Well, thanks to Yith and Pete 59 I now have a complete Brit Para loadout. Firstly Yith - yes, please tell me how the myriad webbing all works! 
It's like one of those baked bean puzzles!! 
Secondly, what badges do I need? My great uncle survived Arnhem, and I'm guessing he was from 2 Para, so if anyone knows what insignia I need, I'd be most grateful.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
2x 'airborne' tabs printed version is best.
2 x bellophron on pegasus flashes printed again
2 x shoulder titels
yellow lanyard for two para
2 x 'parachute regiment' shoulder titles (dark blue letters on sky grey/blue crecesnt)
No insignia on your denison only rank and para wings.
Para wings on the right sleeve of denison
NCO rank is standard type, any officers pips or crowns are on a cambirsge blue background *not* red.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Thank you, sir.
Well, SoF have a set of all those insignia together for £15. Loath as I am to use them, it does look good value. Your comments please?
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
15 quid for the set sounds fair enough
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Don't forget the wings on the BD sleve as well.
First and Only Airsoft!!
Don't forget the wings on the BD sleve as well.
Yep, that comes in the set. 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
please tell me how the myriad webbing all works!
This is a very good reference site, it's the one I used to sort mine out, (nice easy pictures, just what I needed 
), http://home.att.net/~g.wheeler/greenhow.htm
Cheers Pete. It looks simple enough..... 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Well, after a couple of hours' headscratching... (no it's not nits)... I have figured out the belt, the "universal pouches", the cross straps (right way round now, after seeing Yith's photo), the water bottle carrier, the L-straps and the small pack.
So I'm left with the big pack, a strap and what looks a bit like a green canvas universal pouch - what did you say it was, Yith? From looking at the photos, I think the packs you Brits were wearing to the side look like medium size? Any advice on what to do with these bits would be most welcome.
P.S. And if you think I'm going to dismantle all that to ruddy blanco it, you've got another think coming!! 
P.P.S. When I'm wearing it, it feels strangely comforting. 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
well you have to blanco it, nt blancoing is a cardinal sin!
The big green pouch is a lightweight respirator pouch (i use mine to carry a large modern plastic water bottle.
It fits on the belt on the back, just to the left of the buckles in the middel o you can reeah round and open it with one hand
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Why didn't they just make it blanco colour? Silly sods.
Morgs needs to be put on a charge, sir! He hasn't blanco'd his!
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
They did when 44 pattern came out.
It was experience that made them realise the raw web col;our stuck out too much.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
The big green pouch is a lightweight respirator pouch (I use mine to carry a large modern plastic water bottle.
It fits on the belt on the back, just to the left of the buckles in the middel o you can reeah round and open it with one hand
You mean sideways opening, Gadge? That seems to be the only way it'll fit on the belt.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
yep, the opener should be accesable by reaching your left arm slighlty beinbd you
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Cheers. OK, I have this bit left - what is it, Yith?
Also, I have two long straps as yet unused. Can one substitute the small pack for the large one, using these? 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Its a water bottle cover.
skeleton ealry war type, later types are a 'sleeve' but sometimes labelled 'airborne' whichis bollocks, its just late war that all.
If the straps are the ones i think you have then yes they let you use the parge packl as a backpack, but you have to swap the l-straps off the smal pack too.
then the small pack is worn on the hip off the eds of the braces.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Cheers, Gadge. My water bottle is in a sleeve, which has the attachments to the webbing already. I did try and squeeze it (incl. sleeve) into the skeletal one, but it didn't fit. So I'm guessing it's either/or and might be surplus to requirements.
I have to say what a brilliant system it is - even with the small pack on, I have a huge carrying capacity.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
Yup it's either or, you can keep a mess tin in the skeleton type as was done rarley but its best to keep the bopttle in it,
Unless you use the a lot both types can be prety hard to hard to use and its common for folk to just unclip the whole thing to drink and keep it in the carrier.
Yith carriers are fairly well used but you'd struggle to get the bottle out of mine.
I prefer the look of the skeleton type myself, its more iconic IMO
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
The water bottle came in the sleeve type. I bought the skeleton type as an alternative.
Its debatable whether the sleeve type was really used in the war at all... though it's certainly possible it was!
It was i've loads of pics of it in use.
If you look in fortys brit army handbook rich there are pics of it being used extensively in italy.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
