Landships II

PDA · Legend

Trench Raider - Qu. For You

James H · Legend

It's perfectly pukkah. Waistcoat designed for Nos. 6 & 7 Grenades, 10 of.

The Yanks had one that held 11 (6 over 5).

-- Edited by James H on Sunday 14th of August 2011 09:38:52 PM

Rob · Legend

Another well researched piece from GWM - I have their Leach catapult set (with jam tin bombs) and the 3 inch Stokes Mortar set, all spot on - only complaint is that all the crew are in heavy winter clothing ie goatskin vest. Cap comforter is a nice touch on the figure too

One trench raiding figure I bet they won't produce is what the Gurkha's used to get up to - getting naked, covering themselves in oil, slithering across no mans land and coming back with their favourite souvenir, German ears

PDA · Legend

Rob wrote:
...�what the Gurkha's used to get up to - getting naked, covering themselves in oil, slithering across no mans land and coming back with their favourite souvenir, German ears

�Their orders were to infiltrate the enemy line and bring back anything useful. The oil covered nakedness was just a little something extra that they enjoyed doing. smile

Thanks for your answers, gents. Was the vest, grenade carrying, for the use of, called something special - like Bomber Vest 1914 Pattern, or somesuch?

James H · Legend

Yes. It was called the Vest 'n' Front.

�

I thank you.

Rob · Legend

The name for the common 11 pocket US version seems to be 'grenade vest', but at the time the official nomenclature would have been Bomber Vest or Bomb Carrier etc. I don't know when the British ones were introduced, but the Mills Bomb was introduced in late 1915 - earlier British grenades including, but not limited to, the No 1 and No 2 stick bombs, No 15 'Cricket Ball' bombs, Battye bombs, and my favourite, the jam tin bomb, of which i've written an article about it if it would be of interest for Landships 2 (with illustrations)

James H · Legend

See "The Training and Employment of Grenadiers" (1915)

The No. 6 and No. 7 were also known as the "Lemon" (although they were not especially lemon-shaped). They were identical in appearance, but the lighter No.6 was HE only and the No. 7 contained shrapnel. They were declared obsolescent at the end of 1915.

I think purpose-made waistcoats began to appear in mid-1915.

-- Edited by James H on Monday 15th of August 2011 10:20:22 PM

PDA · Legend

@Rob - yes! definitely interested in it for L2 -�it should certainly keep the trend upwards

@James - ...

�

...still speechless...

�

(Les Dawson? Tommy Cooper? Bob Monkhouse?)

PDA · Legend

James H wrote:
See "The Training and Employment of Grenadiers" (1915)
The No. 6 and No. 7 were also known as the "Lemon" (although they were not especially lemon-shaped). They were identical in appearance, but the lighter No.6 was HE only and the No. 7 contained shrapnel. They were declared obsolescent at the end of 1915.
I think purpose-made waistcoats began to appear in mid-1915.

-- Edited by James H on Monday 15th of August 2011 10:20:22 PM

�So is this a vest? Or another way of rigging the 1908 pattern Webbing equipment?

James H · Legend

PDA wrote:
(Les Dawson? Tommy Cooper? Bob Monkhouse?)

I like to think that the spirit of all three lives on in me. My little jape may be subconsciously "informed" by (i.e. stolen from) whoever said that Mussolini used to wear a concealed pistol under his shirt which he called The Fascist Gun in the Vest.

I suspect I am lowering the tone now, so I shall desist.

No, the weskits were purpose-made. Earlier, less complicated ones with just stitched pouches were made to hold the ones Rob describes. I've got a feeling that one was shown in a thread on trench raiders.

The figure in your original pic seems to be based on a bomber from the 10th Cameronians.

-- Edited by James H on Monday 15th of August 2011 10:46:39 PM

CharlieC · Legend

Rob wrote:
The name for the common 11 pocket US version seems to be 'grenade vest', but at the time the official nomenclature would have been Bomber Vest or Bomb Carrier etc. I don't know when the British ones were introduced, but the Mills Bomb was introduced in late 1915 - earlier British grenades including, but not limited to, the No 1 and No 2 stick bombs, No 15 'Cricket Ball' bombs, Battye bombs, and my favourite, the jam tin bomb, of which i've written an article about it if it would be of interest for Landships 2 (with illustrations)

�

Yes please - PM me with email address.

Regards,

Charlie

Pat · Commander in Chief

Rob wrote:
their favourite souvenir, German ears

�

Is there any reliable source giving proof of this rather primitive habit?

PDA · Legend

Pat wrote:
Is there any reliable source giving proof of this rather primitive habit?

Most probably not, Pat. Not saying it isn't true; but maybe not entirely true. What we might call "a tall tale".

In Britain we love the Gurkhas, and we have a habit of�telling and exaggerating stories about them, and in those stories the Gurkhas have almost supernatural powers, especially stealthiness and courage. In general the stories stay roughly the same, but the conflict changes with time; you can hear the same story set in 3rd Afghan War, WW2, Malaya Emergency, Cyprus and Falklands. When a Brit tells a Gurkha story, it is customary to tell one of your own, but make it a bit more "juicier" than the one you've just heard.

smile

-- Edited by PDA on Wednesday 24th of August 2011 03:17:11 AM

Rectalgia · Legend

Agreeing with PDA . The Daily Mail source attributes the ear thing to WWII but all sorts of tales surround the Gurkhas. I served in Borneo with half a brigade of them between us and the Indonesian Diponegoro division the other side of the border. Never saw either, but I saw the INSUMS that said they saw each other - well, any that tried to cross into our parts, though Jakarta would hotly deny there were any TNI involved in that (but there were, RPKAD with false papers at least, if not Diponegoro).

Australian legend is that Gurkhas loved to sneak up on any slack allied sentries, slit their bootlaces then slip away, all undetected (until that first step afterwards). Never happened to us of course - or no-one owned up to it if it did.