American Kit Pics

ooooh chilly

My parachute failed.

at least you had a reasonable soft landing

Yeah but it was pretty cold and not a medic to be found.

Starting to come together slowly. Will probably remove the water bottle and first aid pouch for a game though, don't quite fancy rolling about in the mud on original bits.

Any advice would be great, heres what i know i need-

Pockets and leg ties for the trousers (Got standard M43's for cheap, paras cost a fortune! Any idea where i can get the pockets?)
M3 Knife and M6 Scabbard(Bit of luxury at the mo though)
Musette Bag
Field Dressing
E-Tool
Thompson Mag Bag.
Thompson Sling
Colt .45 and holster

I've also learnt that 3 cell mag pouches aren't right, so i stuffed it in a riggers pouch :whistle

Would really appreciate any feedback.-- attachment is not available ---- attachment is not available --

Are you going for late war, Market Garden loadout? You could do with a shirt and white tshirt with it under the M43's. And also possibly if it is Market Garden era then no helmet netting. I think you can buy the pockets off SOF reasonably cheap! There's nowt wrong with the Thompson 3 mag pouches, they're fine and a lot more convenient for airsofting since the 20rd style mags are mucho expensivo!
I wouldn't take off your first aid pouch and canteen when you use it, canteen can be very useful on long days and they don't get that dirty.
Also! If and when you get a holster for your 45., get the hip holster. They look great.

Yup, keep your canteen on. Virtually all of my webbing is original and I manage to keep it reasonably clean.

BTW, shouldn't the first aid pouch be on the front right of the belt rather than on the back, or is that an regular infantry thing and the para's do it differently?

Nar it should be at the front...

Yeah the whole Market Garden theme came about by accident really. I bought the M43 jacket by mistake but loved it so much i just went with it. I seem to buy things rather randomly, like a doughboys backpack and goggles which i later found out aren't right. It's a learning curve but i'm enjoying it . I will get a M42 jumpsuit aswell, bought one but it's too small so will get that sorted, will probably go 82nd for that though.
I thought the pouches could go on whereever you wanted sorry, i'll look into it. Would love to use my 3 cell mag pouch as well, if airsofters are willing to overlook it then thats what i'll do, much more practical. And the net will come off aswell.

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated

No worries, just post some more pictures if you want more feedback. Where abouts in the country are you based?

Taunton in Somerset. A part of the country that doesn't seem to have any WW2 games whatsoever

Nar it should be at the front...

Standard is front right 2 loops of the belt, but it goes wherever is practical.

And also possibly if it is Market Garden era then no helmet netting.

Depends really, some still wore helmet nets in Market Garden.
With

Without

Ditched towards the end of the year though when the snow started coming down.

Also! If and when you get a holster for your 45., get the hip holster. They look great.

Agreed, although the shoulder holsters are good if you overload your belt loops with pouches and kit like most of us do!

And also possibly if it is Market Garden era then no helmet netting.

"Depends really, some still wore helmet nets in Market Garden."

Thank you, I thought i saw a picture somewhere with netting, have been going through all my books trying to find it. Thanks for saving me from going mad

Still can't seem to find anywhere that sells pockets for the M43 trousers. Any help would be great.

Ah, now I don't think you can get pockets for the M43 trousers. The paratrooper ones come with the pockets already on. The spare pockets that most folk put on the arms of their m42 are for that purpose. I can take some measurements of my leg pockets if you wanted to try and make some? Shouldn't be too hard to find a similar coloured material, and don't forget the leg ties

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Agreed, although the shoulder holsters are good if you overload your belt loops with pouches and kit like most of us do!

That is true, I used to have a chest holster and got rid of it because it broke slightly and wasn't within my skill level to fix it. I've got so much stuff on my belt that I can't get anything else on, started attaching stuff to the suspenders but thought it started to look a bit modern and strange.

alot of the infantry and airborne lines if werent using the white helmet covers kept the helmet netting during the BOTB and in early 1945.

Have you got pics!? Most ditched the net in the winter. Not many folk had the White bed sheet cover helmets.

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yep, i'll scan them up as soon as i can.

the one with the white covers is of 2nd bat. 16th inf. 1st inf. division, 18th january 1945.

there is about 20-40 men all wearing white coveralls and helmet covers.

the one with helmet netting is of 3 guys in malmedy on 29th dec. 1944, one with the smaller netting, another with the 3/4 inch helmet netting and one without any netting.

another one for helmet netting is a bar gunner of the 253rd inf. 63rd divisin putting on some overshoes.

but like you say, there were loads of guy's who didnt wear the netting. alot of nets appear in the early 1945 pictures and only seem to be on the infantry lines.
all of the pictures of the airborne dont seem to have the nets on.

here are some picture's that i've found on the net.

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Where did you find those photos Webby? Interesting to see the M42 jump suits being used so late.