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Here is my Mauser HSc pistol, the HSc stood for: Hahn Selbstspanner or self-coking hammer pistol. While originally developed as a commercial pistol, it was incorporated into military service once war broke out. In late 1940 these went into production with serial numbers beginning at 700,000, which was a carryover of the previous model, the Mauser 1934 pistol. Early models had a more refined appearance and high-quality machining, naturally as the war progressed the quality decreased. The initial batch of pistols went the German Navy, and afterwards the Army got the bulk (54%), followed by other organizations. This model is the 3rd variation which has the acceptance mark of an Eagle/135 which stood for weapons produced at Mauser Werke AG, Oberndorf am Neckar, Germany. The pistol has all matching numbers and was produced in early 1942. It also has the Eagle/N proofs in the correct locations. The pistol is 6 inches long and weighs 1.9 pounds unloaded. it fired a 7.65mm semi cased cartridge or .32 ACP. After the war, the Mauser factory at Obendorf was in the French occupation area, and production resumed in 1945 to 1946 for French units in Indochina. Overall production ran until 1977 in which these were supplied to German police forces and to commercial markets. Just a side note, this was the first WW2 pistol I got my hands on a long time ago.

Just got around to watching Greyhound, it was pretty good depiction of the Atlantic Ocean Battle. Although I understand that most U-boat Commanders were aggressive, in the movie it seemed to me they were very aggressive, to the point of recklessness. Just my opinion, but still an entertaining movie.

Hi, I compiled most of the books written on the Baron into a website: www.meettheredbaron.com The site puts events during his lifetime on a timescale, and on a map. Enjoy

Hi all, This is the latest title in a series of books by Lee Archer and William Auerbach. The books feature photos of knocked out or abandoned late war German armour. Most photos have been taken by US Signal Corps cameramen. The quality of their cameras and lenses give rise to very sharp images. Volume 5 starts off with several pages giving updates on photos from Volume 1 in the series. I do not have this book and it shows the continuing research being carried out on the subject matter. Some Russian photos are included this time giving some atmospheric battlefield shots. Beside Panzer IVs, Tigers and Panthers there are images of Beute or captured armour in German use. I liked the shots of captured Fireflys in German markings. The muzzle brakes on these tanks had been changed for German ones. I wonder if the main armament was the gun from the Panther KwK 42 L70? A great modelling project. One of the vehicles is preserved in the Belgian Tank Museum. To show how desperate the Germans were in the final years of the war obsolete vehicles feature too, the little Polish Tankette T.K.S. and a shot of a 38t with an American wrestler standing beside it. You couldn’t make that up! Fans of the exotic will like the pictures of Polish Troops examining the hulls and turrets of the planned “Maus” super tank. You really get an idea of the armour thickness and size of this gigantic beast! A bonus is some good shots of Polish uniform and insignia. This is a great book (and series) for Armour buffs or those with an interest in the closing months of the war. Dave

Hi all, Just back from our house in France which is our home now, we just work in Scotland. France publishes many good military history magazines but there are few in Britain. I am interested in WW2 and can always get interesting material in 2GM (WW2), Gazettes des Uniformes, 1939/45, Batailles and of course Militaria. Armour is catered for with Batailles et Blindes and TNT (Trucks and Tracks). Military Modelling is catered for by two or three mags. eg Steel Masters. WW1 and the middle ages have heir own publications. There are also specials that come out 2 or 3 times a year for most titles. Why can't we have the quality of these in UK? Dave

Should perhaps have said several of the French magazines (and specials) are available from the big Military booksellers who have websites. The magazines themselves can be purchased directly from the publishers on the web. Postage can be pricy though, especially for one magazine. Dave

I remember the Militaria magazine in English. It lasted about a year in the early 90's. Good articles, it's a pity it closed. Is there really that little interest for a military history magazine? I haven't bought Militaria a lot in France as the opposition is so good and I can't afford to buy everything. Militaria tends to have quite a lot of isoteric items like WW1 US and Canadian Women's Naval units (Babes in uniform?). I supose you might find an article on your subject if it is minority interest. I find the Armourer magazine the same. I did buy a couple of copies as there was a good two issue article on German munition colours providing colour photos of shells in their original paints. It was spot on for modelling projects. Dave

The French magazines have great coverage, the prose is not too heavy but informative. (I'm lucky I can read French.) The pictures really make the publications, lots of unseen footage. Big pictures on good quality paper. The French seemingly have great photo archeives which being French they don't let anyone else use them. My copy of "Batailles" was centred on France 1940 and had about 5-6 pages of great BEF photos, only one of which I'd seen before. Really good for modellers and military buffs. Dave

There used to be an excellent magazine called "Militaria" great articles and pictures of your basic WW2 uniforms and equipment.French publication but they printed it over here for a while ,think it went bust unfortunately.I think you can still get it in France ,well worth picking up if see any old issues. sorry Dave I missed you had already mentioned "Militaria" but just to remind people it was available here too in English for a couple of years.

I know what you mean! I do not want to sound vain, but I have a degree in Military Studies and reading the usual 'yeah we have tanks and can crush people' and 'For death or Glory' type magazines just annoy me to no end. Granted I am not ready to yet go back to the REALLY dry stuff of actual Military Studies where a bunch of PhDs write back and forth articles on how many bullets it would take in how many minutes to do so much damage in a certain area. In general I prefer the middle road information, items that are still informed, well written and NOT sourced from Wikipedia but also not the high scholarly works I used when studying. Armourer is one I took on to get to know the UK collecting scene but have become annoyed with as every armchair general write in absolute bullocks about things and sources wikipedia. There was a recent article about the Schlieffen plan that firstly spelt Hew Strachan's name wrong (THE authority on WWI at the moment and also a former advisor of mine) and secondly it was outdated as (believe this or not) modern military history research suggests the Schlieffen Plan never existed. This is well documented, argued and agreed upon in many the the leading military journals currently. In short Armourer is for people who like to dress up as Waffen SS and have a good time. I've recently found Classic Arms & Armour. This deals in older stuff Pre-20th Century mostly but it is well researched and written with actual authority figures, proper citations and excellent articles. I do suggest it to anyone interested. What else do people suggest?