Hello,
Does anybody know if Stens where used during the bruneval raid? I guess MKIIs where used but could not find any info on it.
The (very) few pictures i have seen of the raid only show Enfields.
Here is a picture of Paras in Fallschirmjäger style step in smocks and stens. Since they are not wearing the "fishtail" helmets
i think it must be a picture from some time after the raid.
Thanks!
Looks like they were:
From page 6/7 of: http://www.centralscotlandpra.co.uk/sli ... /slip1.PDF
We were dropped at 275ft, a little inland from our objective, and were met by enemy fire on landing. I went straight to the containers that held our weapons and armed myself with a Sten gun. At the radar installation, I helped to attack a nearby house occupied by Germans whilst the radar was captured for long enough to enable vital parts to be removed.
Great info, tank you!
The No. 4 was in full use by 1942.
Not true.
Very few in Asia, never seen one in North Africa and rather few and far between in Italy.
I'm sure you mean 'in full use in NW Europe by 1942' but thats not what you said nor what could be implied by your post.
aka Stigroadie
AFRA
better by design
"Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable. "
yes agreed, SMLE and 1907 bayonet.
What are the helmets though? The back looks to be be curved out, not what I was expecting. Almost a cross between a para helmet and a mkiii turtle.
I thought the first version was the fibre rim? I don't remember those having the flare. My repro doesn't.
Oh, I'm all confused! lol
its a *proper* first version with the lip at the back.
Used in such limited quantities that they dont really get refereed to as Mki etc.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
they were only used for brunneval i believe yith,,, and only a couple of hundred existed( i dont think they were used for colosuss but i could be wrong) i have only ever seen one duck billed helmet outside a museum, that was a guy at crich last year. there is the famous pic of john frost on the boat after brunneval wearing one.
Aha, thanks chaps. So the fibre rim repro I have is of the 2nd version?
lol, I have harlan glenn and don't remember the flared back! lol
Really early airborne kit is largley direct copies of german kit and often pieces have a shelf life of a month.
Examples being step in one colour smocks like FJ ones
High leg jump boots
High leg jump boots with a buckle etc.
Usually the WD found out that something they already had did the job better (or usually cheaper) or developed their own idea with time (and rapidly at that), for example it was found that ankle boots and anklets were not that much worse than jump boots and jump boots were discontinued as an idea.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Ah that would be the theory that the rim on said helmets could potentially sheer rigging and also break necks on a bad landing.
Note again that the UK para helmet wasnt a million miles away from the german model 
At least we designed a parachute that didnt drop you face down...
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Repros of the Bruneval helmet and the early jump smock are available at Pegasus Militaria. I have been thinking about buying
those for a looong time... 
