Bricks have been reused both before and after WW II.
My dad remembers when nails were straightened and reused.
Stuff, especially building materials, will be reused under three conditions:
It is technically possible. Bricks yes, mortar no
The labour cost for reusing a brick is lower than the cost of a new brick. This includes the case when new product is not available (doesn’t matter how much you pay if there are NO new bricks anywhere)
When conservational requirements take over. Rebuild the old building using old bricks, mortar, designs, work methods, material. Has to be the old hand forged nails instead of modern mass ones. Nobody produces new bricks according to the old methods and sizes.
Apart from the fact that the diorama will take place in World War 1, it is all very legit.
In pictures from destroyed villages (if anything was left), the roads look very clean, but otherwise there are piles of rubble all over the place. There would not have been a lot of civilians around after 4 years of war, so how big is the chance of them being around to clean up…
No clean-up while fighting is still ongoing and the next artillery strike can happen anytime.
If it was an active fight zone I would imagine that the troops controlling the area would do the minimum cleanup needed for them to move supplies et.c.
The lady with the purse is made out of resin, by Nemrod:
As for the nurse, I added a hood and gave her a new left hand and converted the mug in het right hand to a collection box… Still, the details oob are rather naive…
) from Preiser
Hence their unhappy appearance…