NEW INFORMATION ON CD 528

Collector Bernie Warren has a interesting story to tell about the little glass insulator known as CD 528 and he has allowed me to include it in this month's column on foreign insulators, so here we go. . . . .

A man known as General Morice was the commanding general of all the French forces in North Africa during the late 1950's to early 1960's when Algerian rebels were fighting for independence and attacking outlying French forts and French Foreign Legion Posts.

CD 528

General Morice decided to construct outer perimeter electric fences around the isolated forts to serve as an early warning system for rebel attacks. He has been specifically credited for designing the CD 528 for use on these electric fences, with eight or more being used along with some barbed wire on each fence post around the forts. There was no embossing on these insulators so we really don't know who made them but the color of their glass very much resembles that made by the French company known as E.I.V., or Europeenne d'lsolateurs en Verre.

Bernie's French contacts who were familiar with this insulator simply referred to it as the "Morice insulator". One of his contacts had an engineer friend working in the Bechar area in 1986 and that is when the engineer took the photos and collected a few of the 528's. One of Bernie's friends gave him a flawless example of CD 528 with a nice amber swirl down the front of the insulator. 

Needless to say, Bernie came home with several other beautiful glass insulators while he was in the region but I'm going to let him tell you all about that when he is ready to show them to our Crown Jewels of the Wire readers.