Vintage DE razors from WWII

[Kazan]

Hello, I recently got two vintage DE razors. They're supposed to be razors used from british and german soldiers during WWII.
The grey one should be made of alluminium in 1943 and used by british troops. The second one should be made of bakelite in 1944 and used by german troops.
Can anyone confirm my information and/or provide additional information?
Does anyone have an idea of how to clean/restore the alluminium and the bakelite? The german razor in particular shows some signs of encrustation.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[romsitsa]

Hello, the Brisith one was produced for the government, could have been issued and used by an allied soldier. It is made of pot metal. The German army did not have an “issue” razor. The example shown could have been used by a soldier as a private purchase. 44 most likely identifies the casting tool not the year of production.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Any British Army Government issue item should have the broad arrow mark which yours appears to do. WDC is possibly Western Defence Command with the date 1943. Here is my own example made by W.J.Myatt in 1945, you can see the broad arrow mark.

As said above, I do not believe the German government supplied razors to soldiers at that time.

 

[Kazan]

Hello, the Brisith one was produced for the government, could have been issued and used by an allied soldier. It is made of pot metal. The German army did not have an “issue” razor. The example shown could have been used by a soldier as a private purchase. 44 most likely identifies the casting tool not the year of production.

Thank you very much for your information.
So, considering the british razor is made of pot metal, theorically there could also be a percentage of lead inside? I've read the first metal pot alloys were containing lead.
Regarding the german razor, in my opinion it's interesting to note that the head design is very similar, if not the same, of the Merkur Progress 500.

 

[Kazan]

Any British Army Government issue item should have the broad arrow mark which yours appears to do. WDC is possibly Western Defence Command with the date 1943. Here is my own example made by W.J.Myatt in 1945, you can see the broad arrow mark.

View attachment 1707521

As said above, I do not believe the German government supplied razors to soldiers at that time.

Good to know. So far, I'm pretty confident the british razor is a British government supply also because I found the exact copy on display in the Overlord Museum in Normandy.

 

[DesertIguana]

Think my Tech is Pre WW-2, sure it has story, but it can not talk.

 

[WildeONE]

Hello, the Brisith one was produced for the government, could have been issued and used by an allied soldier. It is made of pot metal. The German army did not have an “issue” razor. The example shown could have been used by a soldier as a private purchase. 44 most likely identifies the casting tool not the year of production.

Hi there
The British razor is aluminium not pot metal. I bought two of these exact models in a visit to Normandy. They clean up great with either Brasso or Silvo and are lovely shavers.

 

[cutless]

I have the exact same bakelite razor. Did you find any additional information on it?

 

[Kazan]

Nope

 

[creamgravy]

The first one is a contract Gillette FB New made for the British war department (no Gillette branding, potmetal so no idea which factory they contacted it out to, one in Sheffield maybe? Round pins to accept most blades)
Gillette also made branded brass version for the public at Slough (shows up in multiple sets from 43-46)

The other is a G.S.B 'super' made for the British WD too (44 + crows foot on one side). Presumably it's made in Scotland from Roanite like their pre war razors (white version linked)

G.B.S. Roanite Long Handle Art Deco Weirdness Set

This weird and beautiful set just arrived: It's made in Scotland of Roanoid (a relative of bakelite) and Waite's dates it at c.1936 but doesn't have much else to say about it. The set has two razor heads and two handles one of which is six inches long, giving the whole thing a weird dreamlike...

www.badgerandblade.com

It could be for the Royal Navy as the other WD razors would be terrible at sea.