Clothing and Equipment

Quote :

Blandford Fly'

Quite a good article on it in WIKI.....A bit insignificant when one has to do battle with the Midge on a regular basis.

Here is a snippet from my book about the kit we were issued with. You will note that I talk about the Gunner Fox he was out billets senior solder and looked after the new recruits. I was then in the Royal Artillery and later transferred to the RAMC

ENOUGH WAR SURPLUS STOCK TO FIGHT WORLD WAR III.

I think that this is a good point at which to pass some comment on the kit I had been issued with. I will start with the world famous World War II jungle green ‘drawers Dracula’(boxer shorts type underpants). One size fits everyone.
They had four rubber buttons on the front to fasten them up, and two cords at the back to adjust them. What more could a man ask for? They enabled the air to circulate around your midsection, while killing any ideas of passion that you may secretly have harboured.
The khaki flannel shirt always smelt of mothballs. Its purpose was to serve as a shirt, nightgown and bathrobe. It was wool-based, and made your skin itch like mad, causing a rash that never seemed to go away. It reached down to your knees.
The issued brown plimsolls didn’t stay brown for long. We were ordered to blacken them with boot polish. They were the nearest thing to a pair of carpet slippers that the army issued.
The trousers were so long that they hurt me under the arms, while the jacket was so large that it hung from the neck like a bell tent. The theory was that I would grow muscles and eventually fit the battle dress.
Gunner Fox confirmed that every recruit had a housewife for his own personal use. I can’t begin to tell you the disappointment I felt when I found out that it was the name given to our sewing kit.
Finally there were the hobnailed boots that your feet were broken into, when it should have been the other way around.

I still have a new pair of hobnail boots.

Silky

by the time i joined up [ mid 60s ] we were still been issued that ww2 surplus BDs and brown plimsolls and yes we had to blacken them, the draws drac had changed slightly [ no buttons ] and still one size fits all.

THE MULTICOLOURED SOLDIER

Having been issued with military clothing, we now had our civvies boxed and secured in the RQM Stores; it felt good to blend in with the rest of the troops on camp.
What I didn’t comprehend was that our kit was made up of mixed colours. Getting dressed started with a First World War issued oatmeal vest, followed by jungle green drawers Dracula, grey socks, khaki flannel shirt, bleached off-white tie, green pullover, brown battle dress, black boots, and topped off with a dark blue beret.

Silky

Going back a week or two, but the interchange about the Blandford Fly has just come to my attention. Having been ribbed ( by PMs from North of Berwick) for providing sport and sustenance for the Wee Scottish Midge, I can report that, by chance, I have discovered a method of producing an efficient and cost effective fly trap............ Ready ? GO !

Take a litre of Dulux gloss, apply it by brush to a garage door and leave it to mature to a tacky finish over night. The immediate area will be cleaned of small, flying insects for a day or so. Repeat as necessary until paint or patience run out.

And to take this back to topic, ( nearly !), because it is a site dedicated to BFG/ BAOR, etc....., mention can be made of larger such irritations which are standard issue in Germany........ Anyone recall those stiff shelled insects, twice the size of a bumble bee, which wobble in the evening air on inadequate wings and seem intent on taking out the eyes of any wandering Brit ?...... Maybugs ?, maybe, not sure..... just "Kafers" to the locals, and we first met them in the Hameln area, especially whilst walking down the road in the Bridging Camp, anticipating a night of debauchery & a Bratwurst. The local children play games with them, toss them in the air and chant:-

Mein Kafer fliegt,
Mein Vater ist im Krieg,
Meine Mutter bleibt in England,
England ist abgebrandt,
Mein Kafer fliegt.

( Quite inoffensive, & not something from a toilet wall )

draws drac could also double as a parachute in emergencys. ginger

Gordon. wrote:

Quote :

But the rank badge with the wreath.......

I`ve been trying to get a clearer picture of the badge,without succes.Perhaps Jim could give us a description.

Apart from the lack of a coloured surround, this is the new 'Corps RSM' Badge - This example being from the original Army Dress Committee proposal for the RLC which has no coloured suround.

cartav wrote:

Anyone recall those stiff shelled insects, twice the size of a bumble bee, which wobble in the evening air on inadequate wings and seem intent on taking out the eyes of any wandering Brit ?...... Maybugs ?, maybe, not sure..... just "Kafers" to the locals, and we first met them in the Hameln area, especially whilst walking down the road in the Bridging Camp, anticipating a night of debauchery & a Bratwurst.

Remember these at Borden in the early 70's where they were concedered to be inported from Germany in a MFO box!

Its known as a 'cockchafer' and can be found in Southern England.

There are three species of European cockchafers:

1) The common cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha
2) The forest cockchafer, Melolontha hippocastani [Likes Pine Forists]
3) The large cockchafer, Melolontha pectoralis, which is very rare and occurs only in south-western Germany.

And if you have met the The large cockchafer you know the differance, and yes I think there was a local outbreak in Borden in the early 70's

Have only seen Forist Cockcafer's in recient years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockchafer

Cockchafer ? Wonder how it got that name........... sounds like something to be avoided !

But thanks again Mike........ You're a whizz at coming up with complicated data on dozens of unrelated subjects.

Cockchafer ?

We did Nijmegen in BD trousers.

Sounds like what afflicted us.

How did i Know ,you would come up with something like that, Brum?

There was a girl in Paderborn with that name - a trip to Munster soon corrected any disorder.

those flying fingys, we used to use an open air swimming pool in viersen , hundreds of srange flying things used to swarm about in the vicinity of the pool , i thought they were hornets, hugh orrible things always tried to land on ones head, could they be the same thing. ginger

I remember them , Ginge. Came over in Sqadrons of 5000 - they were Mayflies.

Do you remember this type of drill and Battle Dress?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RMrRPOpXhc&feature=player_embedded

John A Silkstone wrote:

Do you remember this type of drill and Battle Dress?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RMrRPOpXhc&feature=player_embedded

dancing and prancing aside,every one was in step,and yes i do remember the BDs

Looks like a Cavalry mob to me.

Shelldrake wrote:

Looks like a Cavalry mob to me.

impossable,no horseshit on boots.

Shelldrake wrote:

Looks like a Cavalry mob to me.

I have a feeling I know which senior Light Cavalry regt is going to cop this one !

('bit like watching a train crash really)

If we’d have done that, the drill pig would have gone ballistic and dropped dead of an heart attack.

Silky

brum wrote:

Shelldrake wrote:

Looks like a Cavalry mob to me.

I have a feeling I know which senior Light Cavalry regt is going to cop this one !

('bit like watching a train crash really)

QOH?

Already submmitted by Teabag 06/12/10

https://bfg-locations.editboard.com/t1093-drill-by-numbers

Shelldrake wrote:

brum wrote:

Shelldrake wrote:

Looks like a Cavalry mob to me.

I have a feeling I know which senior Light Cavalry regt is going to cop this one !

('bit like watching a train crash really)

QOH?

On reflection and a bit of research, it's the Queens Regiment. (It's raining here )

Your "aim.com" is not accepting calls either mate.

You must've upset that computer of yours !

Interesting stuff perhaps. but a bit like Chinese Whispers.......... How the hell has a topic on Clothing & Equipment managed to evolve into intelligent ( some of it !) discourse on fancy foot drill? No excuses, then, for following the lead........

Having been diverted from this net for a day or two whilst using the PC for a tad of boring but necessary research I was disappointed to find no comment on Monday's TV of the Edinburgh Tattoo.

Those Marines from Rio de Janeiro showed how it should be done...... all unsynchronised arm & leg movements, all carefully choreographed to ensure everyone finished at the same time...... Takes some doing that.

Found it a bit disappointing really. Only the Jocks & the Jollies gave the expected high class performance, and field gun racing on that sloping, wet parade ground must have been a bit dodgy. Hate to admit it to the those across the border, but nowt beats a pipe band, even that brass stuff from t' mills is outshone. And the finale with the wind blowing up the lone pipers kilt I find to be quite emotional . Go on then, give me some stick ! Up the Jocks ! Lang may your bums leak !