Kaiser Wilhelm II arrival at Lisbon’s ‘Câmara Municipal’
'Rui's Renditions' is on forced vacation for at least the next 2 weeks given that I hurt my left hand last week.I leave you with this -either hand-tinted or an…
A pioneer of Posensche Pionier-Bataillon Nr 29
Rui's RenditionsA pioneer of Posensche Pionier-Bataillon Nr 29 displays a French Schilt Number 3 flamethrower. May 6, 1916.The Posen Pioneer Battalion No. 29 was a fortress pioneer battalion specialized in…
M1915 Bavarian Infantry Pickelhaube
Another Andys Rubbish and Ramblings to endure, this time Im into the Pickelhaulbe arena, looking at one specific item from my collection.This is a humble M1915 Bavarian Infantry Pickelhaube, the…
The Battle of the Frontiers
Aleksander’s Book Corner The Battle of the Frontiers – A series of German victories due to the French soldiers red trousers and easily repelled bayonet attacks? In spite of the image of…
Sabine’s battlefield guide Saturday Kurt Zehmisch extracts of his diary written in 1916
A new year for Kurt with a few trips back home to Weischlitz, he describes how the town is hit several times, the bad weather, a drama in the village,…
Sabine’s battlefield guide Saturday the Recapture of Zonnebeke October 1914
This week Sabine’s battlefield guide Saturday is going to focus on the Recapture of Zonnebeke October 1914 by French troopsRI 77 on its way to ZonnebekeOn the morning of the…
Rui’s RenditionsGew 98 rifles in the process of being loaded with M.1914 rifle grenades.
Rui’s RenditionsGew 98 rifles in the process of being loaded with M.1914 rifle grenades. The rifles are clamped into M.1915 firing stands (see comments for an example in the firing…
***Antonio Wednesday’s Wonders *** A Pipe, Verdun and the Hessian Regiment 117.
On the 21st of February, 105 years ago, started the Battle of Verdun. This Article is dedicated to the first few days of the offensive in February and at the…
Gus’ Gear — flare pistols
Today on Gus’ Gear I present a selection of flare pistols used during the Great War. Flare pistols were used for signaling as well as to provide illumination at night.
This is an example of the German Hebel Model 1894 flare pistol. It fires a 26.5mm flare cartridge which is the most common caliber for European flare pistols. This pistol has Belgian proof marks, indicating it was used by Belgian forces, but in all other aspects it is identical to the German issued flare pistols. The lever visible beneath the trigger guard is the release to open the action. The barrel pivots forward and down in the same manner as a top break shotgun, allowing the cartridge to be chambered and then the barrel is returned to the closed position and it locks automatically. The hammer is then cocked by hand and it is ready to fire.
This is an example of the German ersatz flare pistol, referred to as the Kommandantur Lille Leuchtpistole. These were manufactured in occupied Belgium during the war and are of a crude construction. This fires the 26.5mm flare cartridges. To open the action on this pistol, a button on the right side is pushed forward to release the catch and then the barrel is rotated up and to the left on the hinge visible just above the front of the trigger guard. Once the cartridge is inserted, the barrel is rotated back to the closed position and the barrel locks in place automatically. The knob on the back is the firing pin and when it is pulled back to cock the pistol is ready to fire. The spring loaded catch doubles as an ejector for the spent cartridge. It is shown with two used German manufactured flare cartridges that were recovered from a battlefield on the eastern front.
German pistols were made of steel due to a shortage of brass because Germany didn’t have a source of tin to alloy with copper to make it. The German military had to use all available brass to manufacture cartridges and artillery casings.