How To: Sign Painting:

The German Army used a great variety of signage in WW2. I'd like to provide some tips on how you can paint signs for your displays. Below is an orginal copy of a Wehrmacht vocational training book in sign painting which was intended to provide occupational training guides for soldiers seeking work after the war.

Step 1: For my project, I wanted to create a sign for use at our fortress display. The sign we are rectreating depicts a Army Coastal battery in France. Using a Computer Output your sign to fit. Whatever pre-coated white wooden blank sign you have available. Tile your files if needed and tape them together until your template is complete. When Choosing a font try to stick with the DIN or Futura series when possible. Tannenburg/Fraktur based fonts while certainly germanic were less common as general signage.

Step 2: With the Template assembled flip the paper over. Using a graphite pencil begin shading the backside lettering of the sheet so as to make a transferrable image.

Step 3: Now tape the template face up to the wooden plank. Using a pen and a ruler trace over each letter form. The pen will help you see if you missed any parts.

Step 4: Now remove the template and your letter shapes will be transferred, albeit faintly, to the wooden plank.

Step 5: Now the fun part! Painting in the letters. I find a beer helps keep my hands steady. (Patrons of Ft. Indiantown Gap will recognize this notorious brew!) I am using a Tamiya Flat Black Acrylic enamel Paint. It coats really nice thins with water and dries fast and permanent. A wide flat artists brush will help you stay in the lines. 

Step 6:  With the lettering complete Frame in the sign with a black Perimeter. 

Project Complete! The completed new sign reporting for duty as part of our display. Hope you will consider a sign painting project that will enhance your next event!

3.PGD at Ft. Tabor (Batch 1)

Our D-Day event at Ft. Taber (June 7-9, 2013) centered a public display around a Festungskommandantur with a Frontleitstelle, based on a generic fortress somewhere near Normandy.
 
A Festungskommandantur is the fortress command/headquarters. A Frontleitstelle is a front forwarding station where soldiers returning from leave, hospital, etc. would check-in and stay until the exact location of the unit they were returning to could be ascertained. 3.PGD filled the role of soldaten stationed near Normandy before the invasion, as occupying troops, with all the "comforts" that status affords. 

The majestic setting of Ft. Taber really allowed this impression to flourish. The day before the event, remains of a tropical storm hit the New England coast line. This was a perfect replication of the weather right before D-Day in 1944. We could not have asked for a better reenacting gift. Below are the first batch of our photos from this amazing event. Flooding, and our attempts to dry out, can clearly be seen. More 3.PGD photos from this event will be posted in the near future.

Ft. Taber: Friends of 3.PGD

Over the weekend of June 7-9, 3.PGD participated in a D-Day based Public Display at Ft. Taber in New Bedford, MA.  Photos of our display will be posted soon. In the meantime, we would like to feature some great photos of our various friends who also attended the event; 101st 502 PIR, 82nd 505th, 914th, 3rd SS, and British Paratroopers. Sorry, I don't know the Brits exact unit designation...prolly Tea-something. :)

Lanterns: Types and Proper Use

Do you know how to properly use a lantern? 

  

Yes, there is more to it than just lighting the wick and walking away for the night. Proper use of a lantern will provide brighter light, a more consistent burn, longer wick life, and fuel efficiency. This article covers lantern basics. All of the information applies only to cold and hot blast tubular lanterns (Did you know there was a difference? Did you know those tubes on the side are strictly a function of air flow and combustion design?)

First, what are the types of lanterns?

Most lanterns embody one of three distinct types of construction: Hot-Blast, Cold Blast, or Dead-Flame. Cold-Blast and Hot-Blast are tubular lanterns (e.g. those tubes on the sides).  In them, the fuel vapor mixed with air, in proper ratio, composes the burning mixture. The burner acts as a carburetor to which the side tubes convey properly controlled air in regulated volume. Result: perfect combustion and bright, clean light. A cold-blast lantern, easily the most efficient of all, is constructed so that only fresh, cold air enters the tubes, while the spent air is diverted and expelled. Hot-blast lanterns permit a portion of spent air to recirculate through the tubes. Cold-blast provides about twice the brightness of hot-blast. Hot and cold-blast lanterns produce much more light than dead-flame type.

Dead-Flame: A dead-flame lantern works by drawing in fresh air directly below the burner, while the hot exhaust air is exhausted out of the top of the lantern. 

A typical dead flame lantern.

 

Hot Blast: The hot-blast design, also known as a "tubular lantern" due to the round metal tubes used in its construction, was invented by John Irwin and patented on January 12, 1868. The hot-blast design collected hot air from above the globe and fed it through metal side tubes to the burner, to make the flame burn brighter. 

Hot Blast lantern.

 

Cold Blast: The cold-blast design is similar to the hot-blast, except that cold fresh air is drawn in from around the top of the globe and is then fed though the metal side tubes to the flame. This design produces a brighter light than the hot blast design, because the fresh air that is fed to the flame has plenty of oxygen to support the combustion process.

Cold Blast lantern.

 

The German army often used dead-flame candle and carbide type lanterns (see below).  However, as hot blast lanterns were patented on Jan 12, 1868, cold-blast on June 9, 1874, and little has changed in design since, almost anything you can buy new today is as "period" as it was in the 1800's. Hot and cold blast lanterns were certainly around during WWII, and are the most practical types to be used by reenactors.
 

A German carbide dead flame style lantern.

 

The best modern day, off-the-shelf, lanterns are German made (Feuerhand).  This company has been making lanterns in Germany since 1902, and are the last original tubular lantern manufacturers still producing lanterns in the western hemisphere.  If you are going to get one of these, look for the Feuerhand #276 "Super Baby." New, they cost around $30.00. They are worth every cent.

Cheaper lanterns often have shoddy welding and bad carburetion. Often the welds are of substandard quality and fuel can start leaking out, or the "tubes" separate with some time.  Due to cheaply made burner plate parts, they can also burn in a very erratic manner. Keep any eye out for these issues over the lifespan of any lantern.

 

WICK SHAPE: Cut straight across with shears (for either charred portion of old wick or fuzzy portion of new one.) A straight wick will burn more evenly, and give better, consistent light.

LIGHTING: Set the flame a little lower than is desired for burning, since the flame will burn higher after the lantern reaches operating temperature. Yes, lanterns need to "warm up" at bit.

FLAME HEIGHT: If flame is too high soot will form at the top of the globe.  A lantern should NEVER have soot at the top of the globe. If you see any smoke you’ve got the wick too high and need to lower it. When soot starts to form you are (a) reducing light output, (b) burning more fuel than you need to, (c) damaging the wick (the end has a tendency to burn instead of the fuel). If you see a sooty globe, is should be cleaned to maintain maximum light output. It does not take long for the globe to become hard to clean, and thus undermine the entire purpose of the lantern (e.g. to give off light). Soot can also be caused by the wrong type of fuel, or a "clogged" wick (see below). Oil lamps burn about 1/2 oz. of lamp oil per hour when correctly adjusted, and this should be around a 1/2 inch flame (give or take).

FUEL: What NOT to Use: DO NOT USE PARAFFIN OIL IN TUBULAR LANTERNS WITH 5/8" or LARGER WICK. (Use Paraffin only in lamps with 1/2" or smaller wick.) Paraffin in the UK is kerosene. Paraffin Oil in the UNITED STATES is Liquid Candle Wax , and is often mis-labeled for use in oil lamps and lanterns, when in fact it is only suited for Candle Oil Lamps that use small diameter (under 1/4”) round wick. 99% or 100% Paraffin Oil is NOT designed or suitable for use in tubular lanterns or oil lamps that use flat wick, or Kosmos or Matador type oil lamps. Further, it burns only 1/2 as bright of any of the correct fuels listed below. Paraffin oil has a much higher viscosity and a flash point of 200 degrees or higher, as compared to the flash point of 150 degrees for kerosene. These differences inhibit the necessary capillary action of the wick, and will cause lamps and lanterns with 7/8" or larger wick to burn improperly and erratic. Once a wick is contaminated with paraffin oil, it must be replaced in order for the lantern to burn properly. If you must use paraffin oil, it may be mixed 1:10 to 2:10 (one to two parts paraffin,) to ten parts standard lamp oil or kerosene so that it will burn satisfactorily. Paraffin Oil is sold in the United States under the following trade names, which should be avoided except for use with lamps or lanterns with 1/4” round or 1/2" flat or smaller wick:

Aura Oil

Crown Royal

Firelight Glass

Orvis Lamp Fuel

Northern Lights

Northwest

Pure Lite

Recochem Ultra-Clear Lamp Oil

Soft Light

Tropical Lights

Ultra-Pure

Weems & Plath

FUEL: What TO Use: Standard Lamp Oil, Synthetic Kerosene, or Kerosene Substitute are recommended for use indoors. The correct fuels for indoor or outdoor use in Tubular Lanterns and Flat Wick Oil Lamps are:

1. Lamplight Farms Clear Medallion Brand Lamp Oil (This my personal favorite fuel, and easy to come by). Flash Point: 145 Degrees Fahrenheit

2. W.M. Barr & Co. Klean-Heat Kerosene Substitute. Flash Point: 145 Degrees Fahrenheit

3. Crown Brand Clear Lamp Oil. Flash Point: 141 Degrees Fahrenheit

4. Genuine Aladdin Brand Lamp Oil. Flash Point: 141 Degrees Fahrenheit

5. MVP Group International Florasense Brand Lamp Oil (Sold by Wal-Mart). Flash Point: 142 Degrees Fahrenheit

6. Recochem Clear Lamp Oil. Flash Point: 124 Degrees Fahrenheit

For ONLY outdoor use:

1. Non-Dyed (Clear) Kerosene with a Flash Point Between 124 and 150 Degrees Fahrenheit

2. Sunnyside Brand 1-K Kerosene. Flash Point: 125 Degrees Fahrenheit

3. Coleman Brand Kerosene Fuel. Flash Point: 130 Degrees Fahrenheit

4. Crown 1-K Fuel Grade Kerosene. Flash Point: 150 Degrees Fahrenheit

5. Crown Citronella Torch and Lamp Fuel. (cut 50:50 with kerosene to extend wick life.) Flash Point: 141 Degrees Fahrenheit

6. Tiki Brand Citronella Torch Fuel (cut 50:50 with kerosene to extend wick life.) Flash Point: 145 Degrees Fahrenheit

Dyed kerosene or lamp oil will eventually clog the wick and inhibit proper operation. It can also permanently stain the lamp or lantern. If you purchase kerosene from a gas station, make sure that it is from a "blocked" pump so that it is clear and not dyed red. (Un-blocked kerosene pumps by law must dispense dyed kerosene which will clog lantern wick, and cause it not to burn properly.)

Standard clear lamp oil (Lamp Light Farms Medallion Oil,) is available nationwide at: Target, K-Mart, Ace Hardware, True-Value Hardware, etc.

"Klean-Heat" Kerosene Substitute is available at or through most hardware stores and home centers including: Home Depot, Ace Hardware, True-Value,

Genuine Aladdin Brand Lamp Oil is available from Aladdin Lamp Dealers nationwide.

Much of the above material included was sourced from www.lanternnet.com. This is a great web site for lantern sales, information, and supplies. [3.PGD is not affiliated with www.lanternet.com in anyway.]

Alarmanlage!

On 13 April 3.PGD was deployed for an overnight training event.  We spent the weekend in this wonderful shed, and the surrounding sectors.

Along with rifle drill, squad movement, K98 target practice (live fire), a multi-objective terrain reconnaissance mission, our Spiess tasked the squad with a unique objective; create an alarmanlage (alarm system) to give advance warning of an enemy incursion.  We were given the below period document and told to replicate it exactly.        

Using empty broth cans, building stakes from scrap wood, making holes in the cans, hammering stakes into the ground, we began to connect the entire network of cans.  Our Spiess is a wise man.  We were all skeptical as to how effective this so-called “warning system” would be.  Once it was done, we were all bewildered at the staggering effectiveness of such a simple device.  

Soldat Kaminsky chops woods down to usable stake size.

Graf hammers holes into cans for string.

Two Soldaten scrutinize the blueprints.

The men work on the center piece of the entire system.

Close up of one of the cans, now transformed into a potent alarm.

Spiess yells to the troops to hurry up!  Abendessen is almost ready!

Close up of the double-can configuration, which makes the alarm all the more effective. 

More photos from other aspects of the event will be posted on our Facebook page in the near future.  (The owner of the page is now on National Guard duty in Boston resulting from the Marathon bombings).  

Some Living History Humor

The members of 3.PGD all take history, and reenacting, seriously.  However, we also are all tempered with the ability to laugh at ourselves.  In the spirit of humor, we share the MEME below with hopes that it brings everyone a smile.

How Uniforms and Equipment were Marked

Before the outbreak of WWII, Wehrmacht regulations stipulated that each soldier's uniform and equipment items were to be marked with a tag with his name, and a stamp for his unit. Here is a scan from a wartime manual that showed where these stamps and labels were to be placed in the various items a soldier was issued.

Here is the interior of an early M34 field cap:

This cap follows the regulations exactly. Note that at some point the soldier was transferred and the unit stamp inked out with a new unit stamped in. There is no unit designation on the name tag, this would have been redundant as that information was on the ink stamp. Here is another original pre-war name tape of the same type.

Some of the name tags used before the war also did have unit designations. Here is one on a RAD Zeltbahn. Various Fraktur fonts were commonly used on these tags.

The use of the name tags and stamps was not the easiest or simplest way to mark gear, it was also not the most permanent way as the tags could be removed/replaced, but it was the German regulation way. Wehrmacht units were in charge of stamping the gear with the unit designation and we can assume that the tags were supplied by the units to the soldiers, or at least the tags were made easily available for them to buy. All this changed in 1940 with the following regulation:

"Allegemeine Heeresmitteilungen, Marz 1940
299. Namenszettel
Waehrend des Krieges kommt das anbringen von Namenszettel as Stoff bzw Papier in die Bekleidungs und Ausrusestungsstuecke des Mannes (H. Dv. 121 Nr. 142) in Fortfall. Vorhandene sowie bereits bestellte Namenszettel koennen aufgebraucht werden."

 

Translation: During the war the use of name tags made of cloth or paper in clothing and equipment of the men (as stated in previous regulation) is discontinued. Existing tags and those already ordered can be used.

 

Use of clothing labels was not a totally private and optional endeavor before the war, it was by regulation. When a new regulation stated that these tags were to be discontinued, it seems reasonable to assume that they were no longer supplied or made available to soldiers by their units. This is why the overwhelming vast majority of surviving wartime issue uniform and equipment items do not have these labels. Most survivng labels are on pre-war items. It is easy to find 100 or more untouched wartime manufacture issued and used uniform/equipment items without these tags, for every one with a tag. However, soldiers did need to find some way to identify personal property and kit items. So here are some of the ways this was actually done during the war, showing original wartime field gear items for examples:

 

-Stitching name or initials into fabric, as seen on this gas mask strap:

-Use of simple typed glued-on name labels in place of printed tags, here on a gas mask canister:

-Writing a name on the item in ink, probably most common way for cloth items; here on a Rucksack, a Tornister, and a canteen cover:

 

 



-Scratching a name into a metal item, shown here on a belt buckle and a mess tin:

 

-Scratching or writing initials, a monogram, or identifying symbol of some kind. Here are a couple of canteens with marks on the leather straps, a Zeltbahn with an ink marking, and a mess kit:

 

 

 

Note that none of these examples have any kind of unit designation, divisional symbol or other identifier. Only rarely would a soldier have also added his unit. In such cases the Kompanie was specified, not the Division as I have seen all too many times on reenactment kit items. The most typical way would be the soldier's name and the number of the Kompanie, as on this 1943 Tornister:

In some few cases the Feldpost number might be used, as on this late-war Tornister for a 12. SS soldier:

There were of course private-purchase civilian type identifying items that soldiers could have bought and used as well to mark kit. Here are metal initials on an officer's M38 cap, and a woven initial sewn on issue underclothing.

 

With minimal effort, it is easy to mark uniform and equipment items in an authentic way.