The Old and the Bold: 1937 Pattern Web Equipment

Norman Mitchell, 93, served for 18 years with the Grenadier Guards. Here he describes the webbing equipment used by the British Army at the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-45), and how it was worn.
'The Old and the Bold' is just one of the community projects being run by the National Army Museum as part of its 'Building for the Future' redevelopment project.
Find out more at www.nam.ac.uk/m...

[@Noah-if8vo]

He died on 24th of january 2018 . RIP Rest in peace Warrior

[@monsieurfoupierre]

OH I sighed when i read this

[@patricksmodels]

I used Pattern 37 webbing in the Italian Army in 1997, it was still up to the job. The ammo pouches were the same, but with a leather buckle strap and used to carry 2 or 4 Beretta BM59 automatic rifle magazines, with 20 rounds each. And we had to polish all the brass fittings!

[@rossmum]

It's a Lovecraftian nightmare to assemble and adjust compared to the stuff I got issued (which was basically an updated take on ALICE), but you can really see just how far ahead of its time it was. Easily the best piece of load-bearing kit anyone had at the time, and still right up there decades later. They really got the formula right. Now if only I could get the bloody formula right so my Pattern 37 rig doesn't hike up my back, but without my universal pouches being loose all over the place...

[@MrInterestingWorld]

I smiled when he remarked the Gurkhas not being able to look over British dug foxholes and trenches.

[@bigchunk1]

Lovely little chaps.

[@liquidocelot5976]

Not if your a german

[@Ideo7Z]

+Liquid Ocelot OR Japanese

[@MrSebfrench76]

94.....And a juvenile smile.. Some guys are above the others.Congrats Sir!

[@Elite_Gamer_1337]

his laugh is so genuine, i wish he was my grandpa

[@suddenuprising]

He's my son.

[@dickrichard626]

Will you be my Daddy?

[@acrchy]

what a loverly man .....love listening to the vets and asking them questions

[@michaelcoatney2568]

I love these guys!! REAL men. God bless them. Rule Britannia!

[@timpatjoe]

She rules the waves no more

[@thegunnut1944]

@me Me how dose this have anything to do with what he said

[@thegunnut1944]

@me Me typical American. Fun fact that flag is now bleached white because of the sun

[@bowlmrbowl5503]

@me Me you begged the french to help you win

[@alundavies8402]

@me Me grow up son you are a fool if you don’t realise that we help you get out of trouble a lot of the time

[@aldarith]

Much more interesting than most documentaries today - I'd much rather hear a veteran and their opinions on the matter than get it second hand.

[@emptyangel]

What a legend...

[@thebuffs3794]

I have no idea what it must of been like for soldiers in Africa and Italy . Baking hot in the day, cold at night, uncomfortable boots, heavy webbing, heat stroke, sun burn, prickly heat etc... My respect to ALL veterans and fallen service men/women

[@ardshielcomplex8917]

When I enlisted in the Australian Army in 1972 we were still being issued the 36 pattern WW2 Basic Ammo pouches, as the US style smaller pouches came in most of us kept the 36 patt pouches. The old Brit / Commonwealth basic webbing stood the test of time, although the American Y yoke shoulder straps and water bottle carriers were preferred, and the Brit post war "Kidney" pouches rather than the US "Bum" packs.

[@popsbe.triping4750]

Thank you sir.. amazing story!!!

[@geff4122]

100% Respect

[@colinhodgkiss8467]

I join the British Army in 1980 and yes believe it or not that was the same webbing i was issued but only in my basic training,,, and it was a absolute pain in the arse probably because it was old and used however 6 months later when i was shipped out to Germany i got the up to date webbing.

[@colinhodgkiss8467]

colin hodgkiss Sorry i forget to mention the up to date webbing was the 58 webbing....

[@stutz788]

+colin hodgkiss I too was issued 37 pattern for basic training in '75. The previous training platoon had had to blacken it for their final field exercises. Your first task was to scrub it clean and blanco it and to get the brasses gleaming again. In the final two weeks of training you had to blacken it again ... So the circle continued.

[@Colinpark]

Pretty the same as the 51pattern I used as a recruit in the Canadian Reserves. We didn't have shovel carrier and used the the plastic US style canteen, but on the same side. left rear we had the mess tin carrier.

[@minuteman4199]

Colin Park And in the 51 pattern the ammo pouches are a lot bigger than the "Bren gun pouches" The bren pouches were better because the 51 pattern ones were too big to lie on in the prone position.

[@davidchiles5331]

Be proud of these men

[@Radio4ManLeics]

He's right about tge binocular cases! I've just checked!

[@ruadhanscriveneranderson178]

A more economic and easily produced version of the '37 pattern webbing was made for the home guard and so it should be different in dad's army from the Webbing in this video. However, those do look like binocular cases in dad's army!

[@RiflemanMoore]

They are indeed! The studio used them as a passable stand in for the actual Home Guard issue pouches which were scarce to find even back then.

[@mainemade300]

What a great laugh he hase ,I love it reminds me of my mothers laugh ,so happy joyful,

[@Chiefab22]

Great British Soldiers

[@themadmechanic1964]

lovely little chaps .. just fantastic

[@dfcvda]

splendid chap.

[@skepticalbadger]

No disrespect intended, but he is misremembering the Thompson capacity - it was 20 round magazines (later 30). Also, although it did carry rifle ammunition, the main purpose of the P'37 webbing ammo pouches is to hold 3x Bren magazines for the section LMG.

[@rossmum]

The Bren also had dedicated pouches which were designed to attach in yoke fashion to a strap, they lacked the attachment loop for the pistol belt. Learnt that one the hard way, since they otherwise look pretty much identical to the basic pouches. I've got two of both types now.

[@timmynoshoe8404]

He could mean that the Thompson mags had problems feedings when they were full so they didnt fully load them

[@ridge2542]

1: you gotta remember its 70 years ago for them, so remembering finer details is tricky; 2: goodluck trying to fit 3 bren magazines in a space designed for 2

[@richardwoods5873]

That's what we were issued with when I joined the TA in 1971

[@mandalor6708]

I this fine gentleman still around?

[@DocLois2010]

Legend. Respect.

[@davideades9588]

Gurkhas I love ‘em he said. If you have to defend a hopeless position you need an English or Welsh regiment. If you have to take an impregnable position you need a Scots or Irish regiment. If you want to do both, well that’s what God invented the Gurkha for.

[@WorldWarWill-]

Very interesting :-)!

[@longrider42]

I hope you can help me, or some one who watches you. I just recently picked up what I believe to be a British military large pack, it is dated 1935-36, date is faded, and it is also stamped CN/AA 1370 or 1870, hard to read. does not have the proper L straps but does have the proper brass buckles for them. Any help would be appreciated.

[@Retronightvintage1993]

cool

[@thedondaithi1304]

My fathers has that exact sword bayonet, were Irish and he has no english relatives, but I have no clue how he got it, although on my mothers side my grandmother is english and her father fought in ww1 I know he was in the somme but he was also in 2 other battles and lived to come home

[@waynehawkes9105]

Rest in peace

[@Didymus-vz6uy]

Wonder where he encountered a 15 round thompson mag?

[@johnbeauvais3159]

So I have a Thompson and granted the magazines are now much older than then but I’ve found that you can have feed issues if you run the 20 round magazines full up. It’s possible they made the same discovery and decided to download the mags to 15 rounds instead of risking having the magazine not function.

[@damatt9429]

Gurkhas- 'lovely little chaps'

[@yeungmankiu5539]

The old man is right, in his time the troops were attacking despite having unsatisfying gears . Now the troops have equipment many times better and expensive than the past, but the tactic and policy are just too defensive.

[@theotterguy]

It's different wars.There are no front lines it's asymmetric warfare and it's comparing apples and bananas.

[@Irishfrasa]

Can't attack an army that blends into the civilians. There's no established battle lines anymore.

[@aj-tp2yh]

Thankyou England

[@snowangel3268]

Please help me mere grandfather aapki army ka hissa the main vah Shahid ho gaye the aapke country ke liye mere pass aise for medals hai main Pakistan se please hamari help kijiye

[@josephgonzales4802]

I chuckled when said that the Gurkhas were loving little chaps. 😏

[@stephen9869]

What an awesome laugh :-D

[@twinsonic]

Captain Mainwaring..they don't like it up 'em!

[@shanebairstow5926]

Gurkhas may not be able to see over the top of a trench but you do not want to be on the wrong side of an angry one in a trench those guys are MAD eh eh

[@shanebairstow5926]

+MasterAtheistic yep can well believe it , google Gurkhas fight bandits on Indian train, one man against 30 bandits the bandits lost bad.

[@MrSlitskirts]

+Shane Bairstow Hi, another story I was told from WWII veterans (Australian Army) ref the Gurkhas was that when operating with them in the Western Desert (1941-42), when returning the from a night patrol into / through Gurkha trenches, after entering the trench they would feel a hand feeling for their shoulder strap for the curved metal bronze / copper coloured "AUSTRALIA" Shoulder Title (badges weren't brass in WWII) so as to correctly identify then as "Friend", whilst the other hand held a curved Kukri knife up to their (Australian troops) throat, so if they didn't feel the "AUSTRALIA" Shoulder Title, it's "goodbye"...and the veterans also said they would never hear nor see them, they would just feel their hand on their shoulder with no warning.

[@MrGeorocks]

I'd imagine you'd shit yourself if the Gurkha wasn't able to find the badge.

[@davefloyd9443]

Well known story of Gurkhas on a Nato Exercise...... At the end of the exercise someone mocked the Gurkha Officer saying they'd not seen them all week. The Gurkha asked if he could see the soles of his boots, right across the sole in front of the heel, a chalk line. As the others present checked their boots everyone found chalk lines, some men had 5! The Gurkhas had been on recon duties....

[@PieAndChips]

@@MrSlitskirts The Gurkhas serving in Burma and other places in the Far East would determine the nationality of the soldier by feeling their boot laces. The Japanese laces their boots in a criss-cross pattern where as the British and commonwealth troops laced their boots in a ladder pattern.

[@bobyouel7674]

RESpect