This has been sitting unloved in my closet for a few years, I forgot to put it up here when I first got it. It’s the holster for the German 1934 model flare pistol, here. This example is made primarily from a material called prestoff, which is a kind of treated, pressed paper pulp. The only leather on it is the parts that were likely to be flexed repeatedly. It’s well stamped but illegible.
A few posts ago I found a Walther SLD U-Boat flare gun in an auction out east. No-one much bid on it as it was missing the selector switch for the L-R barrel select. Of course I am an idiot who didn’t understand just how unobtainium these things are. Needless to say it’s take me six months and the kindness of Martin from Austria to supply this missing bit.
These pistols were produced for seagoing vessels in the German Kriegsmarine, where the lack of a steady platform meant that the additional handhold needed to be provided. Early versions were manufactured in stainless steel, later ones in anodized aluminium. This example has the eeu code for the manufacturer Lieferungsgemeinschaft Westthüringer Werkzeug u. Metallwarenfabriken GmbH in Wek Sömmerda, Thuringia. With a production run just over 4000, and many of these ending up on the Atlantic floor, they are super rare. This example is missing its selector switch, which I am working on getting 3d printed.
Remembering that I don’t collect flare guns, someone please tell me why I now have four of them? This is the most common WW2 German flare gun, the LP-42. Made of stamped metal, it was designed to be cheap and simple. This one is manufactured by C&W Meinel-Scholer of Sachsen, with their EUH code stamped into it.
This German ersatz leather pouch is designed to carry the flare rounds for 27mm flare pistols such as the LP42. The manufacturer in this case is FSX41, which is code for the Albin Scholle Lederwarenfabrik in Zeitz. These pouches are identical to the postwar VOPOS ones so you have to be careful when you go hunting. All the ones I have seen to date seem to be manufactured by the same company and stamped FSX.
This holster is manufactured to fit the M1928 Heeres Leuchtpistole. These look like leather but at this point in the war they are made from ersatz material, rather like pressed cardboard. This one came complete with its cleaning rod.
This flaregun is a 1942 Erma manufactured example of the Army Model M1940. This gun fires the standard 26.5mm cartridge. The early ones were made from steel. This example is anodised aluminium. The Heer LP was a revision of the M1934 LP with minor differences including a load indicator on the left of the hammer.
This is my “Flieger-Leuchtpistole L.“, Aircrew Flare Gun (Luftwaffe). It is designed to take the standard 27mm German flare. This example was manufactured by Heinrich Krieghoff Waffenfabrik in 1942 and is composed of anodised aluminium. These models were also issued to Fallschirmjäger. I love the barrel switch and the load indicators, it’s almost steampunk in its design.
This is part of what is called an Alarmleuchtzeichen or alarm-flare trap. This holder was nailed to a tree and the charge containing the illuminating compound fitted into it. Then a simple cord was attached and tied across a path or access way. This one was found attached to a tree stump in Courland.
Kiwi Medals 