Off to the La Gleize Show.......

If all goes well, this time next week I shall be at the La Gleize show. This has long been on my 'want to do' list ( along with Ciney, which I visited last year ).

La Gleize is an open-air show with stalls laid out in the village streets. Last week, 144 dealers were listed and today it's up to 154, so let's see how it goes.............

 

Lucky boy. La Gleize sound promising as compared to Ciney which is in my opinion too much infitrated with copies. I will put my fingers crossed and hope you'll find a few goodies. I recently stumble don a bunch of original La Pallice relics from the KM Werft , so anything could lurk around for you too .

 

I shall really be 'browsing' for anything which catches my eye - no particular things I 'need'. And I shall be accompanied by my Wife, so it will be difficult to acquire things 'under the radar'....... :stabfrenzy:

 

When is the show occurring? I'll be in the area next weekend, and am always looking for some 'dug' relics to add to my collection.

 

Look forward to the pics, Martin. Try and leave some relics for the punters though...

 

It's on both Saturday and Sunday from 08:00 both days. Quite a few of the dealers listed are from Eastern Europe so there should be a fair amount of 'rust' available...

http://www.lagleize.org/en/accueil.htm

 

Thanks Martin. I'll see how my week progresses and go from there.

 

One of the hotspots of La Gleize is "rust" and "kisten" ,all the stuff they don't want inside you get oustside.

 

I'll likely be there tomorrow around 11:00 (I'm in Bastogne tonight). Did you make it to the show Martin? Anything worthwhile?

 

So - it's all over and I'm back home........

It was so nice to arrive at our favourite auberge, to be greeted with a chilled glass of champagne after a long drive -



And then early on Saturday, the serious business - but not before stopping at the battleground of the 82nd Airborne / KG Hansen, just minutes from where we were staying...



...and a pilgrimage to the foxholes, always to me the most effective 'museum'....



And then along the road to La Gleize, directed very efficiently into a parking field and straight onto a minibus for the drive up the hill. And here we are at last. As Skipper rightly said, plenty of 'rust' !



A nice view of the La Gleize skyline, familiar from many photos...



Turn the other way, and see how those stalls stretch all the way down the lane and on into the forest...and it's getting hot...

 

I've already made my first purchases and there are so many stalls to see. This dealer from Poland had a 'dug up' Panzerschreck...



...and there was plenty to tempt the munitions collector...



This stall had the biggest load of Third Reich porcelain I've ever seen, but the guy was just asking too much money.



I'd hoped to find a SdKfz251 outer roadwheel, and settled for this one out of the three available. A 'farmyard' axle bearing had been bolted on postwar....




So - here's my 'haul' - firstly the printed matter, including the Heinrich Hoffmann album 'Mit Hitler Im Polen' which I really wanted !



Condition was shaky, but the tipped-in presentation sheet for Christmas 1941 sweetened it...



And lastly, the 'heavy stuff' - my wheel, plus an S-Mine and KwK43 88mm shellcase - both from the same German dealer who 'did me a deal' in time-honoured fashion...



Great show, perfect weather, great food , drink and hospitality......what more could I ask ?

 

Nice finds Martin. I was seriously tempted to buy a tank track link, 88mm shell casing and a halftrack road wheel, but I had no ways to take them home with me (luggage size and weight restrictions). Oh well, maybe next time. As an aside, it looks like most of the "good stuff" got picked over on Saturday.

 

At the first European fair I ever went to ( Arlon in 2003 ) an American guy advised me that all the real 'action' happens in the first two hours....but at the end, dealers are ready to do deals because they really don't want to take the heavy stuff back home.......

 

Sounds like the gun shows over here. If you don't buy anything in the first hour, you won't be walking away witgh any good deals.

 

Thefts by professional gangs of thieves from Eastern Europe and the slitting of bags to steal the money are unfortunately very common at the Militaria Shows in LA GLEIZE and CINEY. And everyone who visits these events knows what probably will happen to him.

Also at the "open-air Militariabörse" from june 19th to 21st in La Gleize many professional thieves were on the road again.

The Dutch Militaria-Dealer "MARK VAN THIEL" was stolen a paratrooper helmet out of a display case.

Another paratrooper helmet was stolen out of a car during the night, while the collector was sleeping in the car.

The car of the english Militariadealers "REGIMENTALS" was totally emptied by thieves during the night from saturady to sunday.

Among the numerous other thefts - many were not even reported to the police - a pioneer saw from the 1st World War was stolen.

 

All of which doesn't say a great deal for the deterrent value of the very strong Police presence, with foot patrols, horses, dogs and a large helicopter which continually 'buzzed' the fair and the village. Fortunately, neither at Ciney in 2013 or La Gleize in the last two years, my bags haven't been slit, my pockets haven't been picked and my car hasn't been burgled - despite now knowing what will probably happen to me...................

 

wonderful postings Martin and very nicely told. I'm surprised you even survived . The Bulge must have been a cinch compared to those nowadays roaming bands (no play on words intended) . But you now know something will probably happen to you. I can't wait to see your wheel and shell cases fall on their toes when your bag gets slit ....


If you are interested in porcelain may I suggest Freyd,s "La vaisselle allemande sous le troisième Reich" which just came out a few weeks ago and is apparently the first book about this topic. I has all the makers, shapes and ...fakes...