One more 1st pattern Denison smock with a twist

[MacHodr]

Ok, yes, I understand your concerns and suspicions. I am mainly collecting militaria for the Czechoslovak army in exile during the Second World War and almost 17 years a go. British airborne forces are my second love. I once owned a 1st pattern Smock, unfortunately I had to sell it, which is now very sorry. Was very washed-out, but otherwise not holes and in good condition. Made in 1942 by CWS, size 7. Photo here I insert the end of the week, I do it in the digital version, so I'll have to scan it (at work). Phot of my group (with second produced repro smock on my friend) I attach. In the second photo I standing first on the left, next to Mr. Parry. Both pictures are from this year's commemorative of the battle at Arnhem. First in Wolfheze, second in Oosterbeek.
I'm sorry that I might also choose inappropriate thread ....

[grip3846]

Nice

MacHodr,
I see that you indeed do have a passion for the Airborne,I therefore get off my high horse and apologise for my synical post earlier. I know that you see where I was coming from in my post and I wish you well in your interest and persuits in reenactment,you look very well turned out. I think that you shouls have started your own thread,it may well be interesting if you have any more photos like the ones you have added here.
Regards,Ivan

[SMP]

Excellent, best replica I've ever seen!
.

I agree .

Congratulations on producing such a fine replica. Maybe you could start a new thread and tell us more.

Regards,
Steve

[kammo man]

That is a great repop .
I am, sure it would not hold up to real close inspection howerer so everyone should relax .
From my computer is indeed has the look .
It would be nice if there was a making of a smock pictures ......
The hand brushing ect , cutting .......
The Greman fake cammo industry is a joke .
If any German collector even handeled a real helmet cover or pullover they would be able to tell the difference in a heart beat .
It is the same with Dennisons .
The painted ones ,infact all Dennisons have a sewing style that no faker has even come close to perfecting .
However , if it was made by man once it can be made by man again .
But sewing techinque ,thread tension ,mistakes and the like are factiors to take into account .
Look at your smocks and you will see this .
the stop - start of the machine for an example , close tightly packed stitches and then the lond stitches where the machine got on a roll .
This is where your Dennison is unique and who you can tell a real wartime manufacture .
owen

[jelle]

On ebay there has a guy been selling similar handpainted denisons for a while now.I have seen better and better replica helmets appear,but also small items like mk II ammopouches,or replica no97 blanco with very convinsing labels.

Reproductions are ok as long as they can be identified as being replicas.Otherwise they will destroy some of the history they were designed for to portray.

Somehow original items have that surtain je ne c'est pas.Let us hope they will not be able to fake that.

Nice impression though,and the smock is indeed pretty good.

[dens-mil]

I have seen the smocks in Oosterbeek this year. They fooled me at first, and I would rather see these smock's than any bad repro or worse, a Belguim post war smock on a reenactor!

Keep up the good work!

[Beau Brummel.]

You are preaching to the converted Owen. I don't think too many here would struggle to identify one of these In the flesh. However big a "Joke" the german camo Industry may be It STILL catches a lot of people for a lot of money. As denisons rise and leave the realms of surplus then the earlier ones become scarcer for the collector to encounter . This smock may well not fool you with your experience but could the same be said for a new collector In perhaps 10 years time? See where I'm coming from?

Yours, Guy.

[kammo man]

I hear you Guy .
They look real good for sure .
How about a pair oF Dennison paratrooper trousers ????
With the big leg pocket and a Dennison beret cover complete with a nice little string to prevent it blowing off in the wind .
That would be nice .


owen

[Beau Brummel.]

You can take the piss all you want but have you ever seen a pair of windys, factory configured to jump trousers? In 30 years I've seen about half a dozen pairs, 4 were crap but 2 I tried to buy as I'm sure they were real. Last pair was at Beltring about 8 years ago, I tried and tried but the bloke was hanging onto them for dear life. At the same show I was shown a smock in the 'Browning' cut, I didn't know there was more than one, oh the good old days!

Anyway, enough of this rose tinted remeniscing. I was simply taking Issue with your statement about 'once you've seen the real thing'. That Is exactly the problem, when It comes to SS camouflage particularly, the layman Has a job on his hands. You and I have both owned this stuff and you are lucky enough to have Jerome Blake as a friend, we are the fortunate ones. Many dealers carry only fakes, the ones with the real deal may not be too keen on educating people, many examples on display In British museums are reproductions, so what Is the prospective collector to do? THIS Is why people get stung on fake Nazi camo and my assertion Is that as early smocks become rare (which they now are), In 10 years time the new collector will be In the same boat as his TR colleague.

I think this young man has made a superb effort at reproducing the camouflage In question and should be congratulated. If he were In the business of duping people I hardly think he would have posted it here. As Ivan has suggested this smock deserves it's own thread and It would be very Interesting to hear more about the dying, production etc.

Best regards one and all,

Guy.

[kammo man]

I am on the same page as you Guy 100% .


I would have loved to see those windys they sound fantastic .
Hey I just got a windy set mis matched but a 9 out of 10 in the color dept .
The top is the usual fabric and the bottoms are the rough fabric and dated 43 .
I always thought this fabric was post war as any smocks and trousers I have found had later dates on them .
Have you seen this war-time dates also ???


owen

[MacHodr]

Okay, and will set its own thread and ask the moderator to move the weighing contributions to my speakers there. I am here a little while, then the thread will write a little more about repro smock.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi MacHodr, welcome to the forum.

We marched together to the Bridge I am on the right.

I understand the comments the guys have made here and thank you for taking the comments on board.

Cheers, Ade.

[Beau Brummel.]

Nice one Mate,

I always thought the rough cloth was a slightly later production too, all the earliest pieces I have owned were In that lovely sail cloth. 43 Is the earliest date one tends to find this cloth In whatever the garment ie 'smock drab' etc. I really don't know why It was producwed as It Is nowhere near as nice or strong as the sail cloth. Perhaps it was a case of wartime economy, I wonder If ken knows?

yeah, the trousers were awesome, I badly wanted them but the guy just wouldn't play. Pocket mods etc were all done In the same thread as assembly and seemed to have been done during production, don't know weather they were experimental or what but they had the standard label. Later on the same day a fellow showed me a 'Browning' cut smock and I couldn't buy that either what a bummer!

MacHodr, thank you for agreeing to show us more of your smock, I look forward to the thread enormously.

Yours, Guy.

I am on the same page as you Guy 100% .


I would have loved to see those windys they sound fantastic .
Hey I just got a windy set mis matched but a 9 out of 10 in the color dept .
The top is the usual fabric and the bottoms are the rough fabric and dated 43 .
I always thought this fabric was post war as any smocks and trousers I have found had later dates on them .
Have you seen this war-time dates also ???


owen

[The Saint]

You can take the piss all you want but have you ever seen a pair of windys, factory configured to jump trousers? In 30 years I've seen about half a dozen pairs, 4 were crap but 2 I tried to buy as I'm sure they were real. Last pair was at Beltring about 8 years ago, I tried and tried but the bloke was hanging onto them for dear life. At the same show I was shown a smock in the 'Browning' cut, I didn't know there was more than one, oh the good old days!
Guy.

Great info, never stop to learn.
I guess too these were experimental like the Pat 44 jungle set in windproof material.

[kammo man]

Saint
Have you ever seen a jungle set in the fleash or just in line ???
i would love to see one that was real .
o