French Indochina war Holster
 

Can anyone tell me if I am right in thinking this may be a French army holster, issued in the late 1940's / 1950's for the P08's then in service in Indochina?

Stay safe

Richard

Cpt Cabiro, commanding officer, 4th Coy 1st Foreign Legion Parachute Battalion (1ere BEP), at Diên Biên Phu in 1954 with P08. 2nd photo, 4th from left, Médecin-lieutenant Patrice Le Nepvou de Carfort serving with 8ème Bataillon Parachutiste de Choc (8e BPC), in Oct 1953 armed with P08.
The third photo shows the same Médecin-lieutenant treating wounded at Diên Biên Phu.

Stay safe
Richard

Hi Richard,
I have a modest collection of "French" Lugers (1 pistol) but I have been in contact with a French collector who specializes in them. He has sent me photos of 7 French made P08 holsters plus a couple for the LP08, every one of them is different and none looks like yours! I could post photos but I have no wish to hijack your thread.
Norm

Hello Norm,
Please feel free to 'hijack' the thread, it will be interesting to see the photos of the French made holsters. I have just finished reading the book "The Parabellum is back!", which also has some photos of various French manufactured P08 holsters.

I understood that the French holsters during the Indochina war, were not made for one specific model of pistol, as the French had a number of different pistols in service. So I thought that may explain the two possibilities for the closure, covering two slightly different sizes.

Richard

Here you go Richard.

Here are two more:

Norm,
Thanks for adding the photos, as you say they look nothing like mine! The third photo, in the first post, looks similar to a Bulgarian holster in my collection.

I am back in the UK next week, so I'll look closer at my new purchase to see if I can see anything else that identifies it. The dealer in France from whom I bought it, informed me he had bought it in the coastal department of Charente Maritime, the seller telling him it had been his fathers, who had fought in Indochina, it has no providence, apart from that, for what it is worth.

The closure is a similar design to the one used on the French Model 48 GT holsters.

stay safe
Richard

Here one from mine :
/

Thank you Patrice,
yours has a similar appearance to mine.

Merci pour le PDF P-Kasten. lien trouvé sous votre signature.

Richard

Managed to get back to the UK, to complete an Offshore 'fit for work' Medical, but had the opportunity to check out the French Holster, and the P08 'fits like a glove'.
stay safe
Richard

The holster looks like it also might fit the 4 5/8" pencil tapered barrel of a 1900 or 1906 .30 Luger. Is there extra room at the toe?

Thanks, when I placed the P08 into the holster, I don't recall there being extra room in the toe.
I'll have to try it again when I return home though, now on my way to work in North Africa for the next six weeks, so I'll let give you a definitive answer on that when I am next at home.
I'll be offline from tomorrow, for the foreseeable future, as the company system blocks access to ‘politically incorrect’ websites, in particular anything 'gun' related.

Funny how most of my interests fall into the category of ‘Politically incorrect’, I wonder who makes that distinction, and who gave them the authority!

Stay safe
Richard

Finally got a chance to check out the holster, been away for a long while. There is no extra room in the toe.

Thanks for the information!