Setting the scene

Lacking ideas about any more imaginative way to get the ball rolling, I may as well begin by welcoming any one reading to the inaugural post of Flintlocks to Steel Pots!

As the title suggests, the blog will be firmly focused on all things military – but in particular military history and military modelling.

Why exactly? Well, for almost as long as I can remember, a fascination with almost any thing relating to military history has been an enduring passion of mine.

As a six year-old in the summer of 1994, a family trip in Normandy in time for the celebrations of D-Day’s 50th anniversary served as my first introduction to a strangely compelling world of museums and cemeteries; of straight-backed old gentleman in berets and regimental blazers; and to puzzling names like Omaha, Sword and Sainte-Mère-Église – all of which were later to become almost comfortingly familiar to me.

Time progresses, but the enthusiasm for the subject which I’ll always feel was sparked by that inadvertent holiday has yet to fade.

Now, I’m nearing my 21st birthday as an undergraduate history student and student journalist in University College Dublin. Military history remains my personal interest, and represents the research area in which I hope to specialise in at the postgraduate study level; and possibly go on to publish and research in myself further down the line. I’ve recently even taken the first cautious steps toward exploring a part-time military career of my own, and am now contentedly serving as a newly-minted Artillery recruit in the Irish Army Reserve.

Almost inescapably then, that early fascination with military affairs seems to be coming to dominate both my personal and professional life.

However, military history remains a niche pursuit. As undeniably fascinating as it may be to devotees like me (and presumably you), it doesn’t quite have the popular appeal of more conventional hobbies, and that’s putting it mildly. Sit down to lunch in the canteen or turn to your mates on a Saturday night and open up with your own theories on the inherent weaknesses of Anglo-Allied cavalry units during the Hundred Days Campaign, and you may find yourself getting off lightly with just a bemused look or two.

With that caution in mind, dipping my toe into the blogosphere seems a highly useful way to be able to communicate and discuss the topics and issues that directly interest me. Hopefully, that’s the function that this blog will perform as time goes on.

By way of explanation; the blog will concentrate in particular on the areas within military history that occupy most of my own attention and study: namely the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War. As the title sums it up: from the personal weapons so familiar to well over a century and a half of British infantrymen, to the iconic M1 Helmet sported by US soldiers from the Ardennes to Cu Chi.

With all the ill-discipline of the true addict however, although I can just about pin myself down to two or three specific areas of interest, there really does remain little within the realm of military history that doesn’t interest me to a smaller or larger extent. Don’t be too put out if the future sees me bashing the keyboard about anything from the Legions of Imperial Rome to the experiences of the USMC in Fallujah in 2004.

Where does the military modelling part come in? That too deserves some light shed on it. For an almost equally long length of time, an interest in military miniaturism of almost every kind has served as an enjoyable adjunct to my pursuit of military history.
Over the years, that interest has taken in just about everything from plastic 1:35 scale kits, to wargaming, and all points in between.

At the present time, my interest runs principally toward the pre-painted 54mm metal figures produced by modern “toy soldier” companies like King & Country and W. Britain. I’ve been a proper collector as such for well over a year now, with my collecting habits mirroring my history interests. Much like the wider area of military history, collecting has become a source of immense and ongoing enjoyment for me. Inevitably, this area will receive particular coverage on the blog.

So, that’s the pitch, ladies and gentleman. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how the blog develops from here. As with any project like this, it would be enormously helpful and encouraging to see any kind of interaction at all in the future weeks and months. If at least someone out there is reading this, and has any thoughts/queries/corrections, then do step forward and make yourself known! I’m only too happy to engage in any kind of discussion or conversation about a subject that couldn’t be closer to my own heart.

Without any further ado, I’ll conclude my very first blog post.

Peter.