I don't normally do this, but thought I'd say a quick 'hello' to all friends old and new on here! Been away for a while, engaged in various projects and 'life' in general (and lost all log on details ...even though (though I can't remember it) I apparently managed to log on earlier this year!), so thought it best to 're-up' now that I have a little more time on my hands and can , hopefully spend a little more time on here than I've managed for the past few years (after all, this forum was, in my opinion, one of the more relaxed and less stuffy boards that I've ever been a member of... and it always accepted me for being...me!). Been away so long it's best to start from scratch anyway, I think. My interests, for those who don't know me, are pretty varied and cover many periods of military history but, in particular, my absolute obsessions are the Franco-German War of 1870-71 and World War 1 (especially the French 'bits' of the Western Front (my first book (of, at the moment, five) on this ... an introduction to the French sectors of the 1916 Somme battle (one of the 'projects' I mentioned earlier!) is due for publication this November). For WW2, my main interests lie in the 1940 campaign in France and the Low Countries and the (late) 1944 to 1945 actions in the west. I also have a great interest in identity discs (etc.) of all nations and periods and have written a specific chapter on this very subject for a forthcoming book (2017/18 publication) by Howard Williamson on Great War collectables. .... Oh... WW1 trench maps rock my boat too! Anyway, that's a bit on 'me', and I look forward to being active on here again whenever I can. Dave.
Discs... Maps... 1870... You sound very much like Croonaert Dave to me... Always a pleasure to see you around.
