1000 Years of Soldiers' kit.

Ancientgeezer · Aug 2, 2014

From an article in today's Daily Telegraph--a soldiers' kit from 1066 to 2014.

Full gallery here Inventories of war: soldiers' kit from 1066 to 2014 - Telegraph

1066: A Housecarl's essentials.

1244 A Crusading Knight's gear for the Siege of Jerusalem.

1485: Just the outfit for a man-at-arms on Bosworth Field.

1815: the Private Soldier's load at the Battle of Waterloo (note the cleaning kits for all the brass)

1916: Tommy Atkins trench equipment. (Note the spiked trench club.)

1944: Arnhem paratroopers had to jump with this lot.

2014: RE support engineer, Helmand Province Afghanistan.

Tercios Espanoles · Aug 2, 2014

Cool displays. I kind of doubt a huscarle would carry quite that array of weaponry, though.

robnot · Jan 21, 2020

Tercios Espanoles said:
Cool displays. I kind of doubt a huscarle would carry quite that array of weaponry, though.

actually yes they would.. at that time they (the huscarl) were responsible for their own equipment. and what you had is what you used,, if your sword got stuck , you used the axe.. it's not like they would say, "hold on, sword broke, let me go back to the pavilion an get one from stores.."
and what is not shown, is two sacks, that they would also be carrying, one to hold the feast gear (trencher, bowl, spoon, cup) and any food they scavenged along the way.. second would be the possibles sack, a cloak (if lucky) or blanket,, and any loot found along the way..

Chlodio · Jan 21, 2020

Did they mention the weight of each set of kit? Is there any truth to the 80 lb limit that is supposedly a constant throughout history?

Tercios Espanoles · Jan 21, 2020

robnot said:
actually yes they would.. at that time they (the huscarl) were responsible for their own equipment. and what you had is what you used,, if your sword got stuck , you used the axe.. it's not like they would say, "hold on, sword broke, let me go back to the pavilion an get one from stores.."
and what is not shown, is two sacks, that they would also be carrying, one to hold the feast gear (trencher, bowl, spoon, cup) and any food they scavenged along the way.. second would be the possibles sack, a cloak (if lucky) or blanket,, and any loot found along the way..

Sword, scramasax, knife, hand axe, two-handed axe, spear and shield (and whatever that thing is on the right). Seems excessive to me.

tomar · Jan 21, 2020

Chlodio said:
Did they mention the weight of each set of kit? Is there any truth to the 80 lb limit that is supposedly a constant throughout history?

I thought it was closer to 60 ?

Abraham95 · Jan 21, 2020

Cool selection! I wish they had something from the 17th Century, though. A cavalier getup would be amazing!

Zip · Jan 21, 2020

I see the 1944 British soldier carried several magazines for the squad Bren gunner.

Matthew Amt · Jan 21, 2020

Interesting spreads, but comparing medieval to modern in that way is misleading. The 13th and 15th century kits are those of *knights*, not just "soldiers" and certainly not infantry grunts. To show wooden bowl and spoon ignores the fact that a knight was the leader of an array of armed men and servants--he wouldn't be carrying his own bowl and spoon, he'd be brought his meals on decent eating ware by a servant, in his tent, at a table. His "mess kit" would include cookpots, skillets, platters, flagons, knives, ladles, forks, spatulas, skewers, tripods/grates/spits for the fire, etc. His "weapons" would include a couple squires and pages, grooms, wagoners, plus several armed horsemen and infantrymen in his "lance".

Matthew

Tercios Espanoles · Jan 21, 2020

What mark of STEN is that in the 1944 pic? Looks like a Mk V but with a bottom-loading magazine? Never seen such a thing.

Tercios Espanoles · Jan 21, 2020

Tercios Espanoles said:
What mark of STEN is that in the 1944 pic? Looks like a Mk V but with a bottom-loading magazine? Never seen such a thing.

Ha! It's not even British - it's a German copy of the STEN. MP3008.

Nemowork · Jan 21, 2020

Tercios Espanoles said:
What mark of STEN is that in the 1944 pic? Looks like a Mk V but with a bottom-loading magazine? Never seen such a thing.

Its a standard Mk5 , the magazine housing could be rotated by 90% for storage.

That loose fitting is also part of the reason why you werent supposed to grip the gun by the magazine while firing.

www.canadiansoldiers.com

Note the first picture with the magazine housing in both positions.

Edratman · Jan 21, 2020

robnot said:
actually yes they would.. at that time they (the huscarl) were responsible for their own equipment. and what you had is what you used,, if your sword got stuck , you used the axe.. it's not like they would say, "hold on, sword broke, let me go back to the pavilion an get one from stores.."
and what is not shown, is two sacks, that they would also be carrying, one to hold the feast gear (trencher, bowl, spoon, cup) and any food they scavenged along the way.. second would be the possibles sack, a cloak (if lucky) or blanket,, and any loot found along the way..

robnot

I want to inform you that we have a number of reasons to discourage the zombie revival of threads that have been inactive for more than two years.

The Mod Team

Tercios Espanoles · Jan 21, 2020

Nemowork said:
Its a standard Mk5 , the magazine housing could be rotated by 90% for storage.

The thing I learned today.

Ancientgeezer · Feb 7, 2020

removed

TheMilitaryHistoryAddict · Feb 7, 2020

Surely they would include fighting equipment of the Iceni and Celts? Since they are also a part of British History.

Nemowork · Feb 7, 2020

Despite the Britunculi term i'm not sure individual Celtic tribes count as a unified British nation?

TheMilitaryHistoryAddict · Feb 9, 2020

T

Nemowork said:
Despite the Britunculi term i'm not sure individual Celtic tribes count as a unified British nation?

They are the ancient britons are they not? They were called Britons.

Ancientgeezer · Feb 9, 2020

Edratman said:
robnot

I want to inform you that we have a number of reasons to discourage the zombie revival of threads that have been inactive for more than two years.

The Mod Team

Possibly v. old threads are revived because they are of higher quality than more recent posts.

Ancientgeezer · Feb 9, 2020

Some more

1588 trainband caliverman, Tilbury

1645 New Model Army musketeer, Battle of Naseby

1982 Royal Marine Commando, Falklands conflict

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1000 Years of Soldiers' kit.

Ancientgeezer

Tercios Espanoles

robnot

Chlodio

Tercios Espanoles

tomar

Abraham95

Zip

Matthew Amt

Tercios Espanoles

Tercios Espanoles

Nemowork

www.canadiansoldiers.com

Edratman

Tercios Espanoles

Ancientgeezer

TheMilitaryHistoryAddict

Nemowork

TheMilitaryHistoryAddict

Ancientgeezer

Ancientgeezer

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