Tore’s Tuesday. I promised Joe to post obscure stuff every Tuesday, and so I will, today too.
Here is real whatchamacallit, a vest I would call it, that I bought a few years ago. Should this be called a uniform garment or not? Or just a specialized piece of gear? Well, that is of no consequence, I suppose.
It is actually a british vest, as used by artillery crews to carry shells. It will have been stored in the caisson for use when shells had to be carried, like when ammunition carriages could not get close enough to the artillery, if the road was destroyed, and suchlike.
This one is quite scarce as it is for the 4.5 inch Howitzer and with two large reinforced pockets on the legs. Others, for other calibers, have four pockets.
I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to carry heavy shells in the mud with this contraption. It must have been very physically demanding.
A vest like this, albeit a four-pocket version, is shown on the artillery monument in London.
Mine is made by the Carpenter Bro’s in 1918.