Great War Commemorations: Collecting Great War uniforms

My collection of Great War Canadian uniforms began when I first came into possession of my grandfather's ammunition pouches. This was in 2008. I set about trying to piece together the rest of the uniform from various sources and soon had a passable but theatrical outfit. Along the way, searching through google images, I discovered the world of the internet. With access to the world any original piece can be bought online for a price, and generally a price I cannot afford. A cheaper world is the world of the reproductions.

Within three years I pulled together two Canadian P'08 uniforms. I also became intrigued by Canadian leather gear. I called the California based company, What Price Glory, about a certain belt they were reproducing and found myself talking with the owner, Jerry Lee. Before I knew it I had agreed to do research for him to get the measurements and details he was lacking on other Canadian equipment. Now, two years later, WPG is selling Canadian leather gear from 1914, 1915, and 1916. I have become a vital participant in the quest to produce the equipment I had been seeking to find.

Oliver Pattern 1914

1915 pattern

1916 pattern

To some degree this involvement has been my act of commemoration. I have been privileged to be a part of preserving the knowledge of these uniforms. The frozen image and the brittle artifact have become robust objects that are affordable to anyone and have all the texture and heft of the originals.

This is as good a place as any to list my sources for those who are seeking this gear:

What Price Glory is my first and foremost supplier. I find little fault with anything they produce. Most impressive are the Mills webbing ammunition pouches woven with puckers and pockets as the originals.

Of course I have a soft spot for the Canadian leather gear too.

What WPG doesn't produce can be augmented from other sites. Schipperfabrik makes a brilliant gas mask, for instance, and gets into French and German gear as well.

I have gone to IMA USA for a scabbard and a non-firing Lee Enfield. I did change the wood to walnut, however, to be more authentic for WWI . Their bayonets look very good and make one realize that a brand new product is more authentic in appearance than one which is 100 years old and shows all the patina of its age. Original metal artifacts are generally readily available, though, because they have survived time, and their prices are affordable for the casual collector where the more perishable cloth items are not.

I cannot speak from experience with other sites but I have seen good looking gear in England by Military History Workshop, and Laurence Ordnance from Australia does their own country well. What should be avoided are some of the cheap off shore products that appear in eBay. Some one in China is making a hideous "Canadian" tunic. Do your research so you can spot the poor reproductions yourself.

For those interested in original equipment I recommend Great War Militaria and The Collector's Guild (German Militaria is its other name). Marway Militaria has an extensive collection of buttons and badges.

Beyond this there is always the delight of the discovery when least expected. Thus I came across a rimless Brodie helmet at a junk shop and a gas rattle at a flea market.