British Airborne Uniform WW2

The British WW2 Airborne Uniform.
#airborne #marketgarden #ww2 #ww2reenactment #reenactment #history #uniform #britisharmy #reenactors #reenactor #army

[momo-chan]

Lee Enfield No.4 or Sten MK2 ( Not common )or MK 5 both were used for the regular para but if your a support gunner a Bren MK2. (PIAT or BOYS rifle if you are an anti tank guy.) btw sorry I have fixed it now to some of the comments to this I’ve read thx for the info and I’ve updated it :)

[KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll]

"We don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner!"

"What??"

[Russki_central]

British airborne forces were equipped with much the same small arms as those used by the regular infantry. Each infantry section had a Bren Light Machine, while the standard infantry rifle was the long established Lee-Enfield . 303 (Mk 4). Officers and NCO's had the Sten sub machine gun

[cocoa_joey]

Love the music, more people need to watch A Bridge Too Far. It’s gold.

[Stickminbasi]

Lee enfield No. 4

The bandolier carries the actual chargers for the rifle. The pouches were for grenades and additional Bren gun magazines (like the German Army, the British section was built around the machine gun).

[simonsignolet]

Incidentally, John Addison who composed this music was in 30 Corps during the battle. He's more famous for writing the music for a wad of Hollywood tunes (EG: "Murder She Wrote") - but he also wrote the music for "The Red Beret"...

[nobbytang]

Great video and explains a lot so thanks .My old fella was a Para in WW2…he joined up in Sept 1944 with the 127 field ambulance in the 5th Scottish battalion of the 2nd brigade…he completed 13 jumps in total after his training at ringway Manchester ( which had a grass runway back then ) …his old Para smock used to hang in our garage before being dumped back in the 1970s ( now it’s worth is in the thousands £s) ….as a medic he carried a 9mm browning side arm and was posted until 1947 in Palestine …

[simonsignolet]

M16A2 with M203... 😉

Well done, a really good and enjoyable presentation!

0:31 - The bandolier indicates that the weapon carried would be the Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 or No4 MkI(T)/MkI*(T). None of the other .303” weapons used by British Airborne at the time used chargered ammunition. That said, snipers typically use non-chargered ammunition whenever possible, loading rounds singly.

Personal weapons carried with the rifle would be:
1) The No4 MkII, II* or III Bayonet;
2) The FS Dagger (1st, 2nd or 3rd pattern) (carried in a special pocket of the Airborne trousers);
3) Mills 36M Fragmentation Grenades;
4) No 80 White Phos Grenades (called “Gold Tops” in my day)
5) Possibly: No 82 Gammon Bomb;
6) Possibly: Sticks of Plastic Explosive;
7) Any captured German weapons;
8) In the latter stages of the battle: locally found broken bottles, bricks, etc.

Other weapons used as standard by British Airborne Op Overlord (Ops Tombola/Mallard) onwards were the Sten MkV SMG, the Bren LMG (various Mks) and Browning Pistol MkI and MkI*. Also used at Arnhem/Oosterbeek were US M1 Carbines (seen in pics of HQ troops at the Hartenstein - standard M1 carbines, NOT M1A1 so far as I've seen) and Lee Enfield No4 MkI(T) or MkI*(T) sniper rifles.

The prototype Patchett SMG (which became the Sterling L2A3 SMG in its last military incarnation) was allegedly trialled at Arnhem. There may have been a few Sten MkIIS and Mk6s, too. The Lee Enfield No5 MkI was in production at the time and these are seen in the film “Theirs Is The Glory”, carried by some Paras as they recreated the battle in 1946 – it’s possible that these MIGHT have been trialled at Arnhem during the battle but I’ve seen no photographic evidence of it.

There was a sleeveless “Jump Jerkin” worn over the Denison and webbing: small haversack would have been repositioned to the man’s belly secured UNDER the Jump Jerkin. Paratrooper’s lifejacket over that. The rifle would have gone in a felt sleeve, lowered separately to the Leg Bag. If he had a Bren, that went in a larger felt sleeve. Sten would be carried in the harness, pistol in a chest pocket.

The parachute in your demo is a Type X MkI – though most by Arnhem were MkII. Nice.


Utrinque Paratus

[txgunguy]

Operation Market Garden was a textbook example of how NOT to conduct an airborne invasion.

[lark]

My dad was a US tanker. He got to Normandy, D-Day +90. He told me that because of Monty taking a lot of supplies for Market Garden, he sat out most of September 44.

[Clancy]

The round dial in mid chest was called the "dial of death" because it could be difficult to release the parachute when getting dragged by winds.

[thecoolboys]

My grandfather was a Dutch soldier that went to England in 1940 when the Germans invaded he managed to pass the commandos training and become a British 1st airborne soldier after world war 2 he fought in Korea and India I wish he could tell me his story’s but he died the same day when I was born RIP🕊️

[Histingame]

By far the most badass uniform in history (with red beret) haha

[jenniferstewarts]

I'm sorry, you forgot the most important piece of kit. The Umbrella.

[danmorris]

Enfield, best bolt action battle rifle ever made.. amazing song/soundtrack. one of the best WW2 movies

[Grayman]

SIR are completely surrounded. it's OK son we are AIRBORNE

[slyllamademon]

I am very pissed that BFV never gave us a proper British paratrooper uniform. Also that setup would most likely be used for a lee enfield.

[jacoboreyes]

I think we can all agree 'A bridge too far" is one of the greatest war movies ever made. Perhaps Top 5 for realism.

PS: you forgot an umbrella!

[briandavenport]

WW2: here, put on 9 layers of clothing and carry a 10 pound gun all over Europe

[michaelfeldsieper]

Moin - Hut ab, sehr liebevoll gemacht 👍✌️😊 nun zur Frage, zuerst natürlich die Sten, dann ein Colt 1911 und zum Schluss ein Fairbain/Sykes Knife....🇬🇧🍀🇬🇧🍀🇬🇧🍀👍✌️✊️👋👋👋