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Nice Normandy set up


kphfun
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Nice rig.

 

Just two teeny-weeny little things..... they're not M44 suspenders, they're just a version of M36 Suspenders made from late 43 onwards, and they first rear their heads in photos in the Southern France invasion in August 1944. Never spotted any in Normandy before this date yet.

 

But great set!

 

EDIT - get lost Johan, you can't claim that one - I was busy re-reading my post before sending it when you posted your quick one!! hahaha

 

Cheers,

Glen.

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It is just like the one they show in my book as marked M1944 suspenders. It has the slight padded shoulders, the shoulder webbing is folded to form the rear brace and the front four sections are made of the thicker webbing used on the M36 suspenders. Cheers, Kevin

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Super nice items, but I think Normandy in June 1944 would be a bit early for this type of suspenders...

Thanks Johan, what about Normandy in July?

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Think of it this way.

 

The US Army had been stockpiling massive amounts of equipment in the UK as a floating warehouse for the invasion of France for a long time. It is far easier to ship stuff cross channel in small ships than from the US in large ships (which have no where to dock) .

 

So the only thigns coming from the US for a while after the landings would thgins they were really short of. And in terms of webbing this could be made up from British made reverse lend lease than shipped from the US.

 

So I would doubt they get to northwestern Europe until proabably after Antwerp is opened up.

 

Italy/ S France is different as they did not have such a stockpile, and the QMC people in Italy seemed ot be much more open to new items.

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militariacollector

Nice setup!

 

So I would doubt they get to northwestern Europe until proabably after Antwerp is opened up.

 

Would Cherbourg have been big enough to bring in supplies from the US?

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This pic is taken in the south of France in august 1944 I believe. These suspenders differ from M44 ones mainly in heaving standard M36 D-rings, while those on M44 suspenders are beefier.

 

m36transsuspendersnb0.th.jpg

 

Greetz ;)

 

David

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Cherbourg brought in some, but keep in mind if you have a massive pile of webbin int he UK, you probably want to bring expendable stuff like munitions and gas and food over when you have limited shipping space.

 

Of course the wild card is if someone was a replacement sent over with new stuff.

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Of course the wild card is if someone was a replacement sent over with new stuff.

Did not new divisions ship over in June and July of 44?

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This pic is taken in the south of France in august 1944 I believe. These suspenders differ from M44 ones mainly in heaving standard M36 D-rings, while those on M44 suspenders are beefier.

 

m36transsuspendersnb0.th.jpg

 

Greetz ;)

 

David

 

David, the "beefier" D-ringed suspenders aren't M44's either - all this is "M43/M44" designation stuff is purely collector/re-enactor-isms - the only M1944 Suspenders are the suspenders that are part of the M1944 Pack System.

 

The "beefier" D-ringed suspenders are STILL just variants of M36 Suspenders, albeit the last variant.

 

Cheers,

Glen.

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Did not new divisions ship over in June and July of 44?

 

Yeah, but again, this is just speculation over what equipment they had with them - it's the photo trawl that's the only way to get info for items like this.

 

With regards to spotting them in the ETO, for example...Dick Winters of E/506th fame is wearing a pair of these in Holland in September 1944, and there's a famous photo of a group of 82nd guys where the Officer is reading a map prior to Op Mkt Garden also has them on, but both of these shots are a month after they are seen in the MTO/Southern France being worn by Airborne Troops there.

 

Cheers,

Glen.

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Thanks for the input Glenn. I am basing the fact that they are M44's as they are exactly the same in both description and photo in the Europa book " American Web Equipment 1910-1967", pretty solid reference books in most opinions. It also states that they were very short lived hence their rarity.. Cheers, Kevin

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