Kit and Equipment page - main site

The page has been updated to include the photographs from Ciphers.

If anyone has any images of kit and equipment in use from 1945 onwards, why not submit them. Images of early equipment would be especially welcome.

Paul.

Hi all,

Can anyone give me type / model of a couple of heavy vehicles we had in our unit in Osnabruck in the early 1950's

As a RE bridging squadron we had a lot of vehicles compared to the number of men, I loved the Bedford QL's, also had the Bedford 3 ton 4 x 2 and the 15 cwt, plus the regular changing the CO's VW. Also had a "heap" [yes most were in a heap in the basement] of motorbikes, what make & model?

But am trying to identify:
Scammell recovery vehicle any idea model type?
Heavy vehicle for Bailey bridge sections; dont remember make or size but anything between 5 and 10 tons; and may have been a 6 x 4?

Cheers
Tony

can anybody tell me where i can purchase a RAOC lanyard, dark blue and red, any ideas please, ginger

E-Bay???

Gingerjim,

As Gordon said

Check out this Ebay site :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROYAL-ARMY-ORDNANCE-CORPS-LANYARDS-/160562923700

£4.99 plus £0.99 postage until 27th May.


Jimsigs1

Anybody remember when the old blanco blocks were changed to something like green boot polish ? It must have been sometime around late 1955 I reckon. The old stuff, applied daily with a wet brush, had to be scrubbed off before the waxy concoction could be applied. Seemed like a good idea at first, but belts and things rubbed against the seat of a Champ, or scuffed in other ways, acquired a shiny, black hue. Answer was soon coming. Dip a brush in petrol, rub dirty webbing, like magic it was restored. Soldiers soon got into the habit, empty bottles were lowered into the filler holes of 3-tonners, everybody had a pint or so in his locker. 600 squaddies in camp could filch up to 75 gallons of MT70, but after an initial blip in vehicle target figures, the situation settled back to normal.

In 16 LAA Regt RA at Quebec Bks. Osnabruck, we were billetted in single storey blocks, all in rooms with a maximum number of 4 bed spaces. For comfort in winter, there was black, vitreous enamelled coal- block burner in each room. One dark evening, an unthinking gunner was perched near his stove on a folding chair, soaking up the warmth. Having finished with the tin lid full of petrol with which he was smartening up his belt and gaiters, he opened the door on the stove and disposed of the surplus by chucking it on to the glowing coals. Not a good idea. There was a blow back which removed his eyebrows and some of the hair on his head which still remained after a visit to the camp barber.

Mild panic ensued at high level, lockers were searched, orders were issued. The practice of nicking petrol was banned, MT70 was returned to Bedford QLs & Fordson gun tractors. But webbing still needed cleaning, the rules were bent. Lighter fuel, obtainable at the NAAFI had long been tolerated in lockers when most enjoyed a quick drag. It became a suitable, but expensive substitute.

Talking about blanko reminds me of the stuff in a bottle we used on our white belts in boys service (Harrogate). After application we used to polish the result with toilet paper. The best belts in use then (Buck skin) were the ones which were in 3 parts. The one piece belts used to crack easier when you put them on.

Jimsigs1

I used a tube of whitening.A bit like a tube of toothpaste with a sponge on the end.and the toilet paper too Most of the buckskin belts had a bit cut off the end,which was used for burnishing brass objects. cap badges,collar dogs etc.

Sounds like the stuff my younger Sister used for her white primsoles.

jimsigs1

Mentioning lighter fuel and such reminded me............. In the 1950's the clever Germans produced a novelty light which most of us acquired......,Remember them ? No cottonwool secreted away to hold Ronsonol, but a transparent reservoir in which various oddments were visible. I recall some with three miniature dice for anybody hooked on games of chance, but the squaddies' favourite was a half naked mermaid floating about between plastic seaweed. Went down well with the lads at home , that one. And, on leave, you could dispose of a lighter for a fair bit of profit.

It deviates from the Kit & Equipment theme a bit, but as all the smokers had one it might be so classified.............

Cartav,

Do you remember the lighters with a little glow coil, operated by battery I think.

Jimsigs1

cartav wrote:

Mentioning lighter fuel and such reminded me............. In the 1950's the clever Germans produced a novelty light which most of us acquired......,Remember them ? No cottonwool secreted away to hold Ronsonol, but a transparent reservoir in which various oddments were visible. I recall some with three miniature dice for anybody hooked on games of chance, but the squaddies' favourite was a half naked mermaid floating about between plastic seaweed. Went down well with the lads at home , that one. And, on leave, you could dispose of a lighter for a fair bit of profit.

It deviates from the Kit & Equipment theme a bit, but as all the smokers had one it might be so classified.............

Those pressed steel German lighters were popular for a while. Zippo lighters became the "must have" soon after, though.

On the subject of "half naked", how about those pens which revealed a naked woman when tipped up ?

I have one of those Brum.Could be yours for a wee fee

I think the reason why Zippo lighters are popular with the military is the badges they have on the side. They are also popular with car clubs, nationals, football clubs etc. All because of the little badges they have and their sturdiness etc.


Jimsigs1

Gordon. wrote:

I have one of those Brum.Could be yours for a wee fee

Yeah, 'thought you might !

' Lo Jimsigs!

Seem to recall a battery operated lighter with which you pushed a glowing element on to a jet, but I don't think they came in until after I was demobbed & back home.

The Zippos, though, were well known but bloody expensive, I always thought, for something which looked like it could have been knocked up by REME for sale to the lads. And Zippos you could dip down a filler hole on a truck when out of juice but it could take some time to dry off the flint & wheel. Didn't rate MT70 as a lighter fuel, though. It burned with a smoky flame which left a black tip on fags. God knows what it did to my pipe & lungs.

what annoyed me with the blanco was , we used the orrible green sticky blanco in training. on being posted we changed to fleet , very smart and dry finish , but as soon as we moved on it was back to the orrible green gunge. we spent an awful lot of time scrubbing our webbing in different camps just to change the blooming blanco, ginger

Aye, every posting had a different colour or so it seemed.The stuff i had in Singapore was a dirty yellow colour,and had a nice shine to it.

We endured Blanco for years.

Working on the Gun/Vehicle park meant getting all sorts of grease and oil on our belts and anklets (gaiters).

One day, behold, a Messiah from the East, in the form of a new and radical RSM. !

From that day forward 24 (Missile) Regt RA blackened their webbing and, behold, it was shiny.

Thereupon, common sense reigned upon the garrison that was Paderborn.

The advent of Blanco gave rise to the word "bullshit". (Not a lot of people know that, except, perhaps SHELDRAKE).

Here endeth the first lesson.

Over and out,

(Parp !)

'Lo Brum........

Right ! we live & learn. Often wondered who thought that up, but I imagine "BLANCO" itself must go back to when the lads had white kit, like in "Zulu". Wouldn't have been a bad company to invest a few bob in when you think of what must have been turned out over the years.

Come to think about it, some young sprog queried what a button stick was recently. Did you ever have one of those self- made bits of cardboard with a square hole cut in it which was specially useful for blacking gaiter straps without getting Kiwi on the green bits? And, of course it was vital to apply black to the top edge of the leather.

"Shades of blanco as used on 1937 Pattern web beltsBlanco was a compound used by British soldiers (and Commonwealth troops of various nations). The compound was used from 1880 to whiten British Army Slade Wallace buckskin leather equipment then adapted to coloured versions for use on the cotton Web Infantry Equipment, Pattern 1908 webbing used in World War I and beyond and the Web Equipment '37 Pattern during the Second World War, though rarely outside of the United Kingdom and Europe[citation needed]. Blanco was used throughout both World wars, into the period of National Service and into the 1980s by cadets and the Territorial Army.

And yes ,,i had the wee bit of cardboard.. bullshit smiley

A mate of mine had a Bakelite button stick, it was his dad's from the war.

I honestly can't remember how we overcame the Kiwi/Blanco problem in the gaiters area. There's a gap in the memory there.

I raise my hat to your knowledge Gordon. That's the first I've heard of the name Slade Wallace.

Way back in Napoleonic times we used pipe clay on our cross straps etc.

In the days of brass cap badges we allways went down to the cellar steps before first parade to run our brush across the ceiling. There was nothing like that distemper dust to give the badge that extra shine.

Quote :

I raise my hat to your knowledge Gordon. That's the first I've heard of the name Slade Wallace.

Wikipedia Brum

Slade Wallace? Supplier of military clothing and equipment..Google it,some articles are quite interesting..Might be able to fill some of those memory gaps

brum wrote:

We endured Blanco for years.

Working on the Gun/Vehicle park meant getting all sorts of grease and oil on our belts and anklets (gaiters).

One day, behold, a Messiah from the East, in the form of a new and radical RSM. !

From that day forward 24 (Missile) Regt RA blackened their webbing and, behold, it was shiny.

Thereupon, common sense reigned upon the garrison that was Paderborn.

The advent of Blanco gave rise to the word "bullshit". (Not a lot of people know that, except, perhaps SHELDRAKE).

Here endeth the first lesson.

Over and out,

(Parp !)

When I left Boys Service I joined 42 Regt, one of the first things I had to do was blacken my webbing. I was awarded (awarded!!!) 28 days detention and marched to the Guardroom, which was shared by 22 Sigs, they wore blanco'd webbing. For the sake of uniformity the Gunners had to scrub and blanco their webbing, reversing the procedure on release. It was the norm to have bulled (as in Sam Browne style) Belts Waist and Anklets Web for Guard Mounting, this increased your chances of Stick Man.

when i first got to the old factory depot in viersen i was on the regimental police staff, which meant scrubbing webbing . and changing colour to white, ginger