Fire Force Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 I'm trying to set up an Australian WWII Burma loadout. Any suggestions? All the websites are a bit obscure about these guys. As far as I can piece together: - Enfield - KD or jungle greens? - Some sort of ankle boot with gaiters - Slouch hat - P37 webbing Suggestions? Help? Lol. Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Have a google for a group called the far setting sun or forgotten tommies as the loadouts are pretty similar. but basic list would be Jungle greens/denims. 37 patt webbing ammo boots with gaitors Enfield SMLE or i believe the Mrk5 was used, or for Aussie theres the Owen SMG ,stens brens etc etc slouch hat for suppliers, try What Price Glory, Soldier of Fortune or even replicators as they used to do offers on sets and gear. im sure gadge will correct me if im wrong. Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 I don't think that ANZAC forces were in Burma, at least not in a big way; I believe it was mainly British, Burmese and Indian forces, with a smaller presence of Americans keeping the Burma road open with the Chinese. Uniforms are similair, but you wouldn't see the owen gun. The jungle carbine, Enfield No.5, wasn't used in a big way until after the war either. Mostly it would be Brens, Thompsons (M1928), SMLE's etc. The Australians may have been involved in some small scale special forces raids further in the area (South east asia, Z force) but I don't know masses about them in that context, and they weren't restricted to that area. regards, -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
Gadge Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Get 'khaki drill and jungle green' by Martin Brayley that will have *everything you need to know for about a tenner of amazon. Failing that ask Chief Chinthe on the Comrades in Arms forums, hes pretty much an expert on the far east and has been doig a lot of research into Anzac forces (his wifes Australian). Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Simon got Married!!! good on him! sorry to hijack. AS to Aussies I am unsure as to their presence in Burma, but i do know they had involvement in new guinea, borneo and the like,not to forget that parts of australia were bombed by the Japanese aswell. http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/overview/ww2-00.html Link to post Share on other sites
fingertwister Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Mate, I have attempted a similar loadout out based on New Guinea. I got a lot of my stuff from Digger militaria in Australia, Greg is the owner and if you give him a call he will no doubt be able to procure what you are after. Another good site is What price Glory. I got my slouch hat from the Imperial war Museum in OZ and have replaced the hat band for an original WW2 one. Another site with much WW2 Aussie goodness is called Oztion. It is an australian based website and deals in a lot of aussie kit, some original & some repro. I also got an Owen gun custom made to finish my loadout from two guys in NZ, which was shipped to me in the UK as parts, not cheap but some very good workmanship. Digger militaria http://gameymilitaria.tripod.com/ What Price Glory http://onlinemilitaria.net/ Oztion http://www.oztion.com.au/ Hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites
Fire Force Posted June 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Oops, I totally screwed up... Kokoda was not in Burma but in New Guinea. I just watched the film (it's excellent and lots of good photos of kit and weapons). PS Gadge, just ordered the Brayler book from Amazon. Looks very interesting, can't wait to take a look at it. I'm surprised by how much cheaper it is to get Commonwealth stuff... all the American kit is so damn expensive. Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Good stuff One of the Major battles in the CBI theatre took place at Kohima, which is just inside India, so that may have been where you got mixed up. Is that Kokoda: 39th battalion you're refering too? If so, excellent film; got it on DVD. While we're on the subject, are there any cheap alternatives to the felt bush hats that were used? Perhaps a similair civilian hat? regards, -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
Fire Force Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 I've got an oilskin "slouch hat" that I got at some fishing store ages ago. Looks similar enough, though I'm trying to get ahold of a pagri thing to wrap around the crown to give it that distinct Australian look. Link to post Share on other sites
fingertwister Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Fire Force try this book; http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/The-Australian-Army-in-World-War-II_9781846031236 It has a full description of the different kits used in New Guinea and some good pictures to accompany these. Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Good stuff One of the Major battles in the CBI theatre took place at Kohima, which is just inside India, so that may have been where you got mixed up. Is that Kokoda: 39th battalion you're refering too? If so, excellent film; got it on DVD. While we're on the subject, are there any cheap alternatives to the felt bush hats that were used? Perhaps a similair civilian hat? regards, -Matt when you say the felt bush hat do you mean the slouch hat http://www.collectors-badges.com/images/Badges%20Hats/hat_australia_army_slouch_hat.jpg ? as they are easy and relatively cheap enough to find. or do you mean the 44 pattern style bush hat? http://media.photobucket.com/image/44%20pattern%20bush%20hat/PossiblesPete/DSC01876Small.jpg If its the slouch hat your after the try places like SoF What price glory or even ebay, as i believe the modern ghurkas still wear their versions, albeit a bit thicker in material as they used to put two slouch hats one inside the other. for a good reference site i used to use these guys..... http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/slouch_hat.htm Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 It's the clouch hat I was after, I have to admit I didn't know we issued the later pattern of hat during the war. I've seen the slouch hats on ebay, but they're still a little steep (most seem to go for £50.00+); but i'll keep digging. Cheers for the info, -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 just and idea, why not pick up a brown american civil war slouch hat and with a few minor (cheap) additions you'd have a perfectly passable aussie/ghurka slouch http://www.fcsutler.com/fchats.asp (bou 3/4 the way down called lite slouch) another option is to buy a blank and shape/form your own Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Cheers for that; I had another look on ebay, except this time for civilian hats, and came up with this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230367032248&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en So it seems I was horribly wrong about ebay. Also, this guide from CIA may come in handy: http://www.ww2airsoft.org.uk/php/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=8931&p=148956#p148956 regards, -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 20, 2010 Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 Mr Tierney Is certainly well known in the "Circuit" as being knowledgable on all things pertaining to the "forgotten tommies" campaigns in burma and the like. your ebay find looks tasty, with a bit of material wrapped around it and one side pinned up you'd be well away. Link to post Share on other sites
Yith Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 While we're on the subject, are there any cheap alternatives to the felt bush hats that were used? Perhaps a similair civilian hat? If you're not doing Chindit in particular then the standard MkII Tommy Helmet will do you fine for Brit, Aussie, etc. Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Cheers; what other headgear was in use? Berets at all (in Burma in general that is)? Personally, i'm investing in some propper Japanese tropical kit soon, but I have a few friends who are after Burma/Chindit kit, although i'd like to throw togethe ra uniform at some point. -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
Gadge Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 In the main it was cap comforters, slouch hats and MKII helmets. Very very very late war the 44 pattern jungle hat was issued but mianly to troops doing occupation duties Equally some commonwealth units had denim GS caps. Other nations had various tribal and regimental headgear like Sikh units with turbans etc. Again Simons your man really. Berets mauy have been worn by RTR but there were not a lot of tnaks in the far east. Equally the parachute regiment deployed to the far east at the end of the war (post hostilities) and wore maroon berets and 44 pattern equipment with no5 rifles. Not much use unless you want to re-enact post 'bomb' occupation duties though. Berets in the infantry come in late 40s early 50s afair. Link to post Share on other sites
Hurrah Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 I've seen a few photos of diggers in "berets", all stating that they were taken during operations in Bougainville, seems to be a cloth rather than woolen item (judging by the way it falls, I'd guess it was made from HBT cotton) with a distinct headband more akin to a balmoral cap than a beret. Those are the only wartime berets I've seen photo evidence of. I suspect it was an item on field trial during that operation. Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 Intriguing, any chance of a link or look at these pics? Link to post Share on other sites
-Angel- Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 Unless i'm mis-interpretting your description, couldn't they just be GS caps? Link to post Share on other sites
Hurrah Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 Intriguing, any chance of a link or look at these pics? Found a clear one online Also look at http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/092551/ and an image of the cap being worn on patrol. http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/lastbattles/shadows.html Also something that the Aussies never wore, black boots! they always wore brown. Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 30, 2010 Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 Thanks Hurrah, most interesting... will have to have a look into it. For those interested, Osprey do a men at arms book on Aussies in ww2 which will have a few nice drawn images of kit etc. Link to post Share on other sites
ratboy44 Posted June 30, 2010 Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 the aussies wore a JG version of the GS cap as their felt slouch hats rotted to quick. easy as that, its a jungle green drill materal general service cap exactly the same as the khaki wool one you wear in design! As researched by a friend of mine with more knowledge in the field of kit and caboodle through the ages. Link to post Share on other sites
mikoyan99 Posted July 1, 2010 Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Just remembered, you may find this interesting: http://specialoperationsaustralia.com/soa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145 Also, i'm running a C-B-I game on August 14th - see sig for details. -Matt Link to post Share on other sites
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