The Simple Piece of Gear That Made Soldiers’ Lives Less Terrible in WWII

The M2 shoulder pads may not seem like a glamorous invention, but man were soldiers happy to have them!

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[digitaal_boog]

There was a British soldier who had been seen by an officer heading to Dunkirk with two bren guns, the straps of which had dug down to the bones of his shoulders. When the officer tried to take these guns, the man refused, saying his dying major had told him to take them back to Britain where they would be needed. The officer put some whiskey in the man’s tea, some dressings and pads on his shoulders, and he kept walking

[zahfa]

Need this after carrying the whole team on my shoudlers in every goddamn multiplayer games.

[ldkWhatToWriteHere]

It is really cool to see and understand how these specific pieces of gear work together in the life in the war we already know

[thehistoadian]

British soldiers in the 1890s sometimes even had something very similar except it was worn over their spine to relieve the pressure on their backs!

[AlexKS]

Any bit of a morale boost is a good thing in my opinion and making your soldiers comfortable as possible does make things better.

[phincampbell]

The more comfortable and fit you are as a soldier the better. Happy soldiers are good. Especially when things get messy and tiring.

[TheGroundedAviator]

And some people call those who use these "soft". The last thing a soldier needs is avoidable injuries.

[Philtopy]

Yeah totally! Just imagine what huge amounts of resources must have been used up just to produce a hundred thousand of these. It shows that the US really could be generous with its industry at the time and that the us army went the extra mile for its men. Wich in return made the men more confident in that their problems are heard. It’s the little things that count.

[jastrapper]

It amazes me how I was a Marine Infantryman who served 60 years after that invention was used and we didn’t have anything like that. I was once in the weapons company of a LAR BN and we did a ruck March with all the companies heavy weapons including all the components of the TOW system and out 81 mm mortar tubes and baseplates and such and heavy and medium machine guns. I would have loved that. We just each had standard issue green towels that we would wrap around the machine guns or sharp metal. It was one of the most miserable rucks I ever did. Vehicle appreciation. The old MGS box for the TOW system is like a gigantic metal box with a handle and the only readable way to carry it it is with a pole and sling under two men. We weren't smart enough to do that so we just carried it like a suitcase and traded it off every hundered yards to someone with a lighter component like the mortar sight box or a Heavy machine gun bsrrel.

[YouThana]

As a former MG3 machine gunner for the German Bundeswehr i can tell that the manufacturer thought of that. The back of the feeding lid was formed nicely to fit on a shoulder - you just had to turn the gun upside down.

[Dumbledope]

At first I thought they were supposed to protect your family jewels

[inhquanghieu]

Our army still using that kind of shoulder pad till this day, mostly for artillery crew because they have to carry a wooden box containing two 122mm round from the truck to their artillery emplacement.

[ryana]

My great grandfather used one of those. He was the heavy machine gunner in Guadalcanal. They also looted the dead bodies of the Japanese and I have Japanese military curacy and a Japanese dog tag. I found them in his closet and he let me have them. He passed away in 2014 at 91. He was an amazing man I still look up to him and I miss him.

[robertaylor]

That’s not only about comfort, it’s about combat readiness and effectiveness. Pulled muscles and fatigue do not help in a fight.

Also, I would love to have one of those around on a construction site.

[stevebailey]

I really like your channel. Keep up the good work "soldier"!!

[Crazy-Chicken-Media]

Can we bring those back? That would have been nice to have.

[muchsqueak]

They really should’ve kept issuing those. I would last forever during runs if I had one.

[ronpaul]

I’m a machinegunner, that looks reallly helpful. Often my arms would fall asleep while carrying the gun for long distances, sometimes to the point where it goes limp, but I can’t stop so it just flops around while I keep going

[robertdavis]

You learn something new everyday. I never knew they had those shoulder pads. You never see them in TV shows or movies.

[extrafreshhh]

This dude is so cool. Thank you for educating us on these cool items, and you do it with the perfect poise and tone. I don’t feel like I’m listening to a wehraboo or a tankie, you just sound like a smart typical fellow