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Compare the size of the soldier’s pack in World War II to today’s massive rucks. Mind you, the actual soldier’s load in World War II was often quite comparable to todays soldier, due to heavier weapons and ammo. And the lack of boy armor beyond the simple steel helmet also mean many more wounds that…
Compare the size of the soldier’s pack in World War II to today’s massive rucks.
Mind you, the actual soldier’s load in World War II was often quite comparable to todays soldier, due to heavier weapons and ammo. And the lack of boy armor beyond the simple steel helmet also mean many more wounds that were incapacitating or fatal.
Being a grunt has never been easy.
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Ok it’s British but the basic load never really changes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11011316/Military-kit-through-the-ages-from-the-Battle-of-Hastings-to-Helmand.html
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That “back pack” looks suspiciously like a “butt pack” with shoulder straps. Frighteningly, I did carry a lot of that gear in ’68. Tent pegs were aluminum and of course different assault rifle(s).
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I realize now that I really am an old fart. The only difference in the pack shown and what I was issued in 1974 in Fulda were the straps on the pack and the metal canteen. Everything else had apparently been sitting there in the CIF since 1945 waiting for issue. When I got to Fort Polk in 77 I showed the 105th S&T Battalion staff how to take the “cargo pack” and turn it into a tanker’s roll. Shortly after arriving at Polk the Army introduced the Alice (sp?) pack.
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The mess kit has “compartments for desert and soup”. SOUP??? Where did this guy get his CIB? The only time ‘soup’ was ever in a mess kit was when it rained.
I have seen a lot of pictures & movies of GIs in WWII and I always wondered where all their gear was. I have seen very few images of infantry in the field carrying much other than weapons & ammo and canteen. That goes for all sides.
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XBradTC 
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