IT WAS EVER THUS...
It was ever thus, when I joined the Army in 1955 we were still equipped with WW1 weapons the Lee Enfield mk. 5* .303 British and the Water cooled .303 Vickers MG. The WW2 Bren gun with its bulky magazines which in total weighed 19 lbs. just for the gun, not including the spare barrel or extra magazines. Easily 40 lbs. if all the magazines were loaded. We were still using WW1 steel helmets.
Our combat clothing was old tankers coveralls and the WW2 Battle dress was our parade uniform. On my second tour of Germany the BD was still our parade uniform with the bush uniform becoming our combat clothing and general fatigues clothing. We were still wearing old Brit pattern boots and puttees. Our field bedding was an eleven lb. poncho and two horse blankets and a shelter half between two men. All those guys in A coy 1QOR of C remember how inadequate that was in the teeth of a North Sea gale while on exercise winter of 1961.
We soon learned to take ourselves down to the American Zone and equip ourselves with American combat boots, cargo pants, combat jackets with liner, and an extra poncho and RBLTs for the wet, all out of our own pocket. We had changed to the WW2 American helmet and if we didn't have our regimental armlets on you couldn't tell which country's army we were in. We had exchanged or Enfields for 7.62 Fn C1s and C2s and traded in our plumbers nightmare Sten guns for SMG C1 and the Vickers for 30 cal. Brownings.
We didn't get our new combat clothing and combat boots until we arrived back in Canada. The combat clothing was adequate but the boots were a disappointment leaking at the first drop of rain.
On our tour of Cyprus in 1965 we had to buy desert boots because as inefficient as our combat boots were in the rain they tended to boil your feet in the heat, so much so at times I thought it would be better to go bare foot.
General Hillier says the UN is a useless debating society and that NATO is having problems figuring out if they are merely projecting the US Imperial aims or actually helping the Afghan people to break the cycle of large power client wars in another version of the Great Game.
I look forward to reading the book.
Gen. Rick Hillier (ret) "A SOLDIER FIRST"; Bullets, bureaucrats and the politics of war.
Ciao, JWL
An interesting perspective on the instruments of war. Did the contract for
the boots go to the lowest bidder or the highest contributor of some local
politician?
The contracts went to Quebec to create jobs. The quality and usefulness
of the items were pretty far down on the importance list. Major Edwards
tells me they did not act on his user trial reports but went with the low
bidders in Quebec regardless of the user trial reports and or what the
needs were. The combat pants had rubber lining and we sweat like crazy in
them- we quickly removed the rubber and it was hard when cold and made one
sweat when the weather was hot. I look forward to SNIC's book too - billy
Thank you! To bad they couldn't create jobs and outfit the soldiers with
durable useful attire.