Please allow me to introduce myself:

My name is Tom, I'm born in 1964, and my girlfriend and I live in the Northern part of the Netherlands (The beautifull
province of Drenthe to be more precise)

Since my childhood I am interested in the second World War (one of the reasons for this is that my father still had a
german gas mask left from WWII).

  ** (the gasmask and whistle that I got from my father who died in 2009 (may he rest in peace), these items started my collection)

As a child I used to play “war” with my friends and I got interested in german stuff.

I allways choose the "german" side and soon I could buy and trade some nice equipment parts.

The german helmet I got back then was bought for 25 guilders (aprox 11-12 euro) 

Since then I found myself looking on flee markets for militaria, and in those days (70’s)
it was relatively easy to find nice items. (The only problem I had those days was a lack of money…)

Also I always enjoyed building scale models (Tamiya 1/35) and reading as much books about the war as I could find.

** (The Tamiya "Kohlenklau"  Marder II )

My collection has grown and grown (much to the disliking of my girlfriend ;-) ) and with the introduction of the internet I also
discovered the 1/6 scale hobby. In 1999 Dragon (a model company) released “Hans”, a infantry NCO, and since this time
I’m also sort of hooked to these models, which are a nice alternative (in space and costs) to 1/1 , although my main interest
still lies in the real stuff.

Of course the interest in World War II also reflects in my other hobby: shooting. Obviously I like doing this with WW II weapons. 

** A collegue shooter at the shooting range "De Harskamp" when I went shooting there with my Kar. 98k.
   You can imagine how I felt when I saw the MP44 (didn't have one myself then).

I also spend a lot of time on the Wehrmacht awards forum, and especially on the equipment forum and found fellow collectors there.
 

Also you can find me very often on the Warrellics forum with the Field Equipment And Accessories of the Third Reich section.

Some of the fellow collectors have become friends. I have a lot of fun trying to answer some of the questions, and find myself learning
new stuff almost every day.

One thing I learned through the years is that nothing is for certain, especially when it comes to german uniforms and equipment.

Sometimes it is difficult to focus in this hobby and the financial means are limited. That's why I have decided that my main focus
will be on German Field Gear and Equipment.

So there you have it:  the reasons I am making this page : to share information I know, to learn, and to show off my collection :-) 

Another reason (and much more important) is that I think we must not forget the sacrifices the soldiers made, both on German as
on Allied Side. The Germans because most of them just were plain soldiers who fought because there was nothing else they could do,
the Allied because they liberated us from the German Occupation.

I visit the musem in Overloon regularly, and there was a sign I noticed, which I like to add here: 

War belongs in a museum !!

Created, maintained and Copyright © 2004 / 2013, Tom (remove SPAM from email adress)

Introduction