Very interesting webbing!

[karkee]

Hey guys,

Very interesting discussion about recycled British equipment! Certainly the pristine condition would indicate that it was never issued. I have seen other collections with the exact same set of German marked gaiters, so it must have been the same batch...



Red Devils Re-enactment Group: Equipment

As for the stamp, I originally thought is was for the Luftschutz because I came across the following blog which talks about making reproduction German stamps...

In Trenches News and Updates

It showed the following and stated...



"Luftschutz property stamp
I wanted to show another stamp I made based on an original that is not a document stamp. This is a property stamp for the Luftschutz, the German air raid protection service. The Luftschutz used significant quantities of captured and obsolete equipment and this stamp was used on things like helmets, lanterns, gas masks and other personal equipment items."

[karkee]

Personal opinion only Karkee, captured equipment either re-issued or used for demo' purposes.

I have read in the past that British/Allied gaiters at least were used by German forces, never seen anything relating to the web belt being re-issued for service though. Having said that, that doesn't mean to say that it didn't happen!

I have seen other recycled webbing in the past as well. Firstly, these German Y-straps were made from recycled P37 braces (notice how they are also dated 1939)















I have also come across packs made by some European country that use WWI-vintage P08 braces as straps...





Here is a picture of a German with a British web pack...




Lastly, I feel like a friend of mine sent me a picture of Germans in Greece using Pattern 1937 web belts, but I can't find the picture...

[jimpy]

Nice set of pic's in #12 karkee.

Makes sense to re-cycle serviceable enemy kit. There is masses of documentation available showing everything from weapons to uniforms being reissued by the German war machine.

Got to admit that the paratrooper definitely looks to be carrying a 37ptn large pack in the last photo in post #12.

Regards etc

Ian D

AKA: Jimpy

[USNV5]

Reworked British battle jackets were worn by U Boat crews obtained from captured stocks in France after Dunkirk they were the early jackets as I have seen some of the later British jackets with U boat insignia and they are not proper. There are period pictures of them so it is possible Germans used a lot of captured stuff. Just my thoughts timothy

Absolutely, Germany had no trouble deciding to use captured weapons and ammunition, you can be certain that web gear and even uniforms saw at least limited use among their personnel that would not be near the active front where it could get the wearer killed by their fellow troops if misidentified. Sub crews rarely had to go into combat on land and were generally unseen when doing their jobs so what they wore could be unusual and not cause a problem. The training/education role also is a good possibility.

[karkee]

Here's another example of recycled British webbing...

Tropical Bread Bag? - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums