Just a Little About Me
My interest in
militaria especially World War 2 extends over a 20 year
period. I bought my first piece of
militaria at the tender age of 10. I started collecting
British items then moved onto American and now I am back
collecting British militaria again.
Over the years I have been involved
with most of the different aspects of WW2 collecting
scene, I owned and restored a 1944 Ford GPW Jeep
which I attend many shows in for over 10 years. I visited many
events in
the UK and abroad including the 50th D-Day
commemoration. I was also involved with
other group
members of 39/45 M.V.G who were interested in living
history which intern lead to the creation of The
"Summer of 44" living history group which further lead
onto attending events as a living history re-enactor and
then onto taking part in battle re-enactment
with other friends from Bletchley Park. I have assisted
several people with books and information regarding the WW2 period by
supplying original items of equipment in particular Harlan
Glenn's "For King and Country", book about British
Airborne Forces. (See picture left courtesy of H Glenn)
How HT&C
Reproductions Started As a result of personal circumstances,
I have now decided to use my knowledge and experience
from former work skills to manufacture my own range of
reproduction items. This has taken over 2 years of
planning to source the right materials and researching
of products. When I started collecting most of the
items that I now offer reproductions of were readily
available at reasonable prices, however, in the time
that I have been interested in WW2 the price of items
has sky rocketed. At the time that I started
collecting, reproductions of British and American items
were few and far between, most around at that time were
deliberately faked up to appear as originals, however as
time has gone on reproduction items have now become a
growing market as certain original items are just too
expensive to use for living history or re-enactment as
they may get damaged. The need for reproduction items
these days reflects how the hobby has changed since I
started, there is a much bigger emphasis on living
history and re-enactment than 20 years ago. As with many things reproductions of
WW2 items vary much in authenticity and quality and as a
collector I was surprised at the standard and quality of
products available in the UK. As a result I thought I
would try and offer my own range of products which I
approached from a former collectors point of view and
not just a dealer.