82nd Airborne Prep

There was a lot of experimenting early on with this type of stuff, before and between combat missions. Stick with actual combat footage for what they used. That is why you see less rigger stuff as the war progressed. For instance, the smaller rigger pouches for M1 clips held more, but the clips fell out if you weren't able to refasten the flap - stuff they learned in combat. That Thompson vest is cool until you hit the deck and fill the mags with dirt. The knife on the Thompson is cool too, until you lose your weapon in a drop and the knife goes with it. Training is where stuff gets tried out, this is obviously a training video.

These are good points to bring up.

I think what this video really enforces is the creativity and ingenuity of US parachute forces during WWII. These guys were always experimenting and coming up with crazy and ingenious ways of jumping their fighting implements into combat. Some worked, and some did not.

However, as our head Authenticity Officer, Tech Sergeant Cline and Company First Sergeant, First Sergeant Mayo Duggan have pointed out is that we strive to portray what the average paratrooper jumped into combat with.

Personally speaking, I think that soldiers in our unit can still come up with their own ways of carrying the standard equipment that we okay to be carried in the field as it would keep to the spirit of the paratroopers' creativity. However, this is up to our unit leaders.

I can definitely speak to the deficiency of the M1 pouches...First time I fought with those things, I was in the middle of a firefight and did not close the flap as I was not used to doing this. By the time I got to the next tree for cover and stopped to reload, I reached into an empty pouch...Taking cover behind the tree, I looked back towards where I had come and I could see a trail of M1 clips!

Rigger ammo pouches are interesting on their own. This picture shows an early style, holding 5 enblocs each. This belt had 25 clips in it, more than twice the standard issue belt. I've seen this picture captioned as both 11th AB and 82nd AB (North Africa) in ownership, indicating not all publications have their info verified. I've seen a verified pic of an 11th AB trooper wearing two of these made longer for 20 round TSMG clips, so there may be the reason for the confusion.

I've seen a pic of one of these pouches on the belt of an 82nd trooper in either Sicily or N. Africa, but definitely pre-Normandy. I expect it was replaced due to weight and difficulty in manufacturing and probably the availability of the smaller rigger pouch we commonly see reproduced now. It was actually an AAF issue pouch, that the AB troopers began to use and eventually recreate in rigger shops. It's by far the most common, as it was used for M1 clips, grenades or carbine clips and saw extensive use in N. Africa and Sicily, tapering off in Normandy, for the reasons stated earlier. It was made with either nickle or black LTD snaps or less common, a tie closure. Much debate about the types used by specific regiments- some say the 505th used the tie type, but I'm not seeing that in actual pics. Both types have been recovered in Normandy. Thompson SMG pouches varied also, but the current vendor style single snap type also had it's beginnings as an AAF issue item and was copied/modified by riggers. There is a lot of opinion out there about this stuff, but I use only veteran accounts and actual verifiable photos. Forums, vendors, action figures, and unfortunately some mis-captioned photos in books etc. are not a reliable source of info.

One of the most blatant mis-captions I've seen was in a squadron /signal book about he US Airborne. There is a picture of Col. Wolverton of the 101st AB kneeling on the ground adjusting his chute. The caption reads something like "Col Wolverton removing his parachute after landing in Normandy". The picture is at night with flash photography and is obviously in preparation for the jump while in England. Not to mention Col Wolverton was KIA in his chute harness upon landing in Normandy, having been shot and had his throat slit. This caption caused me to never trust a publication again and shows how head up ass some of these publishers are. Never trust a squadron / signal book, I've seen other glaring mistakes.

So from this we derive the commonly used type, which is pretty much what all the vendors sell nowadays. Variations do exist, but for our purposes, stick with the most common. Not to say this is set in stone either, we are open to verifiable differences specific to Baker 505th and I'm more than happy to attempt to research something. Just so everyone knows, my intention with this position is to prevent the 82nd from ever being shown in the farb-photo AAR of the CHG which is distributed to other units, not to mention honorably portraying these veterans. Also to be able to discount any questions of our authenticity with facts, not generalizations. If that requires a more conservative "safe" approach, so be it.

The machete was the other clue for me, not that it was exclusive to the pacific theater, but no jungle 1st aid kit and leather gloves makes me wonder if it is N. Africa. So there you go- until verified, we don't use it.

nice knuckleduster