Gebirgsinfanteriebrigade 10 (Switzerland)

[glenn]

Dear all,

Back from a cold and painful weekend in Swiss Alps (the kind of reenactment I love... ), I would like to share with you these pics. We got rain and snow on the way to our objective, incredible month of July ! The impression was about the Swiss Gebirgsinfanteriebrigade n°10 in Summer 1944.

Best Regards,















Horrido !

[Volunteer]

Great photos, thank you for sharing!

[Heeresbergführer]

Grüetzi bei Gott Bruno,

Great photographs and impression as always!!!




Berg Heil,

Patrick

[von Olsson]

Looks great as always Glenn!

[glenn]

Hej,

Tack så mycket von Olsson

The Swiss army equipment is really heavy, I understand better the quality of the men who had to carry all this mess during 4 years !
Even if Swiss Army is not "Axis", I think the comparison with others, such as German and Finnish armies is quite interesting !

Regards,

[Zoepf]

Fantastic impression!

[dog green 1]

Outstanding stuff guys. Taking things to another level. Great effort.

[Zoepf]

Outstanding stuff guys. Taking things to another level. Great effort.

Pun intended?

[Grabenkater]

Hopp Schwiiz!

I need to get some photos of my Gebirgsfusilier kit up. It has taken me 5 trips to Switzerland and lots of hunting to get it complete.

[glenn]

I need to get some photos of my Gebirgsfusilier kit up.

It would be great ! If you need some help you're welcome
Keep in touch

[geoffpara]

Glen, I have a pair of what I think are Swiss military issue skis with that red-brick colour to the underside of the ski as shown in some of your photos. Do you know what it is and why it was used? I assume it was a finish to reduce friction between the ski and the surface of the snow. I have seen some pictures of German skis and their finish to the underside of the ski shows a plain wood finish with I suspect some sort of waxed polish finish.

Geoff

[Heeresbergführer]

Geoff,

The red paint is a shellac or lacquer used to seal the wood from moisture to prevent the skis from warping. It also provides a base for waxes to be applied to. Usually this finish is for alpine (downhill) skis. Skis used for cross-country (Nordic) skiing usually have a pine-tar base applied.

Skiheil,

Patrikc

[geoffpara]

Thanks for that Patrick. They also came with the seal skin attachments to be attached to the underside of the ski when moving up hill. Would this red shellac finish be found on German skis'?

Geoff

[Heeresbergführer]

Geoff,

Some of the skis in my collection have the red lacquer and some don't. I think it depends on what the ski is being used for...alpine or nordic. The few period training films that I see demonstrate the application of pine tar for cross country skiing which is what most Wehrmacht skis would be used for, with the exception of those ski/mountain troops operating in high alpine regions.




Ski Heil,
Patrick