For myself I think I understand your point of view and can see some common areas where we are in agreement. At some point dress weapons were out completely (except for some special occasions) and pistols were in. Even the SS, which was not without influence, ended up having Himmler issue a a decree discontinuing the swords he used to give SS officer school graduates. The war effort came first. And they could no longer continue to follow peacetime practices.
I think that �up close and personal� substitutes for �official� dress side arms would not have been tolerated. However, even well before the actual fighting started, dress side arms were not always available to military officers and enlisted men. And cost was a factor that prohibited or hindered some from purchasing their own. As a result many types of official dress weapons were available as �loaners� from arms rooms/armories. For many of the members of civilian or paramilitary organizations in most cases they probably were no better off financially than the military. And many were probably noticeably worse off.
I also really don�t think that were was a large scale effort to manufacture replica side arms. I do think that it�s possible that for perhaps some less financially well endowed RAD members that some replicas could have been made. Which in a parade/formation would have been visually lost to some extent in the interior of the formation. I am reminded of a wartime photograph where the guys marching in front had machine guns and rocket launchers. And the guys in back had pitchforks and shovels (I�m exaggerating a little but not much).
I hate to add to an interesting discussion this negative observation. But if period replicas were to be proven legitimate. I�m afraid that numbers of fakes would soon emerge to join other present day fakes. Regrettably not a happy thought. Regards, FP
