Today on Gus’ Gear I present uniforms of the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom and one from Portugal.
This is the Commonwealth corner, it has been brought to my attention that the flag is displayed upside down, and that will be corrected in time. It will take time to right it as it is sewn to a linen backing due to its fragile condition. The flag was purchased in 1972 at an antique shop in Dover, England and after paying for it, the woman who sold it to me told me it had come from Dunkirk during the evacuations. I suspect it was not a battle flag, but a flag used on one of the small boats that were such an important part of that evacuation.
In the past I have not shown the contents of the associated display cabinets, but the individual items have either been highlighted before, or will be covered in a later post.
The first impression is of a Commonwealth soldier in an overcoat. This coat is a Canadian pattern without the shoulder straps, but has General Service buttons. The equipment is Mills P1908 webbing and would appear to be an early set. Finding British webbing years ago was nearly impossible and when I was able to acquire this lot of P08 webbing, it had two right hand pouches. To make it displayable, I cut the stitching in the poorest quality right hand pouch and was able to rotate the upper pockets to the correct location for a left hand pouch and then resew them. The rivets did not have to be removed. The helmet is a British made Brodie, most likely issued to an American soldier as is the British small box respirator, which was issued to a soldier from Missouri.
This is the same mannequin that was set up to represent an early Canadian soldier, the cap bears the insignia of the 19th Battalion which was part of the 2nd Canadian Division of the CEF. The haversack on his left hip is for a PH hood, an early gas mask. The rifle is an early British Short Magazine Lee Enfield S.M.L.E No. 1 MK III. Introduced in 1907, this example was manufactured in 1913 and has the magazine cut off to enable the shooter to fire it as a single shot while keeping the magazine full. The rifle is chambered for a .303 caliber cartridge and has a 10 round box magazine that can be loaded with 5 round stripper clips. The bayonet is a standard pattern 1907.
This is an impression of an ANZAC of the New Zealand Rifles 1st Canterbury Regiment. This regiment fought in Gallipoli and saw heavy action in Flanders as well. The tunic and trousers are reproductions with original buttons and insignia, made for me over two decades ago by one of the costumers working for Peter Jackson. His attention to detail was so good that when it arrived, it had a period half penny in one pocket, an original field dressing in the inside pocket and a sheet of New Zealand YMCA paper in another pocket to write home. The hat is a Lemon Squeezer with an infantry puggaree (the colored band around the crown of the hat). The equipment is Mills P1908 pouches with wider braces for magazines for the Lewis light Machine gun. This weapon was widely used by forces of the United Kingdom during WWI and as late as the Korean War. It is chambered for the British .303 cartridge and has a 47 round magazine.
This impression represents a seaman in His Majesty’s Royal Navy. The jumper, trousers and collar came in the same group, the collar is named to G. Wilson. On the left breast are two ribbons, a 1914-1920 Service Medal and WWI Victory Medal. The jumper and trousers are not marked or dated, but are the cut used during the Great War. On the right sleeve is the rating of an anti-aircraft gunner 3rd class (as near as I can determine). The cap, dicky and scarf are from the H. V. Donald grouping. The lanyard around his neck is for a deck knife.
This impression is not from the Commonwealth, but is that of a Portuguese soldier. The Portuguese were largely equipped with English weapons, in this case a British Short Magazine Lee Enfield S.M.L.E No. 1 MK III. The bayonet is a standard pattern 1907. The gas mask is a standard British small box respirator and the equipment is British made Mills Pattern 1915, for Portuguese mounted troops. The helmet is a British made helmet that was found to be unsuitable in the trenches due to the corrugations that were pressed in the crown for strength for use in the mines. If shrapnel struck the crown, it was less likely to deflect the projectile as the corrugations would catch the projectile allowing it to penetrate the helmet. The tunic is a rare find, it is a post war tunic that was modified by a Portuguese film company for a movie covering Portugal’s history. The war time tunics had a fly front that was dropped right after the war. This tunic dates from the 20s and has had a portion of the inner facing cut and sewn to form a fly front. To the best of my knowledge, this is the closest thing to an original tunic that a collector has the hope to find. The trousers and puttees are reproductions made for me by a young lady in Portugal to avoid any embarrassment from a lack of trousers.
And for Joe, here are some bison, the photo is a bit fuzzy because the smoke was so thick this past week.