Long time Singaporean collector of World War One and Two militaria from both Axis and Allied nations.

Living historian with 'Syonan Reflections'.

Husband, educator, friend and ex-soldier too.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Happy May 2010 purchases...

Captions to follow...It has been a tiring day for me. =-p


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Rubber M1 Garand rifle prop from 'The Pacific, 2010 miniseries'


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A Salute to Dr. Goh Keng Swee...

Former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee passed away in the early morning of Friday, 14 May 2010 at the age of 91.


Dr. Goh Keng Swee

Dr. Goh Keng Swee
(6 October 1918 - 14 May 2010)

Dr. Goh has set many of Singapore’s foundations to ensure that the country will thrive during the difficult times of the post-war period. I am grateful to have worn both the Temasek Green uniforms during my NCC days and to have served the nation during my National Service. From a military standpoint, nothing would materialise without Dr. Goh Keng Swee who was the Minister for the Interior and Defence from 1965 to 1967.


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Singapore Armed Forces Shoulder Titles
as worn on Temasek Green uniforms during the early days of National Service

It was due to Dr. Goh’s creation of compulsory National Service that we, Singaporeans, could really experience the limits of both our physical and mental capabilities, experience comradeship, experience the social integration of the different ethnic groups and experience the becoming of the SAF evolving from 1st generation to a 3rd Generation force.

Dr. Goh, Thank You.

LTA (NS) Lee Jun Ming, Alvin

Reference: Goh Keng Swee. (2010, May 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:36, May 14, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goh_Keng_Swee&oldid=362098408

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Restoration of original German WW2 Gas Mask Cannister

This is an original German WW2 gas mask cannister that I received in the early 2000s. The canister was covered with rust, pitting and with possibly a post-war repaint. However, It's overall in excellent and serviceable condition. It's marked FNZ 43 on the latch and embossed a letter "D" at the bottom centre. No other markings or stamps were found.

I sanded the entire gas mask cannister to remove as much rust as I could and I covered some small depressions with putty. Then I applied on two layers of primer and two layers of Dark Green paint (Aerosol spray from Tamiya) and there it was....brought back from the dead!

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Original condition with slight exterior rusting, paint flaking and pitting.

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Interior of can - Badly rusted

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Springed latch with remnants of original latch strap.

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Closeup of paint texture.

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Paired with its "best friend" - The gas cape pouch.

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A set of original spare lenses in its respective compartment -
In 1944, soldaten were issued with two sets.

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I completed this project with a postwar mask / lens cleaning cloth
with its metal keeper secured at the can's bottom. - Pardon my legs...

Lost images found!

I was searching through my messy albums in Photobucket and found these little gems that I thought was gone with the wind.

These photos featured Andreas and myself dressing up and displaying our WW2 German collection for an intended newspaper article with The New Paper back in 2006. The article did not materialise but the pictures are preserved!


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Smiling for the photographer.

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That's Andreas wearing the German schrimmutze.

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Just about 5 percent of my total collection in 2006.

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Assortment of original and reproduction personal items.

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Original Japanese soldier identity book (centre) and military postcards (right).

Monday, May 10, 2010

Japanese soldiers photoshoot at Punggol - The Wan Collection

Continuing from the 'Japanese troops photoshoot at Punggol - 160809', Wan (Idzwan Othman) kindly passed me a DVD containing 505 of the photos he took and here are the best photos for your viewing pleasure.

All photos shown here are courtesy of Mr. Wan (Idzwan Othman). We provided British and Japanese WW2 uniforms and kit for his short docu-drama 'Black Friday'. Wan was also a nominee for the Best Documentary and competed in the Singapore Short Films Awards. You can view more here.


Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Final Banzai to a tiring day.

Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Could there be a shit load that will blow us up?

Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Suspicious toilet bowl found in the field

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Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Possible ordnance found?

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Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Alvin giving the 'shacked' look.

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Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Even with minimal gear, charging several times like this
nearly gave me heat exhaustion!
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Japanese WW2 photoshoot
Prone position =-p

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Japanese WW2 photoshoot
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On the look out for British troops.

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Getting dirty with the make up.