Are there any Romanian WWII reenactment societies?

Nice drawings, Kepi.

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on September 30, 2005 01:17 pm

Sorry, I forgot. The first picture is from my own collection, the second one is from “Armata Romana in al doilea razboi mondial”, Editura Meridiane, 1995 and the last one is from “Armata Romana 1941-1945” Editura RAI, 1996.

I can contribute with a Model 1939 gas mask (complete), a field shovel, an officer's "port-hart" (that belonged to my grandfather), a communist steel helmet, a double ammo pouch (i think it's WW1) and several orders and medals.

This is a good start to recreate a complete WW2 Romanian soldier uniform. The M.39 (cylindrical) gas mask, the shovel and the Austrian style double cartridge pouch are OK. I would like to see photos of them, if possible. Concerning the “communist” helmet, what is the real model: Soviet M.40 or Romanian M.73?
Of course, there are other items missing (head gear, tunic, trousers, boots, belt, bread bag, etc.) but these will gradually come in the future. The most important is to know what are the items of equipment you need, to look for them. For shows many reenactors use to help each other or borrow missing items from their comrades or institutions.

The helmet is M73, painted blue, without liner.

I had many opportunities to buy various pieces of equipment: bottles, bread bags, backpacks, parts of uniform. But i don't have enough knowledge to tell if they were WW2 or post-WW2 so i didn't buy any of them.

Then a M.39 helmet, with liner and strap, would be better. There is not difficult to find such a piece, but be careful on the price/quality ratio. Sometimes the prices are indecent for poor quality shells.

I posted some drawings of WW2 items of equipment. Original pieces are almost impossible to find, although sometimes miracles happen. Recently somebody found a WW2 bread bag in a pile of communist era bread bags, and at the beginning of the year a collector discovered a pair of WW2 soldier breaches, brand new, but small size, in an… “unknown” place. So you must have open eyes.

Anyway, if you have the opportunity to find good quality communist bread bags, canteens, mess kettles, etc. (a lot of old officers were issued with these items, so they are available in antique shops or on the flea market), at reasonable prices, don’t hesitate to buy them as they could became very rare in the future. They could be used for reenactment as many western reenactors use post war or reconstructed uniforms and equipment.

The main purpose is to make a rational combination of items of uniforms and equipment in order to recreate a credible WW2 soldier.

Hi Kepi,

Thanks for the excellent drawings. It gives everyone a check list to measure their collection against.

As a matter of interest, is the heavy khaki cloth used to make WWII uniforms still produced in Romania?

How long after WWII was the same cloth used to make uniforms?

How long after WWII was the same pattern of uniform still used?

Cheers,

Sid.

Unfortunately the kaki cloth used to make WWII uniforms is not produced any more; in fact the Romanian army had a variety of kaki cloth shades.

But you can paint cloth and get a similar color.
In the picture I posted you can see the result of painting cloth and the different shades obtained.


1- original kaki cloth
2, 3, 4 - different shades that were made, only second and third are similar and can be used in WWII Romanian uniforms

Thank you for compliments! I’ll do my best to encourage the reenactment movement in Romania.

Officially, the production of kaki cloth uniforms in Romania ended at the beginning of 1990, when new camouflage field uniforms were adopted. A few years since that year Romanian enlisted men still wore old M.1966 uniforms, made in kaki cloth, until the army stocks ended. Unfortunately, there are no army surplus stocks in Romanian army to be sell to private persons.

Anyway, the M.1966 kaki cloth was more greenish than the M.1939 kaki cloth.

WW2 uniforms were produced until 1947, but still wore during the next years, until the new M.1948 Soviet style uniforms became of general use. M.1948 uniforms were made in a different shade of kaki , more brownish, almost ochre.

Below is a field cap replica, currently selling on eBay.


Gen. Dénes

It's a nice "Capela". The cut and cloth is similar to the original models.

It's a good opportunity for foreign enthousiasts to set up Romanian WW2 reenacting units.

What about us?

Nice, very nice. It seems to be of very good quality but the price is a bit too high.
But for reenacting you must be careful because it could be too large or too small for the head of the owner.

Here is a photo of my Model 1939 gasmask.



And the ammo pouch and "port-hart".



This post has been edited by dragos03 on October 05, 2005 05:35 pm

Since this particular item is apparently coming from Rumania, I'd say it can also be acquired domestically - at a much more friendly price.

Gen. Dénes

The gas mask is M.1935 Romanian pattern, carried in metallic tin box, issued for civil defence formations at the end of 1930s. The gas mask was similar to the Polish M.32 military model. The Romanian military model had the filter carried in side cloth bag and had a flexible tube between the mask and the filter. For the civilian type the filter was fastened on the mask itself, as on the german model.
At the beginning of the war a lot of M.35 civilian gas masks were delivered to the people, so today they are easy to find, in very good condition, in antique shops or on the flea market, contrary to the M.35 military model.

The map case is one of the many models used by Romanian officers in the 1930s and 1940s.

The double cartridge pouches could be Czech or Hungarian.