CHALK are a small World War 2 living history group based in the North of England. Our primary portrayal is the Glider Pilot Regiment 1942-45.
Friday, 19 December 2014
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
S.Sgt Denzil Cooper and S.Sgt Les Cole GPR
This photo was recently posted on Facebook. It shows Staff Sgt's Denzil Cooper and Les Cole.
Of interest here are their cap badges; Denzil is clearly wearing the plastic 'economy' badge whereas Les is wearing what looks like an embroidered badge with a cloth backing of some sort, but could this be a regular metal AAC badge with a cloth backing?
If anyone has any further thoughts please get in touch.
Of interest here are their cap badges; Denzil is clearly wearing the plastic 'economy' badge whereas Les is wearing what looks like an embroidered badge with a cloth backing of some sort, but could this be a regular metal AAC badge with a cloth backing?
If anyone has any further thoughts please get in touch.
12th Battalion (Airlanding) Devonshire Regiment - 12th Devons!
Up until just recently, its always proved difficult to find any decent reference photos of 12th Devons circa Operation Varsity. Mainly due to the fact that there just aren't that many books out there dedicated to the Operation or this particular regiment, but now thanks to members of WW2Talk.com there I've been able to see more in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years!
Below are some of the photos which have recently been added to the WW2Talk forum, some by enthusiasts and some by family members, some of them are screen grabs from the British Pathe website, some from the IWM website and some are from private collections. Either way there are some very interesting kit and uniform details on display here. Its great to see this usually under represented airlanding unit given some screen time at last.
Follow the original thread here: Link: 12th Devons
Below are some of the photos which have recently been added to the WW2Talk forum, some by enthusiasts and some by family members, some of them are screen grabs from the British Pathe website, some from the IWM website and some are from private collections. Either way there are some very interesting kit and uniform details on display here. Its great to see this usually under represented airlanding unit given some screen time at last.
Follow the original thread here: Link: 12th Devons
Papier Maché Hat Displays
Not so long ago, in an antique shop in Bath I found a millinery head block. It was superb, a head shaped wooden block covered in cloth, it was old and would've been just the thing to display my beret and helmet collection (if I could find enough of them of course).... but the price!!!? How much?!!
I quickly scrapped the idea of using these original head blocks and sat down to think of a more affordable alternative, then I thought; 'papier maché'! So, a few days later and armed with balloons, wallpaper paste, sheets of newspaper and a bucket I set to making my first papier maché for many years... and I quite enjoyed it. I made two 'heads' as I soon realised that the structures wouldn't be strong enough for helmets but would work well for berets. I finished off each one with photocopied wartime newspapers and gave them a quick wash with a yellow/brown oil paint and varnish.
Now I just need to come up with something to display the helmets.... hmmm....
I quickly scrapped the idea of using these original head blocks and sat down to think of a more affordable alternative, then I thought; 'papier maché'! So, a few days later and armed with balloons, wallpaper paste, sheets of newspaper and a bucket I set to making my first papier maché for many years... and I quite enjoyed it. I made two 'heads' as I soon realised that the structures wouldn't be strong enough for helmets but would work well for berets. I finished off each one with photocopied wartime newspapers and gave them a quick wash with a yellow/brown oil paint and varnish.
Now I just need to come up with something to display the helmets.... hmmm....
