Paratrooper.be

Bangalore torpedo restoration project

Wouter Has — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:03:24 +0000

About 6 months after acquiring a set of original Bangalore torpedo connectors and the rare nose piece, I started looking for ways to make a complete set. Getting the proper metal pipes, paints and stencils took some time. But this weekend, I finally set about my restoration project. I am quite pleased with the result, if I do say so myself.

View step-by-step instructions

Lego War 2 movie

Wouter Has — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:52:22 +0000

My son is now hooked on YouTube and showed me this stop-motion movie of WW2 Lego paratroopers. Really well done. Just think of the time that must have gone into making it.

Search YouTube for ‘Lego War 2′ and find a lot more of this!

Invasion armflag printed over as MP brassard?

Wouter Has — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:26:01 +0000

Photos of this curiosity were sent to me by John Boden. It’s an invasion armflag with the flag void-stamped and the reverse, which used to be white, stamped with POLICE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

Maybe this was for the newly formed occupation force in Germany after the liberation? It certainly looks like something from the end of the war (similar to the ‘emergency printing’ maps printed on the back side of German maps).

If anyone has any further suggestions, please let us know!

Read full invasion armflags article

More versions of TL-122-A flashlight

Wouter Has — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:51:44 +0000

Bob Young sent some pictures of the early TL-122-A flashlight which I had not seen before. The first one is reportedly the earliest type with a slighlty different form of angle head. The second one is like the usual type, but marked Eveready instead of TL-122-A.

Read updated TL-122 Flashlights article

WW2 Week at National Geographic Channel

Wouter Has — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:36:07 +0000

Image from http://www.ww2incolor.com/

This week is World War 2 Week at National Geographic Channel. I am now watching the documentaries I recorded yesterday, and the quality is really good. They have dug up a lot of interesting and rare period color footage. In fact, what I’m looking at now is mostly in color. You will find more info about WWII WEEK here.

This is for viewers in Belgium and The Netherlands, but I’m sure it will air in other countries too.

Paratrooper.be eBay auction closing tomorrow

Wouter Has — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:47:29 +0000

Tomorrow, Saturday 10 March, my first eBay auction closes with some very interesting and rare items. We have:
- PPN-2 Eureka beacon bag
- Luminous disk container
- Medic items
- Demolition bags
- Sun compass
- Fixed bale Chaplain helmet
- and more…

See all items for sale

517th PIR pathfinder story

Wouter Has — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:45:58 +0000

Bill Morris sent me a link of a site he’s working on in memory of his father, who was a pathfinder with the 517th PIR. He’s still working on it, but it already has some interesting parts:

The 517th was a ‘Special Ops Team’. During their 150 days of Combined Combat, they were attached to the 82nd, 17th, 13th Airborne Divisions and several other Units as needed. They were nicknamed “The Firemen”.

And there’s a Belgian angle to it too: In Jan, 2012, Jean-Louis Seel from Aubel, Belguim found his Website and emailed him stating that he had recovered his fathers dog tags near the town of Manhay, Belgium in 1988. During The Battle of the Bulge, the 517th Captured Manhay on Dec 27, 1945. Robert was wounded in the Battle 7 days later.

Visit the site about Robert L. Morris

Airborne 44 comic strip – part 4 out now

Wouter Has — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:35:44 +0000

I picked this one up today. It came out in Dutch this week, only 5 months after part 3. It’s really well done, as all the previous parts. Highly recommended.

I took a picture of a frame from the beginning of the book, which is based on a famous photo seen in many reference books. I added the photo for comparison. It’s more than just a well executed copy. The water colors really do the drawings justice.

Book review: Wartime Jeeps

Wouter Has — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:46:06 +0000

This book has been on my Amazon want-list for some time, awaiting publication. Now it’s here, and it was worth the wait. Great color photos of different versions of wartime Jeeps (and Bantams and Fords…).

I will be drooling over this and my other Jeep books for a few more years before I will finally be able to buy one. But getting there is half the fun, right?

The other books in the picture are Military Jeeps, which also has nice photos and information on restoration, and a reprint of 3 US Army Jeep technical manuals in one volume. A Jeep may be auto mechanics 101, but I still need to learn everything.

S.A.A.R.F. jump wing

Wouter Has — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:31:23 +0000

This new addition to the jump wings page is very special in that it was issued to maybe only 100 Americans for a unit that existed for only a few months. The Special Allied Airborne Reconnaissance Force was formed in March 1945 and disbanded in July. I had never heard of it before until I did some research when I saw this lot offered on eBay (see picture). It included an original SAARF wing, a reproduction SAARF title and an original SHAEF patch. The wing looks good to me, but I don’t have any good reference pictures.

More information about the history of the SAARF and its insignia can be found here on insignia.org