US Tankers in Camo...

[doyler]

I'm sure nost of you know more about this than I ever will, but let me ask this:

 

You say they replaced the camo HBTs after being worn from July to August 1944, after they were "worn out".

 

Does that mean the camo HBT uniform wore out faster than the regular uniform that was worn by everyone else? Was the HBT material that much less durable? Did they replace the regular uniform every 2-3 months, as is suggested they did with the HBTs? I've read that a lot of soldiers wore the same uniform longer than 2-3 months, and without ever taking a bath!!! Was a small group of soldiers harder on their camo HBTs than the rest of the entire army was on their regular uniforms.

 

I guess what I'm saying is...IF they replaced the regular uniform within 2-3 months of issue (due to wear) then I can accept the theory they replaced the camo HBT within 2-3 months of it being issued also (due to wear).

 

 

I dont know about replacement due to excessive wear but have always heard the story it was limited issue(the camo) in Europe.The story goes that the units and those who wore the camo were often mistaken for the enemy as the germans were the only ones to wear camo and these guys were being taken for the enemy.Not a good situation.This in my mind is why the camos could have been replaced and delegated to state side use.

 

RON

[J_Andrews]

In the ETO, it was the general custom to issue out new (or where new items were not available, combat servicable) clothing when units were off the line for R&R and RECONSTITUTION. The logisticians recognized this and used "Division sets" (or Inf Regtl, or Tk Bn sets) as planning factors. This could (worst case) apply to every piece of equipment -- small arms, howitzers, trucks, etc.

 

As one example, the M1943 gear had been accumulating in depots in the UK BEFORE Normandy, but was not mass-issued. This was because 1. There was not enough to equip all the units heading to France; 2. The introduction of a visually stange ensemble -- green rather than tan, for starters -- might confuse things and bring fratricidal incidents; 3. The QM General of the ETO, MG Littlejohn, did not personally LIKE the M9143 uniform.

 

When the 82nd and 101st returned to the UK from France, they inarguably NEEDED new/replacement uniforms and gear, and, as they prepared for their next jump, they were the first ETO units to get the M1943 stuff.

 

Further, Divisions arriving from the ZI had M1943 stuff before the veteran units, who used the older family of uniforms and gear UNTIL they were withdrawn from the line and reconstituted.

 

Thus, though the fratricide potential of cammies in the 2 AD had been identified early in the campaign, actual withdrawal and replacement probably had to wait for reconstitution.