My WW2 Australian Kit
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- This is the kit I wear when I am re-enacting a member of the 2/25th AIF Battalion on the Kokoda track from September-December 1942. I thought I would share another part of my passion with you mates and also anyone else who would be interested :)
The 2/25th AIF Battalion re-enactment group of which I am a member
/ 2.25thbattalion
The 1937 webbing was designed to support the Bren. The universal or basic pouches carried two Bren mags in one pouch and a 50 round bandolier and two Mills bombs (grenades) in the other pouch. The Bren was the centrepiece of section tactics. The Aussies often dyed the webbing with Goanna oil or other dyes to darken the webbing.
Reading about the ANZAC forces on the kokoda trail- just crazy what those guys were going up against in the early onset of the war
Definitely. It was a crap show of being stabbed in the back by higher up command who had no idea what was going on on the ground, awful conditions, supply problems, lack of training for jungle terrain, a well experienced enemy, and a complete lack of any quarter for both sides.
Was truly a hell to fight in.
The diggers always called it the track not trail.
That’s awesome! Fresh kit indeed
Cheers heaps mate! Really appreciate it 🙏
Of course no impression is 100% complete, but it is continuing to get more filled out.
Great stuff mate. Having done kokoda I cannot imagine trying to move around and fight in the boots they did
Cheers mate!
Indeed! Our group’s sergeant took part in this as part of a group that did the track in this kit. I plan on doing it in the near future as well. Miserable to be sure, but educational and great for experience 😎👍
Merci ,pour les explications
Nice kit mate
Cheers mate 😊🙏
The small pack was worn on the back in battle, check out the small packs on the statues at the Cenotaph at Martin Plaza, the large pack was used to carry an overcoat
Fun fact an original WWII overcoat had pockets deep enough and wide enough to carry two bottles of beer in each pocket
Have you seen a towel ?
They are like an off-white oversized linen tea towel, I have two but I used them for bushwalking and have washed the date stamping off over time
Cheers for the comments and questions mate, my apologies for not replying for so long 🙏 I didn’t get the notification for some weird reason.
That is true, you do see the odd small packs in there. While it certainly can provide some context, I would normally be cautious about using statues to show what guys were doing in the field though. Largely, as is often the case, it depends on the situation. If you are in a combat patrol, it is common to see guys with their webbing and no packs.
The great coat can be carried in the large pack, but trying to fit your other items in there would be difficult. I found it is easier to carry bulky items like that by using the thin straps suspended from the pack and secure them to the bottom of the pack. Even so, however, no great coats in New Guinea 😂
I agree about the pockets on the great coat. They are friggin awesome, and have used them to store all sorts of things 😁
I now have an off-white towel (British made, repro) and toiletries roll, didn’t have them at the time of the video unfortunately. Originals pop up on the odd occasion, but I am finding them pop up less than they used to (thanks to private collectors mostly).
@@NathanaelTheAussie
My father was 8th Division
If you find photos of them dressed for or "in battle" they are always wearing the small pack like the ones on the Cenotaph statues and I read years ago about the larger pack being intended for their overcoats, yes I'm sure they could carry other things in the larger pack but they weren't intended for battle, they weren't carrying their military collections into battle
In one of the few pre 1945 photos of my father in uniform he is wearing his overcoat and I'm sure looking at photos of 8th Division embarkations they would not have been left behind
My father was a member of the 2/19th Battalion and was wounded in the fighting at Singapore and was one of the six survivors of the Sandakan Death March, one of the four who escaped and survive from Ranau, he speaks on video in a specially dedicated area at the National War Memorial
Do you have a WWII era great coat ?
I had one near fifty years ago but it was stollen, the ones I now have are later issues and don't have the massive pockets of the WWII, and I suppose WWI coats that could easily conceal two full beer bottles in each pocket
I've used ex military gear for bushwalking camping and motorcycle touring since the early 1970's when it was still plentiful in disposal stores
Don't take this or what I've said above the wrong way but no my towels aren't reproductions
That looks like a Denix Lee Enfield looking at the wood
Yep, that is a denix 👍 good eye. Still
Annoyed I completely forgot to talk about it in the vid tbh 😅
Why not wrap everything in the ground sheet before placing it in the pack? That ought to keep stuff dry.
To be honest, I actually have no idea how the men actually did this in the field. Have yet to find a source for it.
I have done something similar to this, so it wouldn’t surprise me if there were blokes in the field who did it too.
A very well put together presentation. Just wondering if you get any beef from fellow re-enactors or members of the public for sporting a beard? During the centenary of the first world war, I was involved in a re-enactment group and was endlessly ridiculed because I had a goatee by other members of the group. As an ex ADF member I was well aware that beards and goatee's weren't the norm, but this is re-enacting not the real thing or the ADF. Consequently I'm no longer involved with that particular group, but do miss it greatly and thoroughly enjoyed my time doing all sorts of wonderful activities throughout the centenary had I not been involved would have missed out on many special occasions.
It's a very special thing being a member of the re-enactment community and educating the public, it gives people a glimpse of how our forefathers lived and suffered the harsh realities of war, whether it be 2nd Anglo- Boer war WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam or even in today's moden conflicts. 👍👏👏😁
Am sorry to hear you went through all of that. The group I am in used to get that on the occasion, but not much anymore as we addressed the issue pretty thoroughly (ie: send plenty of images of blokes in the field in New Guinea sporting bears like mine or actually even longer and thicker). Have you looked around for any other groups near you you tickle your interest?
There are people who fail to realise that ADF and even Vietnam regs is not mutually inclusive with WW2.
The prominence of bears during the New Guinea campaign was often due to a lack of shaving soap supply and razors, which you also hear in veteran accounts. Being in Papua New Guinea with the supply issues and being on parade are rather different things. Even the lack of a check stomp during parade drill ruffles feathers with ADF and boomer vet types. Just very different backgrounds.
Nice looking kit! Do you know of any good reproductions of the Australian issued Pattern 10085 boot? There’s a few around, but I’m needing one that isn’t just for show, and can actually be worn as a true boot, offering much of the same functionality of the originals. Know of any good manufacturers? Cheers mate
Gday gday, cheers mate! 😀 To be honest mate I actually don’t know 😞 I have never had to get that pattern for the stuff I do before. Sorry mate 😞
Have you tried asking on the Australian militaries collector’s page on Facebook? You should definitely have some people there who can help 👍
Lawrance Ordnance or Warwicks Firearms & Militaria make nice boots.
After the surrender at singapore due to british blunder the aussies made up
For it in new guinea the kokoda
Trail no surrender there!
Do you have any links for repro Jungle Green uniforms?
Yep 👍
Outside of late war originals, the jungle greens on what price glory are the ones our group use. I have had mine for a few years now and they have gone through everything. Only downside is the buttons and the plastic buckles on the pants will be the first things that eventually will need replacing.
www.whatpriceglory.com/products/c201-australian-militaria/
Im guessing you have a few copies of "Kahki & green''
getting around, or 'jungle warfare '
I have read those texts, definitely good reads 👍 I tend to not use them much in terms of formal documentation to document kitchen as much of it is heavily edited and censored.
hey mate, I'm looking to complete my full original ww2 Australian officers uniform, currently, I have the webbing and the actual uniform plus hat and helmet. a couple questions, Do you reckon you could do a video on the officer's uniform and what they were issued as id like to have everything in it! also, would the Brodie helmet liner fit the mk2 helmet as that is what I have? cheers mate!
Gday mate, thanks for the question 😀 great to hear you are getting in WW2 Aussie stuff!
My focus is not on the officer’s kit unfortunately, so I don’t think I could be much help 😞
When you say Brodie helmet, that was just the generic style of helmet. The key imo would be to look at what Mk the liner is, as it would normally correspond with the helmet. Is your helmet and liner original or repro?
If you look up 2/25th AIF Battalion Re-enacted on Facebook and shoot them a message asking about officer’s kit, I reckon they would be more than happy to help out. That is the group that I am currently a member of.
@@NathanaelTheAussie cheers mate! Unfortunately my uniform hasn’t sold so I’m currently at a statement with money! I’m saving up to buy complete ww2 Australian webbing and the officers uniform. Would love to know what other items I need to complete the set. After the ww2 grouping I will probably move onto Vietnam or ww1. Cheers mate.
@@NathanaelTheAussie hey mate just a quick update if you're interested, I have the summer officers uniform like I said, I have the shoes, and I just purchased majority of the webbing so I am incredibly close to being 100 percent done. about $400 left worth of items to get. cheers.
@@bimbirobotics1050 Sounds awesome mate! 👍
Are you aiming to portray a specific year/unit/theatre of operations?
@@NathanaelTheAussie around 43-45, specifically pacific campaign. I'm not portraying a specific unit, but in the future I might.
That was bonza mate! A couple of questions, were the jungle greens from that era still worn in Vietnam? Also where the heck do you get all this good old stuff?
It's amazing that you've got a groundsheet from that era, I was a RAAF cadet in the early 70s whilst Vietnam war still going on and we wore jungle greens and the combat issue of that time when we're in the bush. (On parade we wore the WW2 Pacific summer uniform and WW2 gaiters painted white)
At the range we used those World War II ground sheets to lie on to fire our 303s, heavy buggers and stinky in the sun. All this gear was in every disposal shop during the 60s and 70s, and then in the 80s apparently buyers from the US swept through the east coast and bought everything up so you have to buy it from them now (is that right?)
Cheers for the great vid, I am really into Jidaigeki as well, so I'll check out your channel and I do Viking age reenactment.
Cheers mate! So glad you enjoyed the vid 😊🙏 you are more than welcome to check out my Japanese living history and martial arts research vids should you ever wish to do so 😁
The kit I got from various suppliers, the repro jungle greens I got from What Price Glory, the original webbing I got from private sellers, etc.
As far as I am aware, the jungle greens began to change aftwr WW2. So, by the time it gets to Vietnam, there would have been various changes that had happened to the kit. There were a couple of p37 webbing floating around early on, but these seemed to be replaced rather quickly.
Those gaiters you are talking about are the anklets right? If so, those would be the post-war p37 variety.
Our industry in WW2 was not ready for the war at all. Despite this, we were able to produce enough webbing and helmets to arm the entire AIF, RAAF, and RAN. Quite a huge feet when you think about it, and really is testimony to the effort people put into the war. It’s one of the reasons why we had so much surplus after the war and why heaps of people on single post war generation had craploads of the stuff lying around.
Cool to hear you so Viking age reenactment 👍 do you focus on a specific location and time?
@@NathanaelTheAussie g'day mate sorry I didn't get a notification about your reply. Much appreciated. Yeah I've got World War II era gaitors as well as the black Vietnam era ones. That's all I know them as I've never heard them called anklets, was that a term from WW2?
Our drill boots in the 70s were the solid black leather smooth souled boots, which I guess must've come in after the Second World War because they seemed to wear brown boots then didn't they?
We had one pair for drill, which we polished up like mirrors on the caps, and the other pair we would take to the bootmakers and get a commando,sole glued on for bush work.
We used WW2 webbing backpacks which are mongrels when they are full of rations etc, no padded shoulder straps for us tough diggers ha ha
I have been teaching myself, Icelandic for many years, and I can read old Norse reasonably with dictionary help, getting better all the time as I try to study every day. So re-enactment wise, I would say that I am into 950 to 1000 Icelander/ Norwegian/ Hebrides Scotland, pretending to be a Skald , even though my language is nowhere near that sophistication😊 since Covid things have been very slow to get going around where I live, but in the past, I've gone to Viking age re-enactments in northern New South Wales and on the Gold Coast and I tell stories from the sagas / Eddasand speak a bit of Icelandic to give people a taste of the old language. I'm a teacher of Chinese Kung Fu and of course this is my channel but I really love Japanese traditional culture and I'm a big fan of the classic jidaigeki of the 60s and 70s like Zatoichi films, Kozure Ogami, Kurosawa etc etc. Fan of Sengoku, Edo and Meiji jidai.
Cheers mate😀🤙
Where did you get all of this mate??
G’day 😎
So I get all this from a mix of militaria repro sites and originals from private sellers or eBay.
Where Did you get these?
Hi mate 🙂
The kit I got from various suppliers, the repro jungle greens I got from What Price Glory, the original webbing I got from private sellers, etc.
Did the Australians wear their slouch hats more that their helmets?
From what I have seen, it often depended on the theatre of operations. When you are looking at Kokoda and the majority of the pacific theatre, Australians are ordered to wear their steel helmets and mostly do so. Middle East seems to be a mix.
For some strange reason, it is at Lae/Gona/Buna/Sanananda on the northern New Guinea Coast where it is mostly slouch hats being worn. Very soon after this though, it is back to the steel helmets.
-in the Pacific it often depended on the officers or individual, by the time the Borneo campaigns came around it wasn't unusual for the blokes to wear their slouch hats in battle. Tin hats would have been worn if there was any artillery getting around and landings etc.
This is the stuff I use for shaving (got a beard) 😂😂😂
Hey, I didn’t say I use it very often 😛😅
@@NathanaelTheAussie 😂
I figured you'd just "liberated" the gaiters from some Yanks, as good Aussies do.
Ssssh 🤫🤫 they will hear you….