Private
Thomas Hawkins, Royal Canadian
Regiment, digging slit trench
near Motta, Italy, 3 October
1943. |
| Photo
by J.H. Smith. Department of National
Defence / National Archives of
Canada. PA-116844. |
|
British and Canadian soldiers were outfitted
with countless items of equipment or "kit"
in addition to the standard battle dress of
khaki wool serge. Probably the most recognizable
was the distinctive steel helmet, similar
in shape to that worn during the Great War.
Most soldiers wore the Mark II helmet, more
circular in design and with a flatter brim
than its predecessor of the earlier war. Troops
designated for the D-Day assault, however,
were issued the Mark III helmet, which offered
38% more protection because its flared shape
covered more of the head. Helmets were camouflaged
in action with mesh netting used to secure
field dressings as well as pieces of burlap
or foliage, which served to disguise their
distinctive outline.
One of the most important items for the infantryman's
survival was undoubtedly his entrenching tool.
Modified only slightly from the tool used
in the Great War, the general-issue entrenching
tool consisted of a detachable metal mattock
or head and its wooden handle or helve and
was designed to be attached at the back of
the 1937 pattern web equipment (see below).
Unsuited to efficient digging due to its small
size, the tool was spurned by many soldiers
in favour of full-size shovels and picks.
“Our number-one
priority was making a hole. In our training
days, we all had the small trenching tool
most people have seen in photographs or
films. It was useless. Within hours after
D-Day, every second man had a regular
round-bladed shovel; one in every section
had a pickaxe. Two men could make a decent
place for themselves in about an hour.”
—
Charlie Martin, Battle Diary, 1994
Troops
of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles
near Ifs, France, 25 July 1944.
|
| Photo
by Ken Bell. Department of National
Defence / National Archives of
Canada, PA-116528. |
|
The infantryman carried his entrenching tools,
ammunition, water bottle, mess tin, toiletries,
ground sheet, gas cape (essentially a waterproof
poncho supposed to protect against blistering
agents), box respirator (gas mask), compass,
and other items in pouches or packs attached
to his web equipment. Essentially an interconnected
harness system of belts and braces worn across
the shoulders and fastened at the waist, the
1937 pattern equipment was waterproofed and
dyed to a khaki colour. Seemingly contrary
to the idea that an infantryman should go
into battle as lightly burdened as possible
so as to maximize his mobility, all of these
items served to weigh him down even more than
his predecessor of the Great War. While allowing
him to carry all of this paraphernalia of
dubious value, the web equipment was uncomfortable
and awkward when fully loaded with attachments.
More than one historian
has pointed out the tactical hazards of
overloading soldiers, who take fright more
easily when tired, and tire more quickly
when frightened. An extreme example is found
in citing the 105 fatal casualties suffered
by one company of American infantry at Omaha
Beach on D-Day: all but one died in the
water, where even otherwise non-fatal wounds
doomed men unable to shed the equipment
which dragged them under or prevented them
from moving above the incoming tide.
|
Canada in WWII
