote anything incriminating in letters or diaries). It is a person wanting to take on the "celebrity" status of someone else so that they can be popular or respected. Every movie depiction of our friend Adolf is even a little different. Take it a final step further, I refuse to watch the documentary I saw the other day online about "humanizing" Himmler! Yes he was a family man and the home movies of him playing with a puppy are cute, that does not negate what he did and authorized. Same goes for Adolph. The one time he went to the death camp and watched the gassing threw the windows he was physically ill from it...did his "humane" side take over? No, he cleaned himself up and played "out of sight/out of mind" about it.

More Research, Research, Research

This is a follow-up to my first post in regard to research. I've been doing the living history/reenactment game for going in 30 years and the one thing I've found very irritating is the attitude of "do your research" when attempting to find out about a particular aspect of the impression I am attempting to create. Yes, I can perfectly understand that sentiment and I share it myself- why should I just spew out information to someone too lazy to do their own research and/or simple basic reading on the subject, and especially if there are excellent sources out there readily available (i.e. some good reference books on the subject).

 

At the same time, I also feel that why should we have to re-invent the wheel each time someone new comes along. Sharing information is one of the major ways that this esoteric hobby (reenactment/living history) is going to grow. Also, not all of us are necessarily blessed with complete access to archives, museums, and the like due to location or other circumstances. Why make things difficult when they don't have to be?

 

There is no perfect answer to this issue. It seems that more and more with the advent of the internet, Wikipedia, et al., people do not want to put in the basic investment of time reading up on the subject. They simply expect it all to be pre-digested, ready-to-go. This is inexcusable, especially if a period has a lot of literature readily available. In regard to the First World War, we are beginning to see this a lot with the Centennial coming on; often I've seen vague general questions on forums or facebook such as "what equipment did the German infantryman carry"? That particular question went unanswered even though there were many in the group who could have answered it. The obvious answer was "Go read a fucking book" but people were too polite to actually say it, which was probably for the best.

 

So there it is. The moral of story, I suppose, would be do your basic research first before hitting people up with questions.

 

Horrido!

 

 



Research, Research, Research...

One of the basic foundation points of the living history/reenactment game is the need to document (i.e., prove up) that a particular item, typically a uniform, piece of equipment, or weapon, existed for the specific period being recreated. Sometimes this can be incredibly difficult to do and especially if there are no reliable (or any) reference sources. 

 

Unfortunately, at that point you have no choice but to try and determine for yourself through your own research. This can be daunting task, especially if it involves an obscure period and especially if it involves a foreign language of some type. What to do?

 

Here were some options: 

1. Museums
2. Online research, preferable in the language of what you are researching (eg., German for researching the German Army).; often there's a lot of information out there but it's difficult to access because of the language barrier.
3. Old pictures
4. Inverviewing surviving members of the unit or oiganization.
5. Examining offical records (from the horse's mouth, so to say).
6. Consult experts
7. Private collections

In the case of the 2 Chevauleger, Option 3 was out (we were late by some 20 years, unfortunately) while Option 1 was out due to expense (I didn't have the money to hop a plane to Germany).

However, I lucked out in that there were several excellent references that unfortunately were in German but a Google Translate and several dictionaries allowed me to make some fairly crude translations. Also, thanks to the glories of the internet, I was able to verify my translations with native speakers who were also interested in the same subject matter; I was very lucky in the that regard. To supplement this were a number of books with many photographs of the German Army and the Chevauleger in particular so I was able to identify items and then verify them against my other references.

This was not an easy process and to honest, it necessitated me investing over $500 in the relevant reference books- needless to say, it took awhile (anything published in Europe is going to cost you major $$$$, it's a fact of life). Option 6, private collections were also a major help in that I was actually able to look at many artifacts "in the flesh". It's one thing to look at an artifact in a picture but actually being to physically handle it can answer a lot of questions such as how the item appeared from every angle, its weight, etc. Sometimes it was a real eye-opener being able to actually examine an artifact- it was vastly different from what it seemed in the pictures.

However, the one caveat I will put out is in regard to consulting with experts. Often the experts are academics, either working in a university or museum setting, and tend to react with some antipathy or outright hostility when you mention that you are a reenactor/living historian- "professionals" tend to view reenactors/living historians as little more than ignorant people lacking "credentials" who want to play dress up. It's usually best to remain silent on this point unless it's absolutely critical or that you know that the person won't react negatively. While this may seem a bit dishonest, it will preclude having the proverbial door slammed in your face. The other thing is, you have to approach it from the angle of "could you help me verify some aspects of XYZ" instead of "Tell me all about XYZ" (which you shouldn't be doing anyway but it happens all the time).

I can speak from personal experience in regard to the above. At one point I was researching Spanish uniforms of the Napoleonic Era with an eye towards recreating a uniform from a particular regiment. Unfortuantely, there wasn't much out there reference, either in English or Spanish, so it was very difficult. Somebody put in touch with an expert (he's still publishing today) who completely misunderstood my questions even though I was careful to couch them in terms of "could you point me in the right direction please". He assumed that I wanted him to simply tell me everything (yeah, that would have been nice but that's not what I was after) and basically told me to fuck off, in so many words- "I'm a busy professional historian and I don't have time for this, etc.". What a jerk- needless to say, I'll be sure to never buy any books authored by him. 

So in the end, I've been able to learn quite a bit about the 2 Chevauleger and fortunately, the people I have interacted with have been a lot more forthcoming. It's a constant process and I have had to change my opinion on many things as I learned more. The hunt for information continues....

Horrido!  

The 2 Chevauleger, Recreated - The Early Years, Part 2

Here are some more pictures of the 2 Chevauleger at Jack Rabbit Trails in 2001-2003:

The Opening Barrage

A Nice Hit...

Myself and one of the former unit members c. 2002

Group Shot- We had a variety of uniforms and equipment.

Defending Forward

Lineup

The Enemy is Out There...

Lineup Again...