I really like the shown book, but it has one major flaw! There is not one picture of a single trouser, showing and explaining it's details. The other two books of the same author show way more trousers details.

Body armour with a bulletproof plate that wasn't squaddy proof! A perfect example of the military procurement procedure! Lol. On my tour 1979-1980, we had flak jackets. Probably US issue in Vietnam. They were waterproof and helped to keep out the cold. Bullets other than pistol caibers. Probably not.

?can you help I have a Arp greatcoat and I wish to no what badges it had iff eany at all

is there any account of these carrier covers being used to carry other items such as extra ammo magazines or grenades?

Random request, but any possibility of a video discussing/showing the different Blanco shades during WW2? Blanco and Bull website pictures and descriptions don't seem to match the color of blanco I see on original webbing, such as shades that are too green to be KG3 but not bright enough to be KG97, etc.

7:01 Hat looking slightly Germanic.

What I found interesting was some news photos of soldiers showing their *actual* equipment layouts in the field during the war. Such as one chap in the South Pacific who had his boot polish and dubbin stuff jammed into his entrenching tool carrier, along with his spare pipe, housewife, and a few other bits. I'm presuming the difficulty in retrieving the tool head without spilling all the other gear (and somehow securing that gear while using the tool) was offset by the limited use he actually had for the e-tool in the jungle, as opposed to just using GP shovels and picks (which it seems almost every section carried a pair of jammed through the belts of the riflemen anyway).

Spelling mistake in the opening title

The army training pamphlets of the mid 1960s would often show that 'spider harness' attached to the webbing. It would hold the sleep system of the day. That consisted of a nylon liner or inner with a light woolen blanket clipped onto it with press studs. This was then rolled up and 'bundled' inside the green hootchie, I guess for the waterproof element. The hootchie bundle is what then is strapped inside the spider harness. Then I suppose the field pack was introduced with the bottom sleeping bag pocket and the spider harness was no longer used. Pretty sure I still have the hootchie cover (never saw anybody use it), smock psychological and the 2L water bag floating around. A mate also had the bush hat which went with the smock. It was made in the same material and camo pattern. I have seen it in at least one Vietnam photo.

During my National Service, in BAOR 30 during 1956-1958, we were issues Tank Suits for , Tank-Park Guard Duties, they were essential, wear during two particularly harsh German Dinter’s; we even received, Frost, Bite lectures, regarding early symptoms and treatment…. We troopers were only too pleased to wear them over, battledress, plus, issue jumpers et… But the only weapon we were allowed to carry whilst guarding the Tank Park and fuel dump, was a , pick-helve….. memories-memories !

Hi Rifleman Moore, do you have any tips to keep my original Australian Great coat and Repro Australian tunic in good condition? And do you have any spare P37 skeleton carriers that I could buy off you? Cheers

Interesting talk though - I noted that you don't have an entrenching tool included in the '37 set up, was this not carried later in the war? I also assume the respirator was largely dropped by this stage? Were the airborne trousers with the enlarged thigh pocket also being worn at this point, of were most troops in battledress trousers?

Great stuff!

Have you done a specific '68 pattern vid? I bought a dpm pattern, ripstop, has 4 bellows pockets with canadian buttons, the top two are slanted, two vertical zip chest pockets, dual lined inside to the waist, tag says jacket, dpm field nsn 8415-99-869-1936. The zip goes to top of collar, there are button holes on back side of collar. Has the 7th mech div desert rat joboa red/black and left sleeve has union jack flag. The pattern while dpm, doesnt look like most. Its a bit more brown and lighter green, reminds me of the us jungle erdl pattern of vietnam. Thoughts on the age of this? There are sooo many variations.. i got this at an antique shop in Holland, Michigan for 40USD.

I was infantry we wore the black berry the Welsh regiment and the South Wales borders also wore the black berry during and after the 2nd ww who amalgamated in 1969 which Is the regiment I belonged to is the Royal regiment of wales and are now the royal Welsh.

During my service 75-98 The majority of the army wore dark blue berets, there were of course exceptions certainly within the infantry the obvious being the Paras & the Light Division, it appeared to me the majority of the armoured corps wore again, blue berets again there are exceptions.. of course The Royal Tank & a couple cavalry regiments. . Now the foot guards have always from way back wore the khaki beret, which again with exceptions has become the chosen colour for most infantry of the line regiments with the majority of the support arms retaining the blue,

Berkshire and Westminster Dragoons (Army Reserve) still wear the black beret and tank trade badge on right arm.

I owned a WW2 RTR beret which had pieces of felt sewn into the lining presumably to act as a basic form of padding.

Spike Milligan derided the introduction of the beret which he regarded as a shapeless lump of pudding cloth.

I've never liked berets ! It's not a 'practical' hat. Are there any regiments or corps in the present British armed forces that DON'T wear berets ?

A number of Canadian general officers followed Bernard Montgomery's example & adopted the black beret because it looked rather impressive, General Guy Simmonds was a prime example. Likewise, several Canadian war artists took to wearing the black beret as a fashion statement. The only specific special order regarding Canadian headgear concerned the wearing of silk top hats. General Montgomery, on visiting some Canadian artillerymen in Italy, serving their guns entirely naked, due to the summer heat, noticed one particular gunner sporting a fine silk opera hat. The order subsequently came down, "No silk hats shall be worn in this division." If memory serves, it was the 5th Canadian Armoured Div. "The Mighty Maroon Machine" under General Bert Hofmeister, Canada's finest general . - Courtesy George K. UE.CD.

I have never seen a picture of a British tanker actually wearing a "crash helmet", I have seen the commander with a "tin hat", what did this headgear actually look like? The Americans had one and the Russians had a very famous one they still seem to wear or did till recently, have never seen the Germans wearing a helmet in their tanks either, having been in a few tanks and a great many APCs there is a considerable about of kit to bash your bonce on so it does seem like a good idea.

I wore 1 during National Service (1957-1959) in the RAOC. Immediately after Basic Training we removed the lining & shrunk the beret to make it more fluid & malleable

All Royal Australian Armoured Corp personnel and associated regiments wear the Black Beret with either corps or regimental badge. My regiment was the 4/19 Princes of Wales’s Light Horse back in the 80s. Some regiments also wore emu tufts behind their badge on the beret.

The first Regiment to used Berets was The Royal Tank Regiment in the 1920s.

Infanry units converted to tanks also continued to use the terms Platoon and Company instead of Troop and Squadron like the RTR and Cavalry and Yeomanry units.

Australian Armoured Corp wore black berets as well. They were the last to wear a beret still may do I'm not sure now

The film "They Were Not Divided" involves the Guards Armoured Division with black berets and actual real footage spliced into the film kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGGneaVmj6p-d6M

My late Dad wwhom served at DDay in the 4/7 Royal Dragoon Guards told me how proud he was to wear the Black beret

The Dutch army too followed the British.

Rece Corp moved from a Khaki Beret to a Black Beret when they became part of the RAC….. . Hail Brian L Davis!

Some companies of the Royal Army Service Corps wore black berets during the Second World War.

3:46 I read somewhere many years ago that some of the true grit soldiers and Marines serving the US in Vietnam often traded for or otherwise obtained an NVA hammock, Aussie boots and an NVA or VC canvas chest rig. They also bought tiger stripe gear from private manufacturers in Saigon. I remember the article saying that guys with real bush cred wore as little as possible on patrols. The hammock stuffed into a cargo pocket. Mags etc in the canvas pouches, no underwear and Aussie boots. Apparently Australia was first to equip their men with steel soles as a guard against punji sticks and other VC booby traps

To this day I am woefully ignorant as to how and why Australia had an interest in Vietnam at all? The Time Ghost/ Great War crew have a few outstanding documentaries that imply some excellent explanations as to why England took a hard pass on the fighting. My understanding is that the “ARVN led” coalition consisted of: the US, Republic of Korea and Australia. Definitely need to brush up on my geopolitical history re: Vietnam from post-Japanese/WW2 through the fall of Saigon

Taking nothing away from the Enfield family of rifles but given how closely America and the UK fought in WW2 I’ve often marveled that significant units of the BEF didn’t switch over to M1 Garands and the complimentary air cooled .30 machine guns. When we see US Marines working the bolts on their ‘03 Springfields during early campaigns like Guadalcanal it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Tommies were fighting similarly in 1945. Whether outside of the Netherlands or through the northern corridors of the Siegfried Line. The difference in fire superiority and suppression is immense. Regardless of how adept the average British rifleman was at getting off 12-15 aimed rounds per minute.

1:40 Before we get into the contents I would like to encourage others to consider belt or webbing pouches over the irrepressible haversack for all but the precise context for which the haversack was created. Namely as a bread bag. When haversacks are loaded with much more than can be comfortably carried in one’s pockets they tend to bounce or roll off the hip. Especially when jogging or running. Most men aren’t used to a long rectangular pouch protruding from their form. Like many men in both the US and UK I got bit by the haversack bug a couple years ago and spent approximately $80 on a quality brand. I carefully packed it. Tried adjusting it every which way. It never made it out of the house. It was that cumbersome, wonky and wrong for my frame. Give me a knapsack. A ruck. A backpack. A fanny pack. Even a cross body bicycle messenger bag. And yes I’d rather carry these 1937 Bren gun magazine pouches over any type of quasi 18th century bread bag

Don’t forget Monte !!

The Canadian Armoured Corps followed the UK example and adopted the black beret prior to the war. I'm unsure of the precise date.

RAAC call it "The Sacred Black Cloth"!

Nice

B/s we weren't allowed hair.

We had some with the rolos with Arabic writing. Rumours were they were from the Suze crisis. This was in the late 70's early 80's. We still ate them....

Interesting times, ZIPRA did not trust ZANU, neither trusted the Rhodesian army and the Rhodesian army did not trust the Brits and Anzacs were wary of the British command. The Foreign Office were imbedded in the 19th century and frequently fought with the army high command while the Britsh General (Ackland) was having it off with the wife of the Rhodesian chief of staff........in spite of this things worked out except introducing democracy into a tribal situation which was always going to turn to custard.....it did.

Great review and oversight at all (to this day) thx Mate.

Love the intro picture. Looks like the 28 ANZUK flashes we wore when I was in Singapore. Those long cross over straps were usually cut off on our packs. Great memories, we carried five days rations in ours, replen every five days, air drop, helicopter usually.

An excellent concise summary of British kit.

Hi nice kit I re enactment the 17/18 th century up in Scotland the Jacobite period ( 1745) On both sides but mainly the government forces , watching this I got the blackpower smell 😂😂😂😂 Keep up with the excellent informative content bestest from Scotland 👍👍👍

Were bandoliers ever emptied into the ammunition pouches or was this against doctrine?

If you haven't read it already, I strongly recommend "Rebels and Traitors" by Lindsey Davis Cracking fiction set during the English civil war. Long book but bloody well worth it.

You wear a knit 🧶 cap with the Dutch style helmet