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Early Dated P37 Equipment


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Hi all, and Happy New year.

 

I earlier posted a pic of the 1940 dated large pack I recently picked up. Earlymb mentioned that early war dated equipment is desirable due to Dunkirk.

 

So here are my humble collection of early war equipment.

1939 medic bag

1940 dated basic pouch, patrol pouch and binocular case.

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Anyone else have some to share?

 

Mikie

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Nice webbing, I used to pick some of it up when I found it. I think just about everything here was dated between 1936 and 1940. The net was a reproduction I think, that I added for the photos.

 

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Wow, that's great! Is that you wearing it all? Hope it wasn't too hot a day out.

1939 is the earliest I've ever seen in person, but then, I'm not that big a collector. Or at least my budget and space are not big.

 

Mikie

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Hi Mikie! It was a hot day when I took that photo (I remember because I had to carry the mannequin out myself, and then boxes of the equipment and uniform). Thankfully I wasn't the one wearing it; just a mannequin who did not seem to mind the heat. :lol:

 

Some of the webbing can be found with earlier dates (although the 1936 date I mentioned was probably not part of the Pattern 1937 equipment; I do know it was on something though. Maybe the mask or helmet). I realized today when I posted this, that I don't know why I said (in the other post) that I did not think I had a 1940 dated bag, I must have though. There are so many pieces though, that it is hard to keep track of. I have a few pieces of the special RAF webbing too (a blue/grey color), but never did assemble a set.

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Well glad that was a mannequin. I just noticed I don't see any hands. My British collection is quite small. The picture is about half of it. The one thing that confuses me is that I read somewhere that the belts were not dated during the war. Why the neck not? Any idea how to tell a wartime belt?

Mikie

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Hi Mikie, you have a nice collection, we collect what we like, not necessarily quantity. I like the different shades of blanco your equipment has too, they are good examples.

 

That sounds familiar about the belts, but I have to say that it has been so long since I was really into collecting UK equipment, that I don't remember at the moment. I do remember seeing a lot of belts which were dated, particularly early war belts dated 1939-1941. I tended to focus on the early years and did not pick up the later dated stuff, that I should have. I remember seeing 1943 dated belts too. I know after the war they changed the way they marked them. On the whole, the brass was left bright on the wartime belts (at least the early ones), and by the Korean War period they were making them with blackened hooks and buckles. There were also multi-piece belts (made from three pieces) during WWII.

 

There were a lot of little changes over the war years. Originally the binocular cases did not have the provision for the straps on the ends, and then they added them to new production and sometimes retrofitted them to earlier pieces. Another thing you can find are variations in how the crossbrace straps (suspenders to us) were manufactured. There are even differences in the webbing material and color (Canadian made webbing tended to be a more distinct yellow color than the UK webbing, which looked more beige/gray.). So many countries in the Commonwealth and outside the commonwealth used and made the equipment too. It truly saw worldwide use.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I found a couple more "new" old pieces for the collection.

Another 1940 dated basic pouch, and more exciting to me, I finally found a dated belt. Hard to read but the belt is dated 1938 or 1939. The 193X is definite, the last digit may be an 8 or 9?

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Enjoy!

Mikie

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the comments! Seeing your setup, I consider that high praise indeed. A few years ago I found a nice 1918 British greatcoat for $125 at a surplus store. I probably could have scraped up the bucks, but just don't have space. Not only is the cost long gone, the store is too. Hope it ended up in good hands.

Mikie

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Hi Mikie, if the coat was all original that was probably a very good price for it. The coat in my display is a 1939 dated 1939 pattern coat, and as you can imagine it took me a while to find it. It's probably easier to find the stuff in 'Merry Old England' than it is here, but it's a fun challenge.

 

Hang on to that belt, it is very hard to find. You might be surprised at just how hard it is! Great thing to find.

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  • 8 months later...

Hello koreamike. I see you are new around here. Welcome! My experience is that wartime P37 belts are very hard to find. It took me a while to find mine. There used to be a surplus store here that had a ton of the wartime basic pouches. When they went out of business, I grabbed a few at their closing sale. A shop still around has a pile of the belts, but they are all dated 1953. No place local has much of anything now. Maybe look online or ebay? Good luck on your hunt.

Mikie

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Mint belts will be hard to find but pouches are a lot easier; just make sure they are Basic Pouches and not Auxiliary Bren Pouches (same pouch but with a wide yoke as you can fit them to a belt). Then there are also MT Pouches (Motor Transport), again the same pouch but with a simple wide loop at the back to slip them over a belt; these were intended for drivers.

 

Watch out for reproductions, they are easy to spot in the flesh but if you're inexperienced they may fool you from a picture.

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Thank you so much for your advice i really appreciate it collecting common wealth is really exciting , i remember about 25 years ago you could find it wrapped up

in in a cellophane bag in unissued condition but tis was years ago , canadian kit seems to be much easier except for the belts love the gold canvas and brown painted

brass thanks again koreamike :D:D

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Hello again i was wondering if all the p-37 kit is all gone now i was looking on the what price glory web site and it said it has all

dried up . They make some excellent repro stuff i am certain people are marking it with fake markings thanks koreamike

and thank you for the warm welcome

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There is still lots of WW2-dated webbing around at the militaria shows, mainly in the UK but items like belts etc. are becoming scarcer. I guess they mean in large wholesale amounts.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello there , i have the opportunity to buy an indian made ww2 era cover all it is in mint but the stampings are kind faint but is original for 160 bucks

are these rare ? they are really nice looking does any one have further info .? thanks koreamike

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Mikie, a little late to the game here but nice British P37 collection. I wasn't aware that you collected these. In the past when I was a backyard warrior (a loooonnng time ago, hahaha) I had some British equipement too and I distincly remember those small and bigger pouches and that funny smell they had. Unfortunately I didn't hang to those items with one exception: a belt. It is dated 1941 and is still in good order.

 

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Rene

 

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Hi Rene. Hope you are on the mend. Nice belt. For some reason lots of wartime belts were not dated. I like to collect anything I find interesting, that I can afford, and that I have room for. Sometimes reading a book or seeing a movie will get my collecting juices flowing and i'll go hunt for related stuff. Absolutely no collecting discipline at all.

Mikie

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