Cymro Posted 3 December , 2018 Share Posted 3 December , 2018 (edited) I thought I'd start a thread on this as I find it quite interesting. Also having recently watched Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" where there are a lot of images showing the unconventional wearing of equipment. The wearing of the entrenching tool holder in the front to protect the groin and upper thighs is shown and I know has been discussed here. Also one soldier is shown wearing an 08 right hand pouch and a pistol ammo pouch on the left (either with a brace adaptor of with a sewn in shoulder strap - not clear). The wearing of a waterbottle on top of the entrenching tool on the back. The occasional mixing of 08 and 1914 (although I need to watch again to see how that is possible!). Also the almost universal wearing of 08 or 1914 leather rigs by officers on the front lines. Aside from the film's other great merits I found watching for these ways in which equipment was worn in practice quite fascinating. Can anyone add some more combinations at all? Edited 3 December , 2018 by Cymro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 3 December , 2018 Share Posted 3 December , 2018 What equipment was provided and how that was adapted by the soldiers is a case study where the variations are innumerable. Soldiers have been adapting kit since whenever the first "pattern" was issued and still do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lammy Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 Here is a small article from the Halifax Courier.! seems as though most kit was donated.! There are articles like this for every day of the war.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1418 Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 Hi One that can often be seen is the SD cap leather chin strap, one part placed below the badge and the other above. Similarly splitting the strap itself and having it braided or pleated. Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 1 hour ago, Dave1418 said: Hi One that can often be seen is the SD cap leather chin strap, one part placed below the badge and the other above. Similarly splitting the strap itself and having it braided or pleated. Regards Dave A method that I believe was known as the 'tram driver'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 Presumably the 'helmets' highlighted in post 3 would be balaklavas rather than steel helmets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lammy Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 Possibly.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete_C Posted 18 December , 2018 Share Posted 18 December , 2018 (edited) This shot of an NCO kitted out for Russia (c.1919) shows an interesting stowage of bayonet and helve, presumably to keep them out of the way on the march or perhaps during embarkation. You can just see the chape of the bayonet scabbard sticking out from the water bottle carrier. Pete Edited 18 December , 2018 by Pete_C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gronksmil Posted 19 December , 2018 Share Posted 19 December , 2018 great photo Pete, merry xmas.Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1418 Posted 19 December , 2018 Share Posted 19 December , 2018 His shoulder title appears to be T over a number and county Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete_C Posted 20 December , 2018 Share Posted 20 December , 2018 20 hours ago, gronksmil said: great photo Pete, merry xmas.Mike. Cheers Mike, all the best mate. Here's another one for you. First one is a crop from a well known IWM image showing the entrenching tool deployed to the front as mentioned in the OP. The other shot (also IWM) shows the same chap from the rear. If you look closely at his haversack you'll see the side buckles are tied together across the top and the rest of it is tied tightly with some sort of string or lace in the style of the modern compression sack, including his mess-tin. I suspect it was done to stop it catching in the confines of a trench rather than to squeeze in more contents. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrightdw Posted 26 December , 2018 Share Posted 26 December , 2018 9th Hampshires, a Territorial Bn. which had sat out the war in India, despatched to Siberia in 1918 as part of British military intervention in the Russian Civil War. The Hants and their sister Bn. 25th Middlesex were primarily garrison troops and (with the exception of a single engagement by 25th Middlesex at Dukhovskaya in August 1918 in which they did not suffer a fatality) did not fire a shot in anger in Russia. This photo would have been taken near Omsk, Siberia, summer 1919. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 26 December , 2018 Share Posted 26 December , 2018 In post #11, is that an eating iron tucked down his puttee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 28 December , 2018 Share Posted 28 December , 2018 On 26/12/2018 at 17:09, PhilB said: In post #11, is that an eating iron tucked down his puttee? Certainly looks as if there is. On 18/12/2018 at 22:20, Pete_C said: This shot of an NCO kitted out for Russia (c.1919) shows an interesting stowage of bayonet and helve, presumably to keep them out of the way on the march or perhaps during embarkation. You can just see the chape of the bayonet scabbard sticking out from the water bottle carrier. Pete Not surprising - one old soldier who carried the 07 bayonet told me that it was specially designed to dig in the back of the thigh while marching when worn as regulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 28 December , 2018 Share Posted 28 December , 2018 (edited) On 18/12/2018 at 20:41, Steven Broomfield said: Presumably the 'helmets' highlighted in post 3 would be balaklavas rather than steel helmets. Indeed. In my local newspapers woolen sleeping helmets and body belts were among the items most sent out during winter 1914 for the local soldiers. Derek. Edited 28 December , 2018 by Derek Black Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BullerTurner Posted 16 January , 2019 Share Posted 16 January , 2019 One thing my decades of military service taught me is that uniforms are definitely not uniform! Except on parades when the big badge is about his work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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