Posted on 12/08/2014 12:03:39 PM PST by naturalman1975
Very interesting, especially the socks.
Socks look to have been issued for hundreds of years, but the Russians only started issuing them in the last couple of decades. It was 2 diaper sized pieces of cloth before that for the Rooskies.
30 years ago, the National Geographic magazine employed a photographer named “Bud” Wiser.
Somebody would have had a very bad day if they'd called the person wearing that coat 'Private'.
Our Sergeant Major has a crown upon his arm.
And he thinks he's got it on his bloody head.
From the Combat Load PDF:
> For the test... The team leader further required that all team members were ranger qualified.
I suspect results would have been diffferent with a “regular” infantry company instead of using only “stars”.
*
One piece of equipment I see missing from the 1916 kit (though admittedly it probably wasn’t “issue”, more like improvised) is a trenching tool or spade with its edges and point sharpened. Besides the obvious earth-moving purpose, it also came in very handy as a close-quarter trench weapon...either for raiding (use it like a spear) or repelling a raid (use it like an axe).
I’m reluctant to try reading foreign (to me) enlisted rank insignia from 100 years ago, but 3 chevrons (pointed down ... last time we had that in America was 1860s) suggests a sergeant of some sort.
The object above the Enfield’s receiver looks like a mattock sort of e-tool, the handle is next to the mace.
That comment struck me: so why hasn't he been a soldier? Is it only the duty of a few? Is this generation that soft and unmanly?
This stuff is all common sense - if the writer had even been camping over a weekend, he would have understood the need for most of that stuff. All the rest are just implements of the trade.
One other comment - don't the Brits carry grenades? We always carried as many as we could. They tend to be very useful in awkward social situations.
“Now it looks like the soldier is being used as a pack mule.”
Our military is developing “exoskeleton” type suits with motorized legs that the soldier would wear to help carry the loads! I’m thinking this exhibit (and the new suits) shows the importance of the individual soldier on the ground.
I stand corrected: just spotted grenades on the 1944 and 1982 pages.
We tended to carry 4 grenades each in Vietnam and if we could get them, a 2-pound block of C-4 (for bunkers), a couple of LAWS 66mm rockets and at least 7 loaded magazines plus one bandoleer of ammo in clips. Running out of ammo usually only happens once in combat.
I’d like to see a similar series on the ancient armies, from the hittites through the Persians, Greek Hoplites and up to the late Roman & Byzantine Empire.
Another aspect is how this helps illustrate the difference between WARRIOR and SOLDIER, between the beloved fantasy ‘Hero’ and the ‘Grunt’ serving in an army. There was a reason why the Warrior like the ad hoc Scots only seldom prevailed against the more professional English. Warriors can win battles, soldiers win campaigns.
They are also developing robot 'mules', legged all-terrain robots carrying heavier loads and re-supply. Each method, mule or exoskeleton, would have application and advantages in the battlefields we face.
bfl
that is quite a load! Good one, but how was the weight?
It's the insignia of a British World War I Sergeant Major - today, that insignia is used for a Staff Sergeant (and Sergeant Major is an appointment given to certain Warrant Officers who wear a crown or the Royal Arms as rank insignia - although in Cavalry regiments a Staff Sergeant may still be referred to as Sergeant Major)
In every picture there are many things that get thrown away or left behind.
Thanks for being a history teacher. That’s good to go, and it tells me a little bit more about you. I enjoy your posts.
“Running out of ammo usually only happens once in combat.”
I recall back during the height of Afghanistan how some guy (Freeper?) said every spot in their vehicle had spare magazines. I think they even cut out some interior panels or other modifications so they could stash a few more.
Bfl
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