Vietnam War Era US Issue Items from Australian SASR

[63 RECON]

hey guys,

 

Whilst not in my collection, I was helping my boss move some of his war room items yesterday and came across these items boxed up.

 

All items are from Aussie SASR guys who served in Vietnam but they are USGI items so figured they would be good to post here.

 

All items are attributed to either Danny Wright and Terry O'Farrell who are fairly famous in the SASR circles. There was also a large lot of documentation with the items detailing where everything was used and by whom. All of this stuff was pretty much boxed up on return from VN as the jungle boots still have mud a grim on them and the uniforms and webbing still stink.

 

 

[63 RECON]

set of ERDLs and type 2 jungles, also a mint set of type 3s and ERDLs with in country made AATV patches

[irish]

Very nice

[63 RECON]

now Owen, i know you are going to dig these, Set of i believe custom tigers, lightweight soft fabric with mesh drainage in the pockets.

[Torch03]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing them with us!

 

Matt

[Andrei]

Great stuff! I would have loved to get some SASR uniforms when I collected Aussie VN.

[63 RECON]

trousers, notice the extra material behind the fly.

[63 RECON]

Pant and shirt pocket detail

[63 RECON]

name and remnants of where label would have been

[63 RECON]

various field gear includes US Issue sleep shirt, poncho liner, indig and lightweight rucksack and water bladders

[Longhorn92]

Very cool. O'Farrell wrote a fictional account of his time incountry.

 

Does your boss own or run a surplus store?

 

I traded emails years back with a guy who had acquired this type of SAS gear and kept it exactly as it was when it was given to him.

[63 RECON]

set of webbing includes US issue belt, suspenders, butt pack and waterbottles covers and is a mixture of '56 and '61 and other pattern items

[63 RECON]

various berets and tiger bush hat

[63 RECON]

Erdl beret and inside of tiger beret and bush hat

[vintageproductions]

Incredible items.....

[63 RECON]

Very cool. O'Farrell wrote a fictional account of his time incountry.

 

Does your boss own or run a surplus store?

 

I traded emails years back with a guy who had acquired this type of SAS gear and kept it exactly as it was when it was given to him.

 

 

Yes he did, he also did over 35 years in Aussie SASR. the book is called Behind Enemy Lines. he also appears in Phantoms of the Jungle.

 

My Boss owns the company Platypus Outdoors. He has been collecting for many, many years and is in a good position to fuel his passion which is UK and AUSSF items.

[Bryant U.]

Outstanding pieces.

[63 RECON]

some paperwork and patches. Japanese made AATTV, Military drivers license named to Danny Wright (of "the tractor job") and MACV club bar tickets.

[Longhorn92]

Yup, that's him. I bought some items from his store and we got to discussing this very gear you're showing.

 

I think I talked to him on the phone as well.

 

Awesome gear.

[63 RECON]

and finally some pictures of an ambush laid by SASR on a bunch of VC. The pictures are from what is know as "the tractor job"

 

https://www.allenandunwin.com/_uploads/BookPdf/Extract/9781741755527.pdf

 

 

 

[63 RECON]

Yup, that's him. I bought some items from his store and we got to discussing this very gear you're showing.

 

I think I talked to him on the phone as well.

 

Awesome gear.

 

That's funny, its a small world hey?

[Mitch]

Hi 63 R,

Thanks for sharing these exceptional items. Very rare pieces in the group though I like it all. The tigers , boonies especially the LRRP one, and the patches are super. Also , please thank your boss for allowing you to share these items here.

Regards, Mitch

[Longhorn92]

 

That's funny, its a small world hey?

 

Ha. Well, sometimes I think that but when those of us who enjoy the same hobby interact we're bound to know some of the same people or run into one another at a show etc.

 

The "Tractor Job" is a great story. There's a cool pic of Wright in Horner's book.

[filupe]

Hey 63

 

Thanks for sharing! I think the tigers are US made experimentals by the NATICK Labs - there's a reference to them in the tiger thread (dunno I or II) where the tag is visible. They also appeared in Issue 1 of the Brit part-work magazine 'Combat & Survival', funnily enough in an article on SASR.

 

We must catch up next time I'm across your way ...

 

Cheers,

 

AL

[Mike Force]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!

 

Here the reference to the tiger stripe set

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/161456-tiger-stripes-part-ii/page-32

 

Regards,

 

Mike