The West Coast Historical Military Collectors Show

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Here is an after-action report on the 2 Chevauleger’s attendance at the West Coast Historical Military Collectors Show that was held last weekend on May 8 and 9. Every year, the Great War Historical Society sets up a number of displays in an effort to reach out to the public. The GWHS’ member units contribute towards these displays, including the 2 Chevauleger; naturally our display was cavalry-oriented. The GWHS was out at the event on Saturday, May 9; this is usually the busiest day of the two-day event.

We arrived about 8:30 am and began setting up our display, primarily consisting of a saddle and various accessories. We also brought a complete set of equipment and a Kar 98az carbine. The event was fairly well-attended and we spent most of the day handing out business cards and answering questions from passers-by.

I took this event as the perfect opportunity to model my newly-constructed private purchase brown corduroy breeches. These are made of a chocolate-brown corduroy and are lined with black leather in the seat- essentially, these follow the same pattern for the 1916 Reithosen, only in corduroy. While this is a speculative design, it’s very possible that this method was used since these were private purchase. Of course, it’s also possible that they could have been made based on a civilian riding breeches pattern. In any event, these are perfectly plausible and fit in perfectly with my impression as a Gefreiter of the 2 Chevauleger.