Battlefield Tours Kit

With the anniversary of ww1, many airsofters have been on battlefield tours, so we asked military historian and battlefield guide, will fowler, to tell us about the kit he takes with him when conducting a tour.

ALL INSTRUCTORS KNOW THAT the more senses that can be engaged in a lecture, the better the chance that the contents of the lesson will be absorbed and understood.

The worst thing to do is just stand up and talk – the simplest teaching tool is a blackboard, or Powerpoint if you have the kit and the technical skill. This engages both hearing and sight and it is even better if the class can touch or handle something… feel its weight and size. When we get into smell and taste then cookery and chemistry would be among the few areas that could engage these senses.

It was with this in mind that as a Battlefield Guide working with soldiers, school students and the general public, I put together what I call my “bag of tricks” and you would be excused if you thought that only junior soldiers or school students were interested in a hands-on encounter with this kit. Actually, anyone who has loaded up and tabbed, yomped or hacked over rough ground or thick cover and done so in all weathers, looks at the kit carried by soldiers between 1939 and 1945 and has a real respect for them.

BAG OF TRICKS

So what does my bag of tricks contain? A set of 1937 pattern webbing with small pack and its contents including mess tins, washing and shaving kit, sewing kit, socks, clasp knife and mug. A rolled ground sheet cape stowed at the top of the pack. The webbing has a No.4 Rifle spike bayonet, entrenching tool and, in the ammunition pouches, a bandoleer with clips of deactivated .303 ammunition and a drill No 36 Grenade. A “Respirator Lightweight Mk2” with all the anti-gas ancillaries is of interest to anyone who has had to endure NBC training or, as in Gulf War I, the threat of the real thing. Other bits and pieces include a collarless KF shirt and woollen cap comforter.