Excellent video

Wow.. That compass, 30 June 1971, 3 weeks before I was born!

Loved this video. hope for many more. great work keep it up, please.

My family on my mums side is irish (Republic of Ireland, county clare) and apparently fled the country due to the troubles

Why not discuss the Brits in Vietnam?

Absolutely incredible. How do you find this kit so pristine? Do you buy all small and unissued because it's going on a mannequin or are you just lucky

Nice displays

Think that must be a Mk 3 steel helmet. Mk 4s came after the war

Just found your channel. Your collection is absolutely incredible. You could open a museum. Great videos. Thanks

Am saying nothing 😂

Interesting display. I enjoyed the video

A note about, "Round. Anti Riot. 1.5 inch Baton" ammunition. These first saw use in Hong Kong to quell civil unrest. The L1 round was a tapered wooden cylinder about five inches long and fired from a modified Webley Signal/Flare pistol with a longer barrel and shoulder stock. The L1, wooden round was not approved for use in the UK and the infamous "L2" Rubber Bullet, as shown was introduced. These were linked to a high incidence of death and were replaced by the "L5 Plastic Baton Round". The vast majority of anti riot ammunition used in Op Banner was the "L5" version. These can easily be identified by a thick white band on the black cartridge case. The original L2 rounds like the one shown are quite scarce now and command high prices. Towards the late eighties a new round and gun was introduced. The "L21" 38mm round was a hard, brown plastic cylinder, slightly rounded at both ends. These were perhaps more dangerous than anticipated and did not last in service too long. The current round, the "L60 38mm AEP". This is an "Attenuated Energy Projectile". A hard plastic rod, enveloped by a softer outer jacket which deforms upon impact and delivers it's energy without the likelihood of causing fatal injuries.

If you pulled the cap's flap down you'd have a metal badge pressing into your ear.

Very interesting, thanks. Are these part of a personal collection or are they in a museum?

I trained in riot control and was standing by in the late sixties ready to go to Ireland,not unusual but,I was in the TA. This was with the 52nd lowland Division based in Glasgow.We were never sent,but later in the late seventies I did surveillance work in Northern Ireland with another Regiment.

No using a D cell. In the Baton Gun…. .

Excellent kit as ever.

The original NI gloves, mine from 1974 as an instance, had padded fingers too…..all except the trigger finger.

Very interesting video! My dad grew up in Derry during the Troubles; always interesting to see the uniforms he'd have been throwing bricks at! 😂

Respirator not gas mask old boy 😊

Very English to call 47 years of rioting, bombings & murders 'the troubles'

Very interesting video I grew up in the 70s&80s I can remember the troubles very well. Keep the video's coming.👍

Very good, I've got both the gas masks you mentioned. I do remember the short puttees from cadet days. When you look at the difference between the 1970 kit and the 1980....its experience that has driven the change I suppose. I do remember something about the mk6 covers melting if set on fire, maybe hence the neck guard later on. The rubber bullet did cause a lot of injury and as you stated death....I'm unsure of details as I'm no expert on NI/op banner history.....suffice to say its a large piece to shoot at someone. I've often thought about buying a Cromwell, maybe one day. I'm really looking forward to the next video, right up my street I think 🤔 😊😅

I've actually tried looking for books on this at the library here in Texas however I can't find a book that actually talks about both sides here it's usually talking about like the history of the IRA

This was a great and interesting video, however, there is one important detail that is missing: neither of these soldiers is wearing any kind of headwear other than their helmets. That is something that you really should have included. The winters of 1941-42 and 1942-43 on the Eastern Front were exceptionally cold even by Russian standards, and the temperatures dropped down to -30°C, or even -40°C during the very coldest days. In those kind of conditions (or even in the more "normal" Russian or Northen European winter weather of -10°C to -20°C) you absolutely cannot leave your head unprotected for long periods of time, or your ears are going to literally fall off. Especially the Soviets soldiers would have always been wearing the "ushankas" (fur hats with folding ear flaps) in the winter, or alternatively several layers of warm knitted wool hoods/balaclavas underneath their helmets. The Germans would soon start doing that as well, but during the first winter of the war (1941-42) the German army was badly underprepared for the Russian winter and had a severe lack of proper winter hats, hoods or balaclavas to give to their troops when the freezing temperatures came. This rather famously resulted in many of the German soldiers stealing scarves from old women and wrapping them around their head to keep their ears warm.

Kamikazi instructor to his students, " pay careful attention,I will only demonstrate this once".

I thought the attachment on the stock of the Bren was for use with the tripod when the weapon was used as an AA gun or in a fixed defensive position.

I have visited Springfield Armory. I live in Massachusetts. Over an hour’s drive. It is now a museum, and you can see all the weapons produced from 1790’s to 1960’s. The 1945 uniform would be the same style my father wore in occupied Germany during early 1950’s. He was an MP. Do you have any US Navy or Coast Guard uniforms to show? I am currently with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Watched a number of your videos. Really interesting and subscribed 👍

I used to do Vietnam war living history and in my attic is all that kit...I'm not sure it fits me anymore! My webbing loadout didn't include the bipod pouch; I left that in the camp as part of the display, but I would wear the 2 quart canteen which was worn slung across the body. An optional extra was the thigh mounted gas mask pouch. Mine's dated 1968 and it's in pristine condition as it was never issued and I bought it for £10 in a market in South London! One item that was popular with troops in the field was to wear the small, olive green issue towel around the neck. The ends would slot in under the yoke straps. I notice the angle head torch has the thumb guards on them. That's post Vietnam War but as the originals without the guards are so rare these days...and almost none you find are in working order...so most living history societies that cover Vietnam and the Cold War make an exception and allow the more modern design. You've got a great collection there and seeing it brings back a lot of good memories of doing the War and Peace living history show down in Kent and other military history festivals over the years.

The Armalite better knowen as the Plastic Spastic

I bought a Vietnam era US M1 helmet off a SAS weapons Instructor in '77, whilst at Crickhowell as a grunt. Transferred to another regt, prior to a posting to NI I was on exercise in southern Germany where I managed to get a pair of US leather lightweight boots, lovely, like carpet slippers. I wore them in Ulster for almost 2 years, along with the M1 on occasion as we weren't issued with any head protection for the first 8 months. I knew one guy who actually had a German helmet he wore in BAOR covered in British scrim and hessian.

The British Army wont have high boots until 1984. Insanity

Why not compare AUSTRALIAN infantry in Vietnam?

An excellent book that compares and contrasts USA to UK, 'Nam to Malaya is by a bloke called John A. Nagl and titled " Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam "

IIRC the spike protected boots had metal plates in the soles to protect against 'punji sticks' sharpened sticks in holes that were covered with camouflage, usually the usual forest 'litter' of leaves etc. Often also smeared with human excrement to give anyone unlucky enough to stand on one an infection, alongside an horrendous wound, that if untreated would lead to gangrene... Unfortunately the metal plates had the effect of turning into shrapnel for the wearer, and anyone nearby, if you were unlucky enough to stand on an AP mine exacerbating any injuries and potentially causing even more casualties nearby so were removed from later production...not sure if they were replaced by another material, I suspect not.

Very nice collection. I have some Vietnam era items, but tossed a lot over the years (regrettably). I was in High School when the war ended, and the surplus stores here were overflowing with boots, mess kits, uniforms, helmets, cammo paint sticks, canteens, you name it. And all for super cheap prices. We didn't think to save or collect. I still have my helmet with Mitchell cover and a bayonet. Here in San Diego are major Navy and Marine Corps bases, but lots of the stuff in the stores was US Army as well.

I was a “National Service” conscript sent to Malaya (as it was then). The British had essentially defeated the Communist Terrorists (CTs) by 1957 and told the Americans how to win in Vietnam. But the Americans insisted they knew best, only to be defeated and left to run away with their tails between their legs.

Had those green boots issued to us in Brunei in 1981, was there for 6 weeks and got through a pair a week, US boots were in a different league.

Just discovered this channel...Great video , nicely done ✔️

The Americans ignored absolutely everything the British had done and learned about jungle warfare

American gear: Compass was never worn in the pouch on the shoulder. That would be where the field dressing was carried. Carried there so it could be accessed regardless of whether you were face up or face down as a casualty. Pretty much a standard position - LEFT shoulder (so as to not interfere with shouldering the weapon). Flashlight, if carried, would be below the dressing pouch. If you had a compass, the pouch for it would be worn on the belt, near the center, either side - or carried in a pocket. The stripper clips for 5.56mm ammo were 10 rounds and there were two to the insert that went in each pouch on the bandolier. I assume the cardboard you have there is for the M14. The bipod was almost never issued or carried.

I was a US Marine from 1988-92, and our field equipment was pretty much the same, except we had the "Y" harness instead of the "H" harness. I was in the National Guard from 1992-1996 and we were issued the Vietnam-era flak vest! Nice video, one note is that the camouflage band for the helmet was not to hold down the cover, but to hold leaves, twigs or fabric to disguise the shape of the helmet. Also, that bandolier is likely for the M1/M14, as the 5.56 rounds for the M16 came in 10-round clips, not 5.

11.35 North Borneo "ruled by England" is incorrect. Ruled by the UK or Britain would be politically more accurate.

Muy bueno.👍

Our webbing was 37 pattern, refilling the water bottle was a marathon with a Millbank bag and tablets, we needed two water bottles due to the time taken to purify the water. We Brits always wore the sleeves rolled down and buttoned in the jungle in an attempt to protect from mosquitoes. The Malaysian jungle was no fun, anybody that wanted it could have it for me!

When I was in the jungle in Malaysia, my uniform looks not unlike the American one. I removed the rank chevrons from my epaulettes. We had somewhat similar canvas jungle boots, but the leaches got in through the lace holes. Subsequently, they were too fat to escape through these holes, so when the boots came off, we had Meticide on hand to kill them. One morning, I discovered that I had been sleeping on a nest of young scorpions all night, but came to no harm. I doubt that two ants would have fitted into a Swan Vestas matchbox, we used to jokingly compare them to lions.

My old man was in Malaya I still have his shirt, in fact I wore it in 1982 in the FALKLANDS.

Really interesting video, thanks for the upload. At 1:04 when you spoke about the spike protective soles, the French in Indochina faced exactly the same problems 20 years earlier. They often wore Pataugas/chaussure de brousse which are similar to 'grunge' era converse trainers made from canvas and rubber.

A great video, and I will say the jungle boots were great, and a design of the jungle boot was still being issued when I got to the 75th Ranger Regiment in the mid 2000s and used as part of the duty uniform, though for field use other boots were mainly used