Vacation find

[JBizal]

I just returned from a trip to Europe and found a couple of items. I bought an original bren gun canvas cover and was wondering if these are a rare thing to find or are they fairly common?
I also found an original WWII Canadian armored division flag. It has the Union Jack in the upper corner and is smaller in size that a standard flag.
Does anyone have any leads on Canadian uniforms for WWII? I would like to get one for my carrier set up.
Thanks, John Bizal

[sapper740]

Originally posted by John Bizal
I just returned from a trip to Europe and found a couple of items. I bought an original bren gun canvas cover and was wondering if these are a rare thing to find or are they fairly common?
I also found an original WWII Canadian armored division flag. It has the Union Jack in the upper corner and is smaller in size that a standard flag.
Does anyone have any leads on Canadian uniforms for WWII? I would like to get one for my carrier set up.
Thanks, John Bizal

Hey John, sounds like you got some great finds. As for your questions, The cover for the Brengun is relatively rare. I search ebay almost daily for some kit I'm looking for and one soon sees what is commonly available and offered for sale. I looked for a Brengun cover when I had my Inglis MkI and never found one. The cover and brass catcher were all I needed to complete my display.
The main problem when looking for Canadian battle dress is size matters! Small to medium Canadian battle dress is commonly offered for sale on ebay and elsewhere. I'm 6' 2", 240 lbs and had a heck of a time finding battle dress to fit me. Both my pants (size 18) and my blouse (size 28) are tight on me and I continue to look for larger sizes. The problem is, there are many more large men today than during the war years all looking for a dwindling supply of large sized battle dress, so the prices paid continue to rise.
A cautionary note! Be wary of battle dress blouses from the more prized units such as the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Last year a blouse from that unit sold for an astounding $1,500.00 usd on ebay. Soon, in quick succession, several more 1st Cdn. Para. Btn. blouses were offered for sale. Whether those were authentic blouses or not is unknown. It may have been collectors trying to take advantage of an opportune moment to sell their authentic blouses for a good price, or it may have been blouses cobbled together with patches bought online. Caveat emptor!
There is a lot of post war Canadian battle dress available, just remember if you want to be authentic you need to have the small shell dressing pocket on the right thigh and the larger map pocket on the left thigh. Whatever you do, don't try to pass the British battle dress off as Canadian. It is made of a much coarser material, doesn't have as nice a cut, is browner in colour, and has exposed buttons. Simply not on, what?


CHIMO!

[Mike K]

I have a canvas cover for a bren if anyone wants it

It's dated 1945, an Australian made example .

Mike

vk3cz@hotmail.com