Gordon Craig

#6

#5

#4 original manuals are always useful. If you buy one on ebay.de make sure you know if you are getting an original one or a photocopyed one.

#3 These small calendars contain some good rank charts and some colour pictures of Warsaw Pact stuff. The 1990 issue is the most common. I don't own any other years so can not comment on them as being useful or not.

#2, This is a three book set and for the life on me I can not think of a good reason why I only brought volume three with me except that it contains DDR stuff!

Gents, Here are some DDR reference books from my library. When I find time I'll post more. I'll only comment on the book if there is something specific to say about it. If it is pictured here I beleive it is worth having in your library. All of these books came from Germany.

Paul, The GST was probably one of the largest mass organization in the DDR. They were responsible for all premilitary training right up to parachute training. GST hats, second type, are plentiful but GST uniforms are not. Especially the early short jackets. Hard to know why, considering how many people wore these uniforms. I own two of the long tunics and the only pair of matching trouser I have ever seen. A short jacket should be on the way. I've never seen any of these uniforms for sale outside of Germany. Regards, Gordon

A partial view of the helmet display in the Budapest Fireman's museum. Regards, Gordon

The helmet in wear with the plastic face shield.

The helmet in wear. In this picture the helmet appears to have worked as a crash helmet as well!

Interior of the helmet.

Side view of the helmet.

Gents, I have arbitrarily decided to call this fireman's helmet the M60 model because it appears to have come into use in the 1960s. I do not have any reference to its actual designation but I will try to find that out on my next visit to the Fireman's Museum. The helmet is silver in colour and is made of layers of silver fibreglass cloth. It is painted silver on the exterior. It is not painted on the interior. The edges of the helmet are protect with a black plastic band running completely around the helmet. This plastic band is rivited into place. The liner is made of leather and appears to be leather pads with compressable plastic foam inside. If you hold the helmet level there doesn't seem to be a front or a back but there is only one way it will fit on your head and once there it is obvious there is only one way to wear this helmet. The chinstrap is also leather and fastens with a square metal piece on one side of the chinstrap and a hook on the other (right) side. There is a metal holder on each side of the exterior of the helmet for a plastic face shield that did not come with this helmet. There are also leather tabs, with metal press studs, around the back of the liner for attaching a neck flap which appears to have been seldom worn as I have never seen one in wear in a picture of a fireman with this helmet on. Frontal view of the helmet.

Grant, I don't have any pictures of East German Firemen taking part in a competition but below I have posted a picture of Hungarian Firemen competing in an international contest in Czechoslovakia in 1973. Doing something they would normally do on the job. Hooking up a gasoline power pump to get water to the fire. Regards, Gordon

The later long tunic and pants. The "unusual" bulge on the right shoulder is because there was a cap hunging from that shoulder when the picture was taken.

The "later" long tunic. There are slight manufacturers variations of this tunic but they do not indicate a change in style. Just the manufacturers idea of staying within the parametres of the tunic design.

I've already posted pictures of the hat and uniforms worn by the cadre of the full time members of the GST. Now it is time to post pictures of the regular members. This is a much simplified uniform compared to that of the full time members. There were two main types of uniform. The short tunic and pants worn when the GST first adopted a uniform and the second, and much more common, later type of long tunic and pants. Period photos do not show a hat in wear with the early short tunics. There appear to be two differetn side caps worn with the later long tunic and I'll post them later on. The eraly tunic. I do not have pictures of the pants that went with this tunic.

Some of the badges it was possible for the Young Pioneers to win for participation in indivual sports. Each one bears the image of a specific sport. It is possible that there were 28 of these to coincide with the 28 sports covered by the Killian movement. I haven't been able to come up with any specific information on these badges other than that they existed. If anyone can add some info on them please do so. Regards, Gordon

Next the KISZ Sports badge for shooting.

The ?Killian? Movement for Physical Training At an extended meeting in June of 1960 the Hungarian Physical Training and Sports Council produced a draft document for a widespread and permanent badge winning movement. These ?draft? statutes were distributed for nation wide discussion. The Presidium of the Hungarian Physical Training and Sports Council had been created under government decree No.4 dated 12 January, 1958. On November the 10th, 1960, the Presidium of the Council authorized the implementation of the final statutes based on the material used in the discussion in June. And the ?Killian Movement For Physical Training? came into being. The Council authorized the commencement of the movement under the national guidance of the Hungarian Physical Training and Sports Council and the local guidance of the local physical training and sport councils. Not much happened within the movement until a committee for the direction of the ?Killian? movement was set up in January of 1961. In March of that year, the government passed a resolution on the tasks of the executive committees of local councils connected with the movement. Membership in the movement was open to every Hungarian who had attained the age of six and had been admitted to the first grade of primary school. The ?Killian? movement was connected to the following organization for a trial period; KISZ, Pioneers, ?The Youth for Socialism?, the factory championships of the trade unions and the technical championships of the Hungarian Defence and Sports Association. There were strong links between the ?Killian? movement, KISZ and the Pioneers from the time of its inception until the change of regime in 1990 so I must assume that the trial period was successful. The system for recognizing a specific achievement within the ?Killian? movement, and hence the presentation of an award, was based on a system of scores. The idea was to assure continued and active participation in sporting activities because you needed to stay actively involved to obtain the individual grades. One of the new features of the ?Killian? movement was the introduction of ?rambling?. Rambling encompassed hiking, skiing, bicycling, motorcycling as well as car and motorboat excursions. With these new additions there were a total of 28 individual sport branches including parachute jumping and sport shooting. As a precondition for earning the first badge the statutes made it compulsory for the participant to learn one type of swimming. Where this was not possible (probably due to a lack of a place to swim) to learn to ride a bicycle. To illustrate the link between some of the Hungarian mass organizations I will post photos of some badges which clearly show the influence of one upon the other. First the KHT Sports badge for the military in the bronze class;

Kevin, Great photos. Always like to see cammo stuff. I thought you said you didn't collect uniforms. Just medals! Regards, Gordon

Grant, For fireman's competitions. These "sporting" events pitted teams of firemen against each other doing things they would do on the job, or slightly modified forms of job related tasks. I'll see if I can post some pictures tomorrow to give you a better idea of what I am trying to say. Before these badges there were badges for individual types of competitions. About a dozen of them. These later badges certainly simplified production. Regards, Gordon

Kev, Nice uniforms. Thanks for posting the pictures. I am always interested in seeing where the ex communist countries went with their uniforms after the communist period ended. Regards, Gordon

jon m, Yes Saalkreis was in Bezirk Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt. According to the 1961 census there were 3,731 inhabitants. Regards, Gordon

Charles, Here is a picture from the book you found at the antique store we were at last week. It shows what I think are the uniforms illustrated in the line drawing in the book this thread is about. The picture dates from sometime before June, 1950, the date at the front of the book. The caption reads ?M?t? Margit ?s Petrő M?ria a Lillaf?redi Palotasz?ll?ban". There is more, but it is anti-Horthy propaganda so I left it out. For the rest of the forum-Palota is a hotel/resort that both Charles and I have stayed at, although at different times. It was originally built as a luxury hotel but being somewhat out of the way was unsuccessful. After that it was used as a guest house by the owners until it was taken over by the Communist government and used as a resort for the workers. The furniture is very much like that I have seen in other communist countries in Europe before the wall fell. Very spartan and utilitarian. Cheers, Gordon