Web Gear
D-Day - this impression is about bringing as much as you can into battle and you can never have too much on you and stuffed into your pockets. See our impressions page for details on how to wear the gear.
One of my favorite pictures above of Easy Company 506th "Band of Brothers" - you can see that while personal preference varies as to exact gear each trooper decided to wear, they all had a lot of it and in multiple configurations.
- Helmet, M1C w/M2 liner (airborne) w/ leather chin cup Helmet Net, 1/2" weave or Smaller
Pistol Belt 1924 Combat or 36 Rigger Pouches - Min 4 Suspenders, M1936
Musette Bag, M1936 First Aid Pouch, belt w/Carlisle bandage First Aid Pouch Paratrooper
|
|
|
Canteen, Cup, M1910 1942 Canteen Cover Lensatic Compass with Pouch
|
|
|
Paratrooper Horsehide gloves Entrenching Tool w/Cover, M1910 (short or long) or 43 folding shovel w/cover
|
|
|
Bayonet, M1 Garand w/Scabbard (10 inch) Cricket Felt Shoulder Pads for M1936 Suspenders
|
|
|
M3 Trench knife with M6 Scabbard Rubberized Gas Mask Bag Helmet Scrim
|
|
|
Optional D-Day items to make your impression even better.
Gas brassard Ammo Bandoleer -cloth 6 pocket GP Ammo Bag w/ strap
|
|
|
Extra pocket on left sleeve Parasilk scarf DIRT!!!!! Get Dirty and look the part
|
|
nobody likes a clean trooper
|
Hawkins Mine #76 Let down rope -32' Wire Cutters
|
|
|
Luminous Disks Jump Compass MKII Pineapple grenade
|
|
|
Private purchase or Buck Knife 1918 Knuckle Knife V42 Fairbairn Sykes Knife
|
|
|
Operation Market Garden
Same Helmet and nets as listed in D-Day helmets with no scrim
1923 Cartridge Belt Suspenders, 1936 Musette Bag
|
|
|
First Aid Pouch, belt w/Carlisle bandage First Aid Pouch Paratrooper Bayonet, M1 Garand w/Scabbard (10 inch)
|
|
|
Canteen, Cup, M1910 1942 Canteen Cover M3 Trench knife with M6 sheath
|
|
|
Entrenching Tool w/Cover, M1910 (short or long) or 43 folding shovel w/cover Ammo Bandoleer - 6 pocket cloth
|
|
|
Optional Market Garden items to make your impression even better.
.45 With Hip Holster Lensatic Compass with Pouch Rubberized Gas Mask
|
|
|
Battle of the Bulge
In the above pictures you can see that Airborne troops did not bring much with them in the way of equipment into the Bulge.
Canteen, Cup, M1910 1942 Canteen Cover Cartridge Belt - the rattier the better
|
|
|
Musette Bag - Standard OD#3 or Transitional Musette Bag Musette Bag Strap
|
|
|
Optional Bulge items to make your impression even better.
White cloth helmet cover Bandoleer - cloth 6 pocket Pineapple Grenade
|
|
|
Consider also putting together a hobo roll. Take a shelter half or blanket and roll them up. Tie with extra bootlace or twine and wear on your back. This became more popular during the Battle of the Bulge.
Helmets
I've explained a little bit about the helmets for each impression with overall wearing of the gear on the impression page, but I’d like to dive just a bit further down the steel pot rabbit hole to clear up a few misconceptions. Each time you gather up your gear for an event, look at your helmet. Have you changed it to fit the impression you will be wearing? You should have. The helmets, and more specifically what went on the helmet, changed drastically throughout the course of the war.
D-Day Helmets
As I said before, large amounts of scrim was used by the 502 during Normandy. ½” helmet net was used by almost every trooper. I have never seen the giant 1” net used by a 502 trooper. In regards to the chin cup and strap, I always liked the look of wearing them down. Stitch Nazis everywhere will tell you have to tuck them into your helmet liner, but that’s a load of BS. If you want to wear them down, go for it! Goggles are next. I know quite a few guys who are partial to wearing goggles on their helmet, and I have to say, they look pretty freakin’ cool. But, you should make sure you wear the right kind. The larger M44 goggles were not in use at the
time of D‐Day. Like, not at all. Ever. Below right is a picture of the correct goggles to wear.
As I said before, large amounts of scrim was used by the 502 during Normandy. ½” helmet net was used by almost every trooper. I have never seen the giant 1” net used by a 502 trooper. In regards to the chin cup and strap, I always liked the look of wearing them down. Stitch Nazis everywhere will tell you have to tuck them into your helmet liner, but that’s a load of BS. If you want to wear them down, go for it! Goggles are next. I know quite a few guys who are partial to wearing goggles on their helmet, and I have to say, they look pretty freakin’ cool. But, you should make sure you wear the right kind. The larger M44 goggles were not in use at the
time of D‐Day. Like, not at all. Ever. Below right is a picture of the correct goggles to wear.
|
|
Market Garden Helmets
Market‐Garden saw a few changes to the helmets. Most notably, the lack of scrim on most helmets. There were still a few guys who used scrim, but the vast majority went with a net alone. Also, as I mentioned earlier, it was very common to see the para first aid kit attached to the net for this campaign.
Market‐Garden saw a few changes to the helmets. Most notably, the lack of scrim on most helmets. There were still a few guys who used scrim, but the vast majority went with a net alone. Also, as I mentioned earlier, it was very common to see the para first aid kit attached to the net for this campaign.
Battle of the Bulge to End of the War Helmets
|
Finally we get to the bulge. From this time, all the way through the end of the war, helmets were naked. No scrim, no net. Nothing. The only exception to this rule is the use of a white cover, which a few guys did during the bulge. But the vast majority of guys went naked. And after the bulge ALL the troopers had naked helmets. All of them.
A great note is also the color of the chin straps. WWII helmets had lighter shades of green to the khaki color shown below. If your helmet has super dark olive drab it is most likely a Vietnam or later helmet. We understand that this hobby is expensive and having a period correct liner will take time, but with a few inexpensive purchases from Top Pots (see link in link section) you have make your helmet look more correct. |
Sunglasses
All too often we see airborne re-enactors sporting aviator style sunglasses. I've always wondered where the fad came from and if it was in‐fact common among WWII paratroopers. So I looked through my original photos. In 372 pictures of both the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, six showed troopers wearing sunglasses. All but one was taken in a non‐combat situation. Three were taken while training in the states before shipping out, two were post‐war, one was taken in Holland. Only half of the six I found showed troopers wearing the “air‐corps” style glasses. The others (including the only photo taken during combat) showed them wearing dark, round
glasses that looked like this. I have never seen a photo of paratroopers wearing sunglasses in the weeks leading up to D‐Day or during the Normandy campaign.
glasses that looked like this. I have never seen a photo of paratroopers wearing sunglasses in the weeks leading up to D‐Day or during the Normandy campaign.
Trenchknives
Now lets talk about trench knives. I saw a video on YouTube this summer in which Jim Martin of the 506th PIR 101st says no one in his company was issued trench knives. That may very well be true, but I can assure you that most every platoon/company/battalion/regiment in the 502nd PIR 101st was issued trench knives. So now that that’s out of the way, lets talk about the sheaths. If you are at a D‐Day event, you must use the leather sheath for the M3 (below left). The green plastic one had not been issued yet, and thus was not worn on D‐Day. It started to pop up after that. My general rule is if the event is a bulge or later theme, wear the plastic sheath (below right). Before that, the leather one was much more common.
|
|
