Aussie uniform in the Western Front
- Thread starter fmenardi
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Hello Fabricio,
I'm by no means an expert but this looks fine although I'm not sure about whether the webbing was leather or not. Also, there seems to be a bit missing from the webbing, the pouch attached to the haversack.
Here are a link to photos from the era which might help, http://www.awm.gov.au/education/dzone/ww1/, and one from a re-enactment group, http://www.agwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=18.
All the best,
Elia
I'm by no means an expert but this looks fine although I'm not sure about whether the webbing was leather or not. Also, there seems to be a bit missing from the webbing, the pouch attached to the haversack.
Here are a link to photos from the era which might help, http://www.awm.gov.au/education/dzone/ww1/, and one from a re-enactment group, http://www.agwa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=18.
All the best,
Elia
Tommys War
A Fixture
Hi Fabricio
Yes, the uniform would be the same in France and Belgium, photographs show the leather webbing being worn after the Somme offensive in 1916.
There was a diorama shown recently that posed this figure with a knocked-out German tank and that looked great, the Turkish helmet had been replaced with a German one.
Yes, the uniform would be the same in France and Belgium, photographs show the leather webbing being worn after the Somme offensive in 1916.
There was a diorama shown recently that posed this figure with a knocked-out German tank and that looked great, the Turkish helmet had been replaced with a German one.
Tommys War
A Fixture
I forgot to mention, the equipment on the figure is correct, the item Elia mentions is carried on the right hip as this figure is shown in 1908 equipment early marching order, there is a late marching order which has that (its the head of the entrenching tool) carried centrally at the base of the spine -that was introduced post 1917
Dan Morton
A Fixture
Some photos of typical Australian equipment, including the gas mask bag. As you might guess, exactly what gear the soldier would have been wearing on the Western Front depends upon the year. This is all 1915 with various combinations of probably all Australian produced field equipment.
All the best,
Dan
All the best,
Dan
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Dan Morton
A Fixture
Dan Morton
A Fixture
tonydawe
A Fixture
Don,
The Australian greatcoat is virtually identical to the British overcoat - (Vallejo English Uniform with a drop of Olive Green always works for me).
It's worth noting that following the disaster at Gallipoli, the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Forces were reorganised into two Army Corps, with bulk of the mounted troops remaining in the Middle East to fight the Turks as part of Gen. Allenby's Desert Mounted Corps, while the bulk of the infantry moved to France in April 1916 to join the British Fifth Army commanded by Gen. Gough.
At this point, some of the original leather webbing was replaced by the standard issue canvas webbing issued to all British and Commonwealth troops (although you always see the odd exception). As the war progressed and the original ANZAC's were replaced by new recruits, the personal equipment of the Australian soldiers in France became more standardised, as it all came from Fifth Army Q stores in France, and not from Australia.
The distinguishing features of Australian soliders in France were;
1. They wore brown leather boots, not black;
2. Behind the lines they favoured wearing the Australian slouch hat instead of the Field Cap;
3. The distinctive unit colour patches on the upper arms of their tunics representing their battalion and division; and
4. Their unwillingness to salute British officers
The Australian greatcoat is virtually identical to the British overcoat - (Vallejo English Uniform with a drop of Olive Green always works for me).
It's worth noting that following the disaster at Gallipoli, the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Forces were reorganised into two Army Corps, with bulk of the mounted troops remaining in the Middle East to fight the Turks as part of Gen. Allenby's Desert Mounted Corps, while the bulk of the infantry moved to France in April 1916 to join the British Fifth Army commanded by Gen. Gough.
At this point, some of the original leather webbing was replaced by the standard issue canvas webbing issued to all British and Commonwealth troops (although you always see the odd exception). As the war progressed and the original ANZAC's were replaced by new recruits, the personal equipment of the Australian soldiers in France became more standardised, as it all came from Fifth Army Q stores in France, and not from Australia.
The distinguishing features of Australian soliders in France were;
1. They wore brown leather boots, not black;
2. Behind the lines they favoured wearing the Australian slouch hat instead of the Field Cap;
3. The distinctive unit colour patches on the upper arms of their tunics representing their battalion and division; and
4. Their unwillingness to salute British officers
tonydawe
A Fixture
The Australian soldiers of WW1 were almost entirely volunteers and most came from a civilian environment where they had a rather informal sense of discipline. They took this informality with them into the Army and saw the British obsession with discipline as repressive and based on its class system. The Aussie attitude was to only salute those officers who were worthy of the men's respect, and if such a person was worth his salt, he wouldn't want to be saluted anyway.
It's a feature of our national folklore that we don't like deferential behaviours and see ourselves as a more rgalitarian society than in Britain. It's a myth of course, but it is true that the Aussie troops in France in WW1 deliberately refused to salute Pommy officers, and went to great lengths to deliberately thumb their noses at the brass to show their contempt and lack of respect, particularly for the Staff Officers.
Needless to say this didn't go down well with the brass and lead to the perception that the Australian troops in France were poorly disciplined. This perception was proven wrong when the troops were in battle, but did have some merit when they were away from the front.
It's a feature of our national folklore that we don't like deferential behaviours and see ourselves as a more rgalitarian society than in Britain. It's a myth of course, but it is true that the Aussie troops in France in WW1 deliberately refused to salute Pommy officers, and went to great lengths to deliberately thumb their noses at the brass to show their contempt and lack of respect, particularly for the Staff Officers.
Needless to say this didn't go down well with the brass and lead to the perception that the Australian troops in France were poorly disciplined. This perception was proven wrong when the troops were in battle, but did have some merit when they were away from the front.
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