Clothing and Equipment

We seem to have already made a start on this topic but I am sure it can be expanded. We have all had kit, some issued some not, which was totally useless and some of it good ie Parkas. Amongst the worst that I had to use was that issued to DonRs and other M/C riders in the fifties early sixties, do you remember DonR Boots (ammo boots extended), breeches, leather jerkin and gauntlets MT, all totally useless in the winter, to say you froze your 'b----s off' was putting it mildly. A good bit of kit that I managed to aquire when I had to ride a M/C was the old tanksuit, a one piece item with loads of pockets, warm. waterproof and comfortable, pity they went, got mine from the 8 Hussars.
Bob

BobG wrote:

We seem to have already made a start on this topic but I am sure it can be expanded. We have all had kit, some issued some not, which was totally useless and some of it good ie Parkas. Amongst the worst that I had to use was that issued to DonRs and other M/C riders in the fifties early sixties, do you remember DonR Boots (ammo boots extended), breeches, leather jerkin and gauntlets MT, all totally useless in the winter, to say you froze your 'b----s off' was putting it mildly. A good bit of kit that I managed to aquire when I had to ride a M/C was the old tanksuit, a one piece item with loads of pockets, warm. waterproof and comfortable, pity they went, got mine from the 8 Hussars.
Bob

The first bit of useless kit that springs to mind, the horrible green nylon-type socks that came in with the DMS boots. They caused all sorts of foot ailments.

Those knitted woollen gloves. Absolutely useless when working in wet conditions. I used to wear a pair inside the old leather gauntlets you mentioned, Bob.

Never came across the socks that you mention Brum,but i do agree with you about the gloves

Yes, The green socks had a lot of man made fibres. Strangely, never needed darning!

Remember the horrible white plastic Inner soles, that looked like large size Breakfast Shreddies, which came with DMS boots? Now they were the main culprits for foot problems if they weren't washed or renewed regulary..

Plastic inner soles????That`s a new one too..Where was i when all this was going on?

Gordon. wrote:

Plastic inner soles????That`s a new one too..Where was i when all this was going on?

Bleeping in a "nice warm box body" I seem to recall !

alan8376 wrote:

Yes, The green socks had a lot of man made fibres. Strangely, never needed darning!

Remember the horrible white plastic Inner soles, that looked like large size Breakfast Shreddies, which came with DMS boots? Now they were the main culprits for foot problems if they weren't washed or renewed regulary..

Those insoles were originally issued for the "Boots CWW" which were part of the Korean War cold weather kit.

I never had any problems with the insoles, just the socks, which were a cause of fungal infections.

The green socks were terrible, they didn't allow your feet to breathe, much preferred the grey woollen ones,you could wear them with your "Civvies". What about those "Raincoats" that were issued in the early 60s, they weren't exactly from John Collier? When I was first issued with my AFH 1157 the RQ said "If anything fits you, bring it back"!

Shelldrake wrote:

The green socks were terrible, they didn't allow your feet to breathe, much preferred the grey woollen ones,you could wear them with your "Civvies". What about those "Raincoats" that were issued in the early 60s, they weren't exactly from John Collier? When I was first issued with my AFH 1157 the RQ said "If anything fits you, bring it back"!

If I could just put you right there Sheldrake.

The correct designation for the "raincoat" was Macs, Flashing.

Not a lot of people know that.

Surely one of the most useless bits of kit ever must be the No2 Dress cap.

Also known as Caps, Comical, or Hats, Hilarious, or Hats, Gas meter Reading ( the Danes called them Salvation Army piss pots by the way !).

Talking of hats, we were also issued with a DPM Combat Cap, now they were embarrassing, especially when worn with your Cap Badge - looked like an Army Cadet Troop. Pleased to say that they didn't become De Rigueur! Barrack Dress trousers were OK, the
only problem with them was they got very shiny after many irons, if you fell over you could get 7 years bad luck!

brum wrote:

Surely one of the most useless bits of kit ever must be the No2 Dress cap.

Also known as Caps, Comical, or Hats, Hilarious, or Hats, Gas meter Reading ( the Danes called them Salvation Army piss pots by the way !).

Is this what you mean, Brum? I'm the one on the right. http://www.artus-familyhistory.com/source/M%20Gladbach.html

Quote :

No2 Dress cap

Always thought it was a NO1 dress hat.....Worn with NO 2s..
Another name being the twat hat

Only had my" mac flashing" for a couple of weeks..They took it off me with my greatcoat when i headed for warmer climes.The greatcoat only got worn on guard with a nice warm parka on top.

Dolmetscher wrote:

brum wrote:

Surely one of the most useless bits of kit ever must be the No2 Dress cap.

Also known as Caps, Comical, or Hats, Hilarious, or Hats, Gas meter Reading ( the Danes called them Salvation Army piss pots by the way !).

Is this what you mean, Brum? I'm the one on the right. http://www.artus-familyhistory.com/source/M%20Gladbach.html

Dolmetscher, did you send your Cap Badge to the Dhobi?

What did we use before sleeping bags were issued? How many of you remember taking the blankets off your bed and making a blanket roll. I was taught by my father, another old soldier, that the essentials were to fold the blankets so that you had the same number of layers under you as on top and the whole lot held together by 4 very large blanket pins, available from civ camping equip shops, and then rolled up in your ground sheet. Good under dry conditions but lousy when wet.
Bob

Dolmetscher wrote:

brum wrote:

Surely one of the most useless bits of kit ever must be the No2 Dress cap.

Also known as Caps, Comical, or Hats, Hilarious, or Hats, Gas meter Reading ( the Danes called them Salvation Army piss pots by the way !).

Is this what you mean, Brum? I'm the one on the right. http://www.artus-familyhistory.com/source/M%20Gladbach.html

It looks like a collar dog afixed to the cap...

No wonder I got short changed on pay parades...... everything was short n small ..... lol

Shelldrake. Never noticed that. Looks more like a collar dog.

Dolmetscher wrote:

Shelldrake. Never noticed that. Looks more like a collar dog.

I just assumed it was a beret badge !

Attention to detail, dear boy - attention to detail!

BobG wrote:

What did we use before sleeping bags were issued? How many of you remember taking the blankets off your bed and making a blanket roll. I was taught by my father, another old soldier, that the essentials were to fold the blankets so that you had the same number of layers under you as on top and the whole lot held together by 4 very large blanket pins, available from civ camping equip shops, and then rolled up in your ground sheet. Good under dry conditions but lousy when wet.
Bob

Yes Bob, I had a spell of sleeping like that.

We improved things a little by buying a cheap German sleeping bag as an inner then we arranged the blankets around it. In later years I acquired an Officer's Valise (minus the sleeping bag, unfortunately) which improved things enormously-until the "Q" clapped eyes on it !

On a number of occasions the individual guns would lay out a huge canvas sheet, folded in half. We from the command post would get under one of them on the nearest gun and it was weatherproof. Great kip !

One thing I never liked was the smell of damp, grotty sleeping bags. Air them all you like but it was still there.

Quote :

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What did we use before sleeping bags were issued? How many of you remember taking the blankets off your bed and making a blanket roll. I was taught by my father, another old soldier, that the essentials were to fold the blankets so that you had the same number of layers under you as on top and the whole lot held together by 4 very large blanket pins, available from civ camping equip shops, and then rolled up in your ground sheet. Good under dry conditions but lousy when wet.
Bob

We were issued with WHITE outer bags to put our blanket roll in.Waterproof bottom and cotton top.Didn`t last long.

I had a tank suit that I wore on my civvie motor bike. Rode from Bracknel to Munster one very cold winter. Nylon under clothes, track suit, waterproofs, leather jacket and the tank suit on top. Inner silk gloves, gauntlets and waterproof over mits, silk helmet liner and a full face and i froze my arse off. had to stop at every service station to warm up. Had to use the hand dryer to get enough feeling in my hands to be able to undo the helmet strap. boy we were young and stupid once.

We had one Parka between six of us on Honest John - but I think that I might have mentioned that already!!