En guide skriven av Lance Corporal Ashley Elliot i 2nd Bn Essex Regiment, därav är den på Engelska.
An introduction to British WWII living history
The British Army in WWII fought in many theatres and was equipped with specialist uniforms to meet the demands of each part of the
world that it was fighting in. For the most part however the equipment used was the same in all theatres, with only a few differences to
be seen. For this guide I will be concentrating on the British Army in NW Europe, with later guides for the Italian and North African
campaigns.
This is part one of the guide, the British Expeditionary Force of 1939/40. Part two will follow and will look at the British Army in 1944/45.
Part one - The BEF - 1940, the fall of France
The British Expeditionary Force was made up of Regular Army and Territorial units. It was a professional army of career soldiers and was
excellently trained, though unfortunately in many cases in outdated techniques. The majority of the BEF in France had been equipped
with both the new Battledress uniform and the new 37 pattern webbing equipment, but many of the territorial units were also still equipped
with 1922 pattern Service Dress uniform (almost identical to the that worn in the First World War) and 08 pattern webbing.
This led to a wide mixture of uniforms and equipment being worn, especially in the retreat to Dunkirk. For the purposes of this guide I will
concentrate on the Battledress and 37 pattern webbing only.
Battledress blouse and trousers
The new Battledress (BD) uniform was originally called "Battledress, Serge", but is now commonly referred to the 37 pattern Battledress.
The first pattern BD blouse featured an unlined collar and a basic toothless buckle on the waistband. On the second type of 37 pattern
BD blouse the collar was lined with with the same material as the lining pockets. The first pattern BD trousers featured a single pleat
first-field dressing pocket. This was changed to a double pleat first-field dressing pocket that was closed with a button.
(reproduction first pattern trousers with the single pleat first field dressing pocket)
(Original later issue 37 pattern trousers with double-pleat first field dressing pocket)
Issue white cotton braces were worn with the BD trousers. These did not change for the whole duration of the war.
03 trouser belts were also worn for the duration of the war.
Photo to follow
Shirt
All other ranks soldiers were issued with a collarless wool shirt. This was an over-the-head half-fly shirt, and the same pattern was worn
throughout the war.
(reproduction shirt made from original unused wool, with original early metal buttons)
Underwear
Issue underwear consisted of wool short and long-johns. A wool singlet under-shirt also came in long, or short sleeve. Standard issue socks
were a light grey/blue wool.
Headgear
The standard uniform cap for the new Battledress uniform was the FS cap which was worn until the introduction the GS cap later in the war.
This cap was worn over on the right side of the head
Insignia
The only insignia worn on the new BD blouse were rank stripes and shoulder titles denoting which regiment etc the wearer was in.
Initially these were either brass titles as worn on the Service Dress uniform, or the new cloth slip-on titles.
The slip-on titles had the advantage of being easy to remove in combat.
Identity tags
These are made of a pressed fibre-board and were worn around the neck with either cord or a leather bootlace. A duplicate of the red tag was
also sometimes attached to the respirator bag.
Boots
The standard British boots were the same for the whole of the war and up into the early 1960s. The one change that did occur was the number
of studs that wee nailed into the sole. In 1940 there were 25 studs per boot, but by 1943 this had dropped to 13. Leather laces were used.
Shown in the photo is one "walking-out" or dress boot without studs, and on studded boot for combat use)
Gaiters or Webbing anklets were worn with the ankle boots. The first pattern gaiters had webbing straps, with later versions having leather
ones.
(shown are an early issue pair with canvas straps in 97 Pea Green blanco, and an unblancoed pair of mid to late war with leather straps)
Cold Weather items
Each soldier was issued with;
A Greatcoat (which had brass General Service (Army) buttons on it. The only insignia worn on the greatcoat were rank stripes.)
A V-neck wool jumper
A knitted wool scarf
Wool gloves
Greatcoat photo to follow
Webbing
The 1937 pattern webbing equipment was a versatile system that allowed for a vast number of combinations to be worn.
All webbing items that were personal issue (that is, not a shared item), were to be blancoed. Blanco came in blocks of compressed powder
and this was mixed with water to make a paste which was applied to the webbing. This ensured that all soldiers had a uniformed appearance
to their webbing (much more information can be found on blancoing on http://www.blancoandbull.com) The BEF used shade 97 Pea Green blanco.
The standard infantry set-up consisted of the following;
Battle Order
1x belt
2x MK1 Bren pouches or 2x two-pocket cartridge pouches
2x cross straps
1x bayonet frog
1x skeleton water bottle carrier (with a front closure)
1x entrenching shovel (this was universally disliked and was discontinued and replaced with the 08 pattern entrenching tool as was used in
the First World War)
Marching Order
In addition to all of the above, the marching order webbing set-up also had;
1x Small Pack
1 pair of L-straps (to attach the small pack to the rest of the webbing set)
Full Marching Order
This was not worn in battle. All of the above, plus;
1x Large Pack
Webbing details
Water bottles
The first pattern skeleton water bottle carrier on the left. The carrier on the right was used from 1940 until the mid 1950s
Early WWII water bottle on the left. WWI water bottle on the right.
Additional webbing equipment
Supplementary Bren pouches were not a personal issue item, but were carried by many soldiers. These held three Bren magazines in
each pouch.
Bandoleers of .303 Ammunition
Contents of webbing
Cartridge pouches held 5-round clips of ammunition for the SMLE.
Bren pouches - one pouch would hold two Bren magazines for the section Bren gun. The other pouch would be used to carry clips of rifle
ammunition and anything else that the soldier wanted to put in it. The Small Pack held mess tins and daily ration, wash kit,
spare underclothes, jumper and anything else the soldier could squeeze into it. The rain cape was folded and stored under the flap
of the small pack.
Other equipment
1x Box Respirator in a MKV or MKVI haversack (inside the haversack would also be a pack of "eyeshields, anti-gas",
tubes of anti-gas ointment, and a demister container)
1x Gas Cape (this was worn rolled-up above the small pack in the "ready" position. It could be deployed by unrolling it by simply
pulling a quick release string)
1x MKII Steel Helmet -an improved development of the First World War pattern helmet. This was used throughout the war and
into the mid 1950s. (Helmets were painted in either green or pale chocolate brown.
The BEF mostly had smooth untextured paint on their helmets)
1x Rain Cape (also called a poncho or groundsheet. First issue rain capes were dark brown and shiny on one side (like in WWI).
Later in the war these were made of a tan rubberised canvas)
1x Blanket (these were grey wool - the one that all of these photos are taken against is dated 1942)
Personal items
Each man was issued with the following;
1 x Pint enamelled tin mug (the BEF were issued with white and blue mugs, but these were later changed to dark brown)
1x pair of mess tins (Early tins were made of aluminium, but these were later changed to galvanised tin.)
(this mess tin was left behind in France by a soldier of the BEF while retreating in 1940. It was found in a hedge row last year)
KFS Set (Knife, Fork and Spoon set - standard cutlery that was broad arrow marked. These were sometimes stamped with the owner's service number)
Wash kit - which included a toothbrush, razor, spare blades, shaving brush, shaving soap, carbolic soap in a soap dish, comb, and spare leather laces.
Housewife - a complete sewing kit, with buttons, needles, cotton, darning wool for socks, and a thimble.
Jackknife and lanyard - There are two basic types of WWII British jackknife. One has a blade and a opener. The second has a blade, opener, and a spike.
Other personal items
Each soldier would also have dubbin, polish and boot brushes for his boots, brasso and a button stick for polishing webbing brasses, and Blanco.
That's it for now - Stay tuned for part two of the guide!
