WWI Doughboy Equipment and Arms

in this video we will be looking at the arms and equipment of a World War one u.s. army Doughboy fighting in the front lines of France we will cover everything from clothing down to the most essential hygiene items in typical military fashion we will be conducting a layout so as to see all the equipment laid out in front of us at one time starting from the bottom we have a pair of M 1918 Pershing trench boots aptly named little tanks they have hobnails heel and toe plates and are of roughout leather to accept dubbing paired with them are woolen booties that are 9 to 12 feet long and wrapped from the ankle to the knee although the army had canvas leggings of the M 1910 and 1917 varieties of which resembled their later World War two counterparts due to ease of manufacture and cleaning in the trenches it would be the woolen putti that would reign supreme for the doughboys fighting in France moving up the leg we have a pair of m1917 woollen breeches which are fastened below the knee with laces and are worn at the waist with a trouser belt the tunic is an M 1912 variety which is of higher quality than the m1917 varieties they have four pockets two on the breast and two at the waist which are rendered essentially useless for anything more than a piece of paper the collar is Mandarin with two color disks one at the front gone are the days of the campaign hat and its place is the overseas cap which is flat easily packable although not very popular at first with the doughboys first off representing a shelter hat is a vietnam-era pup Tim half as my shelter half is being lent out to a colleague a soldier would be typically issued a shelter half along with one pole in five pegs to make a complete tent he would find another soldier they would pair their halves together and it would form one pup tent although one side of the tent was open Poncho's were usually used to cover the open door another very popular optional uniform item is the leather jerkin it was borrowed by the Americans from the British the outside is made out of leather and the inside is lined with wool it was commonly issued to American machine gun crews so as not tear up and dirty the tunics while carrying heavy machine gun parts I find mine to be very comfortable and also warm in the winter months shown here we have the Gherkin lazily draped over the top of the web here perhaps by a Doughboy pulling guard the next piece of kit is the m1910 haversack we have the meat can pouch right here which is secured by a single button we also have the m1910 entrenching tool which would be the soldiers best friend while fighting in a trenching positions assault troops were commonly issued larger shovels on the eve of major offensives like at the Battle of Cantigny to aid and emplacements we have the mess tin we have the bowl here and also the lid which could serve as a sort of dinner plate they both snap together with the aid of the handle to form a single unit along with the mess tent each soldier was issued a set of eating utensils we have a fork a knife and a spoon all of which could be stowed in special pockets in the meat camp pouch moving down we have some of the clothing to play and white t-shirts which were a sort of underwear to keep the shirt from rubbing against the soldiers skin a bandana or handkerchief in OD green along with an M 1910 enlisted wool flannel shirt that would be worn underneath the tunic my sweater for when the temperature gets cold this famous post trench raid photograph shows the sweater the shirt and the handkerchiefs being worn in different configurations we also have a set of dog tags or ID tags which were issued to each soldier there were simple aluminum discs with these soldiers informations stamped on the front a stocking cap and knitted wool gloves we also have a knitted wool scarf to keep cold weather injuries at bay we also have here a cigarette nightlights box which are essentially candles a can of corned beef hash a waterproof wax dipped haversack Russian soldiers were also issued with hard bread biscuits which were originally contained in this cardboard box but due to the nature of gas warfare were later issued in this gas proof hard bread tin you would simply cut off one end to retrieve your biscuits for hygiene items we have a green towel a bar of ivory soap a box containing one tube of toothpaste a simple wooden toothbrush two candles that the soldier would have acquired to perhaps write a letter at night and a box have non period-correct matches a simple sewing kit which would be necessary for the soldier to repair simple tears cuts or missing buttons in his uniform a cone a shaving mirror a badger hair shaving brush and a collapsible safety razor a box of razor blades all contained in this bag you could use the mirror or perhaps the mirror of a stray Model T to shave with moving down we have two pairs of socks both of knitted wool all necessary to prevent the formation of trench foot now that we've gone over the contents of a typical soldier's haversack we will now look at the haversack and soldiers equipment worn in typical marching fashion starting off we have the gas mask bag which is now worn slung over one shoulder and worn by the waist all contents such as the overcoat or raincoat that would not fit inside the half aside or rolled and draped over the top the helmet was worn at the back under the meat can pouch and if the soldier was lucky enough to receive a second pair of boots they would also be worn secure at the back of the have a second awkward bulky and cumbersome we're all terms used to describe the haversack at different times and it was not uncommon for soldiers passed away up to and including ninety pounds here we have two doughboys in marching order interacting with french civilians for combat equipment we have the u.s. m1917 steel helmet or tin hat as it was known it was worn to prevent shrapnel or dirt when debris from falling on the soldier's head it was regarded as heavy however the soldiers would soon learn to trust them with their lives a collar modification would be to cut a slit in the chinstrap to put your chin through to increase comfort the soldier's best friend on the Western Front would soon be the gas mask here we have a British small box respirator which was issued to American Expeditionary Forces soon after entering Europe we have rubber sealed seams a rubber lined face piece nose clips to secure the nose and a rubber snorkel type mouthpiece where you would breathe through to inhale air through the filter we also have a carton that would go along with every gas mask stating the information about the mask when it was used for how long and with what gas all to check the life of the filter it was all worn inside this gas mask bag with two pockets one for the respirator and one for the filter the filter was also suspended from the bottom by use of this metal spring the United States would issue multiple different kinds of gas masks from the French m2 shown left to later in the war when the Americans developed their own corrected English model or American small box respirator shown right gas masks presented an insect-like nightmarish appearance that was a common sight in the Western Front and new soldiers would learn to have to live with it although gas was primarily a psychological weapon phosgene chlorine mustard gas inflicted massive allied casualties next we have the bandoliers here we have two of which each bandolier had six pockets in each pocket contained two five-round stripper clips contained in cardboard containers for a total of 60 rounds of piece next we have the 10 pocket m1910 cartridge belt each pocket could contain two five rounds stripper clips for a total of 100 rounds I also have an m1911 magazine pouch which holds two magazines I have placed it over one of the cartridge pouches as I do not have the mounted cartridge belt I only have the dismounted cartridge gun this was typically done in the period this magazine also has the period lanyard loop at the bottom the cartridges would replace in the pouch like so we also have these soldiers first aid packet which was a brass packet activated by opening a pull ring at the back it was sealed in brass and contained one sterile dressing to prevent the bandage from being infected during gas attacks it was worn in the pouch at the front of the belt like so we also have two shell dressings which were a common sight on the Western Front they were more likely issued to litter bearers however common soldiers could get their hands on them it was a gauze pad with two fabric straps to tie around the limb this Doughboy here is that a bad day here's the bandage shown in its packaging next we have the m1910 one quart canteen issued to every soldier it was worn in the m10 canteen pouch at the back of the cartridge belt on the eve of large offensives it was common for two canteens to be issued to every soldier to go with that we have the m1910 canteen cup with a typical rolled edge it could be used for shaving drinking eating and whatever the soldier may choose it had a handle that was secured by friction at the back of the canteen cup when not in use it would simply fold underneath and be secured in the pouch we now have the soldiers sidearm the 1911 pistol which was worn in this brown holster at the side it was typically issued to noncommissioned officers officers and soldiers in machine gun crews the pistol would be secured in this pouch and also an optional lanyard was an accessory item that each soldier could use if they so chose it's worth pointing out that my 1911 shown here is the world war ii 1911 a1 model which was the later model shown here I do not have the 1911 pistol used in World War 1 shown here that topic is for a different video next we have the u.s. rifle caliber 30 model of 1917 this would be the rifle that over two-thirds of doughboys would see in their hands and although the u.s. m1903 springfield was the standard issue rifle we did not have enough numbers to supply every Doughboy fighting in France this was also the rifle that sergeant Alvin C York used in the actions in the Argonne that would later lead to him being awarded the Medal of Honor the rifle was issued with the m1917 sword type bayonet which presented a 17 inch blade housed in a simple painted leather sheath the bayonet had two vertical cuts on the handle so as to not confuse it with the British patterned sword bayonet it was affixed to the end of the rifle like so and as such presented a terrifying pike like weapon bayonet fighting would be a skill to each Doughboy would practice with constantly and thus would become extremely familiar with it to take the bayonet off you'd simply depress the button shown at the pommel of the bayonet here which would allow you to slide it off the end of the rifle and stow it away for future use next we have an example of a typical weapons clinic it this is a World War 2 model for use with the m1 garand rifle however the same concept applies to World War one the clinic it would contain a probe and a container full of grease and a pull-through instead of being made out of plastic the World War one model would have been made out of tin plated brass should foul and inclement weather conditions arise it was necessary for each Doughboy to protect himself against the pouring rain of the trenches shown here is a british mark 5 rain cape which was a very popular item if the AEF soldier could find his hands on one it was extremely popular with doughboys especially in the 27th and 30th divisions when not in use it could simply be tossed over the shoulder of the wearer it's worth noting that this rain cape could also make a simple shelter half should the soldier choose other popular options were the m1917 mounted slicker along with the m1918 dismounted raincoat these were popular as opposed to Poncho's because they could be worn like a jacket over equipment and allow freedom of movement in the arms which were essential and the front lines in the trenches a simple wool blanket was also issued to every soldier as you can see there was an abundance of items and equipment issued to each soldier which is why I'm more often than not all but the most essential items like food water ammunition spare socks and perhaps a raincoat or blanket were taken into combat this allowed the soldier to be light and nimble on his feet while engaged in combat the doughboys would find themselves fighting in some of the worst conditions humanity had created up until that point that are poison gas barbed wire machine guns artillery and a slew of other weapons of analysis America's common involvement in World War one although short cemented America's position as a world power and proved to the world that the American fighting men was a force to be reckoned with the cornerstones of doughboys in the American military blade in the first world war that set the foundation for today's military and it would all come to a climactic end at the 11th hour November 11th 1918 when the armistice was signed and the Central Powers officially surrendered to be allies this officially ended the war to end all woods thank you for watching today's video please comment rate and subscribe

Channel: DapperDoughboy

Views: 58,153

Keywords: Wwi, wwii, world war one, the great war, doughboy, us army, western front, france, m1911, m1917, trench, wool, history, reenacting, living history, layout, equipment, soldier, airborne, 45acp, 30-06

Id: Tme4q8awhNM

Length: 15min 20sec (920 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 12 2019