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GI and Marine Pocket Litter


airborneboy506
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airborneboy506

Basically a GI carried anything he himself wanted readily available without having to dig through his gas mask bag or pack like a woman looking for her lipstick. Things like can openers, toothbrushes, shoe laces/legging laces(if a GI wore jump boots or double buckles he would have carried shoe laces instead of legging laces), pay book, id book, id card, mail, K-Ration bits, socks, translation book, jeep cap and AMMO LOTS OF AMMO. Ammo was carried within the 2 bottom waist pockets(like on marine P-41's or M-43's) or in the slit pockets of the M-41 field jacket. Testimonies of multiple vets say that they were stuffed with ammo when they had it. Grenades were designated in one pocket if not both and then clips or magazines in another(larger type magazines like a thompson or a grease gun will not fit). There is alot of wrong in the use of rigger pouches on airborne stuff as well by some reenactors. According to vets they are to be used to hold the ammo but then when in battle CLIPS ARE TAKEN FROM THE POUCH AND PUT IN THE BOTTOM POCKETS ON THE JUMP JACKET. The clips are then taken from the open pockets not the pouch. The pouch is not used like the common 1923 cartridge belt. Some things not entirely commonly carried in pockets are boxes to toothpaste or shaving cream, playing cards, or boxes to anything.

 

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airborneboy506

Thats also helpful but im saying more of war time era pieces than whats found years later but thanks for the link and the tread goes into it a bit

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Isnt the book about Vietnam?

It is and it is a great book, although I didn't see anything in the post specifying only WWII items
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The method you describe of en-bloc M1 clips being transferred to the lower pockets makes perfect sense. I have a fully loaded rifle belt with the internal straps for securing the clips. Even under no pressure whatsoever in the comfort of my man-cave, removing a clip isn't necessarily a "quick" operation as they are wedged in pretty tight. I can imagine a GI in wet combat conditions engaged in a firefight and needing a quick re-load having a problem with that. As you suggest, they would be much more readily accessible directly from the pockets.

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