chinstraps

[Martin Bennitt]

a rare posting for me under this topic., but after looking a hundreds of photos of Great War soldiers, I can recall none that shows them wearing their chinstraps, even in formal studio portraits. Were they just a hangover from an earlier age, a decoration for the front of the cap, or where they were occasions on which they were stipulated -- e.g. full dress parades -- or useful (high winds?)

I'd also like to see a picture of a chinstrap being "worn in anger", as it were, if anyone has one

thanks and cheers Martin B

[Tinhat47]

I think they were mostly used by mounted troops.

[o j kirby]

Hello,

I have a photo of a mounted soldier...with TWO chinstraps. One under his chin, the other around the front of his cap! I also have a group photo of members of the 7th Gordon Highlanders, around 1914. One man appears to have a fabric chinstrap around the front of his Glengarry. As he wears breeches, I am guessing that in a mounted role, his Glengarry was more likely to fall off.

Cheers

Owain.

[Tyneside Chinaman]

Hi,

Slightly off topic but when I passed out in 1969 we wore two chin straps as described in the last post.

We had to ground arms and remove headress and give three cheers for whoever it was taking the parade as he was retiring that day.

The drill for removing headdress whilst wearing a chin strap is quite complicated as when the right hand flicks the strap from the chin if it doesn't come loose the wearer can't lift the cap to the shoulder.

On the command 'prepare to remove headdress' "Remove" the right hand moves up the body and the thumb of the right hand flicks the chinstrap off the chin and continues to the top of the cap.

On the Command "Headdress" The cap is lifted and moved to the right shoulder where it is held until the command "Three cheers for Joe the WO. The cap is raised in a circular motion and the word Huzzah shouted, repeated twice more.

Never did it again in 25 years

Hope I didn't bore you,

John

[Martin Bennitt]

Fascinating John

were you in the Huzzahs?

thanks for the input so far

cheers Martin B

[Tyneside Chinaman]

Hi

Unfortunately for Her Majesty I Recked Everything Mechanical Everywhere,

However she got her own back and made us infantrymen in Belfast,

I have never forgiven her - four months without oil under my nails! OH!!

regards

TC

[tocemma]

Hello all,

Just catching up with this thread. Mounted men serving in Scottish Regiments were issued with a leather chinstrap to be attached to the Glengarry. Many well known photos of the BEF in the early days of the war show the chinstrap being worn by mounted units. I will dig one out and post.

Regards

Tocemma

[RobL]

On this cracking photo of a couple of Douglas motorcycles and their despatch riders, the one on the left looks as if he's wearing two chinstraps, one on, one off - whereas his pal with fag hanging limply from his mouth isn't.

http://prints.paphotos.com/pictures_193037...rance-1914.html

[Martin Bennitt]

Le soldat français is definitely wearing one

thanks for that

cheers Martin B

[Andrew Upton]

On this cracking photo of a couple of Douglas motorcycles and their despatch riders, the one on the left looks as if he's wearing two chinstraps, one on, one off - whereas his pal with fag hanging limply from his mouth isn't.

http://prints.paphotos.com/pictures_193037...rance-1914.html

Isn't that just the one under the chin, and the elastic strap of the googles round his cap? It seems to be quite a different colour to the other.

[john jerome mcmanus]

G'day Martin et al,

I would like to share this wonderful quote with you.

It comes from 'Over the Top', (p238) a diary of H.G. Hartnett who served in the 2nd Battalion AIF during the Great War. The diary was edited and published by Chris Bryett. It is a very good read but, unfortunately, has not received the accolades of 'Somme Mud'.

"Years after the war ended, when the bronze figure of the infantry soldier was being cast for the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney, a great controversy raged over the correct position of the chin strap on the steel helmet on his head. The 'Base Wallahs' were horrified to think that any position other than under the chin could even be given consideration. They demanded to know why it was called a 'chin strap'. On the other hand, the men who had worn steel helmets in battle as well as on the parade grounds were adamant that the strap must be around the back of the head if the 'digger' was to be faithfully portrayed in bronze. Their view was accepted. . . . the bronze figure waering the 'battle order' web equipment and a steel helmet with chin strap around the back of the head does faithfully represent the Australian front-line soldier of the 1914-1918 era."

Hope this is of interest and also hope that others may read 'Over the Top'

Regards

Pop

(Sean McManus)

[Andrew Upton]

pop said:

"Years after the war ended, when the bronze figure of the infantry soldier was being cast for the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney, a great controversy raged over the correct position of the chin strap on the steel helmet on his head. The 'Base Wallahs' were horrified to think that any position other than under the chin could even be given consideration. They demanded to know why it was called a 'chin strap'. On the other hand, the men who had worn steel helmets in battle as well as on the parade grounds were adamant that the strap must be around the back of the head if the 'digger' was to be faithfully portrayed in bronze. Their view was accepted. . . . the bronze figure waering the 'battle order' web equipment and a steel helmet with chin strap around the back of the head does faithfully represent the Australian front-line soldier of the 1914-1918 era."

Both were technically correct - at different points in the war on the chin and behind the head were both the official way to wear them in the front line:

 

They could also have put it over the brim of the helmet as well, as that was also how they were worn by at least some troops.

[Martin Bennitt]

thanks Pop for that quote

I'll see if I can get hold of 'Over the Top' -- is it only published in Australia? Not that that seems to matter much -- I picked up an Australian edition of 'Somme Mud' in a second-hand bookstore in Paris, and found a well-written life of Arthur

Blackburn VC, published in Adelaide of course, in the American Library, also in Paris

I was aware of the other thread on helmet chinstraps, and in starting this one I was really focussing on uniform caps. No offence meant

cheers Martin B

[daggers]

QUOTE: Post #7 "Mounted men serving in Scottish Regiments were issued with a leather chinstrap to be attached to the Glengarry. "

How was it fastened to the Glengarry? Did they have to sew on buttons? Just trying to picture it.

D

[Ghost]

A good photo with a few interesting details from another thread. Chinstrap

Alan

[joad]

I was told by my grandfather that his brother said they never wore chinstraps in the line because the shock waves of a shell could hit the helmet and remove head and helmet from shoulders.