French Indochina war Holster

rpbcps · 07-17-2018, 08:07 AM

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

rpbcps · 07-17-2018, 08:27 AM

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

Norme · 07-17-2018, 08:48 AM

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

rpbcps · 07-17-2018, 09:41 AM

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

Norme · 07-17-2018, 09:59 AM

Here you go Richard.

Norme · 07-17-2018, 10:01 AM

Here are two more:

rpbcps · 07-17-2018, 11:15 AM

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

LU1900 · 07-17-2018, 07:56 PM

Here one from mine :
/

rpbcps · 07-18-2018, 10:18 AM

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

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

Richard

rpbcps · 07-28-2018, 11:29 AM

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

ithacaartist · 07-30-2018, 09:07 PM

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?

rpbcps · 07-31-2018, 02:30 AM

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

rpbcps · 03-19-2019, 05:49 PM

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

Kri 1942 · 03-20-2019, 01:49 AM

Thanks for the information!

07-17-2018, 08:07 AM	#1
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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 Attached Thumbnails

07-17-2018, 08:27 AM	#2
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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 Attached Thumbnails

07-17-2018, 09:59 AM	#5
Norme Always A Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,414 Thanks: 224 Thanked 2,591 Times in 930 Posts	Here you go Richard. Attached Thumbnails

07-17-2018, 10:01 AM	#6
Norme Always A Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,414 Thanks: 224 Thanked 2,591 Times in 930 Posts	Here are two more: Attached Thumbnails

07-17-2018, 07:56 PM	#8
LU1900 User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: FRANCE Posts: 900 Thanks: 35 Thanked 461 Times in 193 Posts	Here one from mine : / Attached Thumbnails __________________ Best regards from France...Patrice https://www.fichier-pdf.fr/2016/03/1...nd-snail-drum/

07-17-2018, 08:48 AM	#3
Norme Always A Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,414 Thanks: 224 Thanked 2,591 Times in 930 Posts	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

07-17-2018, 09:41 AM	#4
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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

07-17-2018, 11:15 AM	#7
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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

07-18-2018, 10:18 AM	#9
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	Thank you Patrice, yours has a similar appearance to mine. Merci pour le PDF P-Kasten. lien trouvé sous votre signature. Richard

07-28-2018, 11:29 AM	#10
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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 Attached Thumbnails

07-30-2018, 09:07 PM	#11
ithacaartist Twice a Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Atop the highest hill in Schuyler County NY Posts: 3,283 Thanks: 7,007 Thanked 2,476 Times in 1,319 Posts	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? __________________ "... Liberty is the seed and soil, the air and light, the dew and rain of progress, love and joy."-- Robert Greene Ingersoll 1894

07-31-2018, 02:30 AM	#12
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	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

03-19-2019, 05:49 PM	#13
rpbcps Patron LugerForum Patron Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Home base UK, but spend a lot of time overseas working. Posts: 125 Thanks: 62 Thanked 158 Times in 49 Posts	Finally got a chance to check out the holster, been away for a long while. There is no extra room in the toe.

03-20-2019, 01:49 AM	#14
Kri 1942 User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Europe Posts: 37 Thanks: 214 Thanked 66 Times in 20 Posts	Thanks for the information!