US WWII Soldiers HATED These 5 Pieces of Gear

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Edited by Hudson Louie

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[WorldWarWisdom]

Thank you World of Tanks for sponsoring this video.
During registration use the invite code COMBAT to get for free: 7 days of premium access, 250k credits, the premium tank Cromwell B, and 3 rental tanks for 10 battles each: Tiger 131, T78, and Type 64 if you’re a new player.
For returning players (who already have a WG Account AND haven’t played WOT for 30 or more days): 3 days of premium access, the 2D Style “Bargain” camouflage, 7-day rental of Premium Tank Centurion Mk. 5/1 RAAC or a 100k credits compensation, if you already have this tank in your garage.

[PxThucydides]

I used to live next to a man who was a member of the Devil's Brigade in WW2. He said he was sleeping one night in a farmhouse when 88s opened up; everyone dove for cover into the basement- except him. In the morning he was congratulated for his bravery under fire, but he said he wasn't brave- he just couldn't get out of the sleeping bag.

[ewathoughts]

Rear area commando are nothing new, and still around. In VN we were issued WW2 boots while the Supply people had the new Jungle boots and nylon gear. Our sergeant went into the supply depot and at gun point got us Jungle boots. He was charged and when he appeared before the CO he showed the CO his leather issue was rotten and the XO was standing there with new kit. Our CO transferred the XO and dismissed the Sergeants charges. Then we all go new issue and the CO made sure the rear area commando had the old WW2 issue. There are a few good senior officers, and a lot of useless juniors that just do nothing for their men.

[rjohnson]

My great grandmother’s brother served in WWi and WW2, my grandmother’s brothers who served in WW2 said he was downright fanatical about carrying his gas mask at all times. He would always write in every letter to his nephews to never go anywhere without their helmets rifles or especially their masks. My uncle Bob told me he never had the heart to tell old Uncle Willie that he chucked his mask.

[richardthomas]

That last thing about troops not getting gear because the support troops would take it before it made it to the combat troops is a real sore spot and I'm sure continues to this day. I was in Desert Storm and they came out with many things adapted for the desert during the early part of Desert Shield. The thing we wanted the most was the New Desert Boots. We either had the regular issue leather boots or even jump boots and they were very hot and made your feet wet with perspiration. We also had our Jungle boots which were lighter and more breathable but the built in drains allowed sand to get in and that would quickly rub you raw. We begged for the new desert boots, and a couple of times some showed up but they were only weird sizes like size 6 or size 14. I never knew anyone who got a pair during the war. When we got back to Saudi Arabia all the REMFs were wearing them, all the Airforce personnel were wearing them at the nearby airbase, it just made me sick. Yes it still pisses me off after 33 years.

[randyjennings]

My dad, a Mustang pilot with the 8th AF, used a panel of a parachute as a scarf during operational flights. The parachute panel was from a pilot who crashed on takeoff and was killed. He then had a local seamstress sew it into a scarf. Like the ground pounders he wore it to avoid getting his neck chaffed. When you are flying combat you have your head continually on a swivel. As my dad described it, constantly doing figure eights. Look right up/down, look center at instruments, look left up/down, all the time. Doing this for hours, say on a 5 1/2 hour mission to Berlin will wear the skin off your neck sans scarf.

Great video, thanks for making it.

[scammicus]

Chafing gets raw, raw gets dirty, dirty gets infected.

Soldier's have been dealing with that forever (just look at the Legions), and today with body armour we still do.

[keeganlepine]

It had to be the worst panic attack waking up to the sound of gunfire and being rendered an armoured caterpillar because you can’t get out of your shitty sleeping bag

[hygher]

As a member of the British army, I can attest that packing your doss bag away after getting stood to is a pain in the ass, takes up alot of space aswell, would prefer a decent blanket, on the other hand being in your dossbag is a fucking decent slice of moral on a winter exercise

[olivedrabwool]

A criticism that would emerge from Korea about the M43 boots is that ironically, the buckles would get caught on underbrush as well.

[duke]

I can commiserate. I was in Vietnam in a LRRP unit. Everything we carried was considered field expedient. To get a good rucksack for instance we took the Aluminum frame from one with another pack that had greater volume. Our web belts (from Korea and WWII) were altered and stripped and we used canteen covers for grenades, M-16 mags and canteens. Slings for the M-16 were discarded as too noisy and new ones made from GI handkerchiefs and electrical tape (no duct tape back then). We weren’t allowed to use our rain poncho (it was noisy and shiny) and only carried a jungle blanket and jungle sweater and extra socks. MRE’s were introduced at the end of our tour as we had been carrying C-Rations and our water as fresh water was hard to come by. But the MRE’s used up precious drinking water so they were a mixed blessing. Line units I’m sure were more conventionally equipped but they stayed out longer and were supplied by helicopter and noise discipline was less of a concern. Thanks for the video and listening to me geeze:)

[Paladin]

The P-38 can opener was the greatest piece of WWII kit. I still have one.

[No-One-of-Consequence]

In the 90's my Scoutmaster started an Explorer Post that ran the program from the 1940's Explorer Scout Manual. George was the youngest Scoutmaster in America at the time, but he was close with this Scoutmaster from Massachusetts named Harris tanner, who he said was the Dean of New England Scoutmasters. Harris had been a Scout during WWII, and earned his Eagle Scout badge, the Quartermaster Sea Scout badge, and the Ranger Explorer Scout badge. He was a Super Scout and taught George all kinds of vintage methods so he could run the Explorer Post as though we had stepped backwards through time.

He was an awesome Scoutmaster, and he never used a sleeping bag. And he never used a tent.

One winter he took us to Camp Sequassen in Connecticut for an Exploring event and we camped out on West Hill POnd, which was frozen over a foot deep. He made a fire right on the ice and we kept it going for over 48 hours.

And he slept in a bedroll made of three wool Pendelton point blankets on a bed of pine boughs about a foot thick, right under the stars. He said he never slept better. Apparently Baden-Powell slept outdoors almost every night of his life.

The guy was amazing. And later in life he becamse the Audie Murphy of Scoutmasters, the most-decorated Scout lifesaver in history. They're going to put an exhibit about him in the national museum.

But he had a lot of respect for the tech that come to Scouting through the men who served in WWII and if they didn't like those sleeping bags, they had good reasons.

[crusignatioutremer]

The "Blue Star Commando" effect still takes place. We saw the folks at the ports and airfields, where obviously supplies come into, showing off their new DCUs and boots, while frontline units rolled into Iraq wearing BDUs. The DCUs didn't make it to us, until we were going home, and had to wear them in a parade. Supply syphoning is something that will probably never go away.

[douglasalan]

Fascinating video! My late uncle was a Ranger who was among the first ashore at Omaha Beach. The soldiers carried so much gear that some drowned because they were dropped off too far from the beach in water that was over their heads, requiring them to swim. Also, in Band of Brothers, one of the paratroopers complained about all the gear they had to carry, including the infamous leg bag.

[dougtaylor]

My Dad was an a MP in WW2. I went to 12-15 of his army reunions. Heard 100’s of war stories and general BS sessions.
Two things stood out that they used back then. The Coleman personal field stove was not issued to common soldiers. But when they found one or won it in a card game this was a valuable commodity. Most people that had them were soldiers that were attached to a vehicle. Tankers, truck drivers and MP with jeeps. Dad was given a stove by a tanker who was wounded he picked up and carried to an aid station. Dad said that using the stove for a hot meal was the ONLY thing that reminded him of home.
Now the bad. Powdered eggs were not great but the worst thing ever devised for a food item was the green syrup the field kitchens used for breakfast. They would have pancakes and who doesn’t like syrup? You after they dumped a cold green watery sweet nastiness on your pancakes.
I’ve heard the horror story of the green watery menace many times.

[SeanDahle]

One Honorable mention should go to the Browning Automatic Rifle's Bipod. It was flimsy and added extra weight to an already heavy weapon. It was not uncommon for soldiers (especially US marines) to take them off and throw away and just use the BAR as an automatic rifle. That's what it was to begin with not a light machine gun. It was forced into the LMG role when the US entered WW2.

[silenthunder]

This is why I love YouTube and don't watch cable TV ❤ this video is less than 20 minutes long but still informative and enjoyable.. thank you for quality content!

[tomeverett]

Comfort is extremely important in combat. It's already miserable and anything that eases the misery means less to distract you from the mission.

[glendelong]

An older guy I use to fish with had served in Africa, Italy, and France always said that, the only thing the army ever gave him that worked was his M1. The food, boots, clothing were all crap. New tents leaked, new jeeps had to be fixed to run, and the only good food they got was what they could steal. Everything but the M1