laboisselle

I find the whole thing with the names just another level of gimmicky to add to these, tbh. For a start, the name you get with your badge will be someone who died on 1 July 1916 - not necessarily an actual Somme casualty. And isn't this just a bit presumptuous of the RBL? They don't 'own' those names. As someone with a direct relative who was killed on the Somme on the 1st July I don't feel terribly comfortable about some complete stranger with no links to my relative whatsoever suddenly deciding that they have a 'connection' conferred by the RBL. Fine if this sort of thing is your bag and you want to do some research to find out about 'your' casualty. But as someone from a family that has actively kept alive the memory of its Somme casualties for very nearly 100 years, it doesn't sit well with me at all.

At last - a sensible answer to a sensible question. As usual, we have people who want to interpret the rules to suit their personal views/needs and people who are determined to just carry on regardless. Neither of which will form a defence in law against prosecution...!

This has been thoroughly gone through in other threads. On Realistic Imitation Firearms - best to read the Act. It's not difficult to understand and defines exactly what a RIF is, what offences may arise from making, buying, selling and/or converting one, the likely penalties and also defences. There's a bit more to it than your analysis suggests. And no, Brexit is highly unlikely to make any difference at all to the law on RIFs.

Many thanks for the input - appreciated.

Foot starter switch on M201 has gone kaput. Now seeking new one; anyone suggest the best place in the UK to buy a replacement and how easy is it to fit? Doable for a mechanical ignoramus?! Thanks.

Davey089 can avoid the grass diet - it didn't reach the reserve. I hear the seller is now looking for a private buyer if anyone's interested...

Nope - says you can contact the auctioneers to buy it for that, but it doesn't say it sold on the day. So, presumably, it didn't reach that amount in open bidding, but that figure is what the seller has decided he'll take for it. Good luck to him!

Yep, the 'blouse' is the BD jacket. Which would be badged up.

Whereabouts and how big are you? I might have a spare BD blouse that you could at least borrow and badge for the weekend, if it'd help. Can you get some cash off the ripped overalls rather than send them back? Ripped is pretty authentic, after all!

Could be a problem - for historical accuracy should the 'whistle' sound at 7.30am Zulu, BST or local?

Something else to consider is the function of overalls. The original idea was that these would be worn over BD, to protect it. So no need to badge up your overalls when - in theory at least - you'd be wearing your fully badged BD underneath.

Honestly? Yes - 'wrong'. Sorry. Overalls are workwear and would have been returned to a central laundry for care and repair. Hence what you sent in may not be what you got out again! As a result, rank only (and then often in a 'detachable' format). If you have time to get a BD blouse then you're on firmer ground. Otherwise some armchair 'expert' will embarrass themself (and possibly you too) by picking holes in your get up. Keep it simple - as I say; less is more.

Alternatively - remember what those boys did that day quietly, respectfully and with dignity in your own way and don't feel the need necessarily to comply with some 'approved' method of remembrance that involves annoying your neighbours! Just a thought.

Since your not a full-on reenactor and just want to generally 'look the part' I'd suggest less is more. I'd agree with what others have said regarding insignia on overalls - probably rank only. A khaki beret or GS cap (not sure which you've bought as the GS 'cap' is very un-cap like and is, essentially, a beret!) will be fine. REME cap badge on the beret (make sure you get the right one) would work - but is not essential. Plus a bair of black boots. Then you're pretty much done. Would have to disagree about insignia being for 'Sunday best' BD - clearly not the case during WW2.

Yep, that's it - stomping about in your full greens getting funny looks from the tourists and truck drivers. Happy days! :-D

As building material? I'd have to agree!

Always room in the 58 resi pouch for a 'proper' bog roll, I found.

Surely no-one's really surprised about this are they? Anniversary years only count when they end in a 0 or a 5, for media purposes - that's when the 'VIPs' turn out and, hence, the TV cameras. Veterans - they're still around, but (of course) getting frailer and thinner on the ground. Guess we'll see the last of them pass on in the next decade or so. The very youngest of them will be in their late 80s already. But - their glory shall not be blotted out!

Ha, ha - this thread has brought back some happy memories! Agree that the packets during the '80s were a green foil (at least, the ones I saw). Biscuits fruit (aka Biscuits dead fly) - yep, delicious. Best thing in the packs apart from the boiled sweets. Seem to remember that the tinned meat was quite palatable if thinly sliced and fried - a half-decent substitute for bacon, first thing in the morning. But, basically, everyone carried a small container of curry powder which made just about anything in the ration packs edible. Only recall seeing the smaller cardboard packs with range cards printed on them. We were always convinced that Biscuits AB stood for 'anal blockage' - couple of packets of those and you'd not need to use the toilet paper for at least a few days! :undecided:

Hmmmm, can't help feeling it's all a bit gimmicky, tbh. Another way for the latecomers to show just how deeply they care and how very special their personal act of remembrance is? I get very dubious when things start to become more about the people doing the remembering than they are about the people being remembered. It's a great cause, of course, but if you feel that strongly, why not just put your 40 quid in the Poppy Appeal tin in November? A bog standard plastic and paper poppy will do just fine for me. All that being said - the soil collector chap has good taste in US flying jackets!

As a rule I'd say it's unwise to make assumptions where firearms law is concerned. However, in this case you'd be correct - as a member of a recognised living history/reenactment group you may well have a valid defence under the VCR Act.

Yes indeed - not trying to teach grandma to suck eggs here. Just a word to the wise. Good luck finding a decent one.

Um, no. What's required, I would suggest, is understanding where you stand in law. If you buy a RIF without a valid defence under the VCR Act - regardless of what you intend to do with it and/or then do do with it - you are breaking the law. Both you, and the folk who sold you these RIFs, may well have committed an offence. Many dealers seem to take a 'don't ask and take the money' approach. Which doesn't make it lawful. It is both your - and their -risk. And as I've said on here before - posting in black and white about how you bought a RIF and no-one gave a hoot about the VCR Act - is probably not very sensible. Anyway, it's your funeral - I don't suppose the gentleman asking about replica Vickers K's wants his thread hijacked by yet another endless debate about how the VCR Act 'doesn't apply to me because I'm special'!

You need to be sure, when making or obtaining a Realistic Imitation Firearm (RIF), that you have a valid defence for doing so under the VCR Act. This has been discussed at length elsewhere on here. In my opinion owning a military vehicle and/or belonging to a military vehicle club, association or society is NOT a valid defence. Others on here feel differently. But it is as well to remember that it will be you who will be doing a spell in chokey if you get it wrong - and not them! :embarrassed: It pays to give the Act and the specific defences it sets out a careful read and to ensure that you are compliant before you obtain a RIF of any kind for any reason.

Hi - Having a clear out and these are going spare, some great titles here and one or two 'must-haves'. Hardback unless stated otherwise. Cheaper than Amazon! 'The Valentine in North Africa 1941-42' Bryan Perrett 1972 first edition no jacket - £3 (great tank reference) 'UK Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now' Roger Freeman - £12 (superb After the Battle) 'Kent Home Guard - A History' KR Gulvin 1980 - £12 (hard to find now) 'D-Day - Battle for Normandy' Anthony Beevor paperback 2012 - £2 'The Big Show' Pierre Clostermann 1953 - £1 'The Big Show' Pierre Clostermann 1966 paperback - £1.50 'Gideon Goes to War; from the Deserts of Palestine to the Green Hell of Burma – Orde Wingate’s Story' paperback Leonard Mosley 1957 - £1.50 'Prisoners of Hope' Michael Calvert paperback 1971 - £2.50 (one for the Jungle Green aficiandos!) 'Storm of Steel' Ernst Junger paper back 2004 - £3 'Boy Soldiers of the Great War' Richard van Emden paperback 2005 - £1.50 'Forgotten Voices of the Somme' Joshua Levine paperback 2008 - £2 'An Anzac’s Story – Roy Kyle AIF' by Bryce Courtenay paperback 2003 - £3.50 'Officer’s Manual of the Western Front 1914-18' Stephen Bull 2008 - £2 Prices exclude p&p. Paypal's OK - but you cover the fees.