British WW1 Display

[douglas2496]

Hi everyone, just thought I would show my new British WW1 small kit display. Still early days, but I think its starting to look good. Any comments welcome. Doug

[GreekMilitaria]

Great photo and collection douglas!! I recently started searching more about world war 1 and I love this display

[Jerry B]

Always great items and lovely photo's Douglas, very nice.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Nice looking collection. Are the binoculars named to anyone?

[douglas2496]

Thanks for the comments. The binos are marked 'Major Cowan' on the case. They are dated 1909 and it is interesting that they are of German manufacture (Zeiss) but with British Board Arrows.

[ruddersrangers44]

Cracking stuff Doug,such an assortment of items,never seen double studded .303 ammo pouches before,was that a new design back then?and did these continue into ww2?your pics and items are always well worth the effort,thanks for sharing.............

[douglas2496]

Hi Jake, thanks for that. This is the 1908 webbing pouch, it is normally double studded so that it can be tightly closed when full or only half full. This example is dated 1915 and has been blancoed green, leaving an uneven finish. This was one of a pair of pouches worn at the front by every British infantryman, they are now fairly rare. By WW2 these had been replaced by the 37 pattern webbing but I expect some were re-used during WW2 as well.

[ruddersrangers44]

Cheers for that Doug,excuse my ignorence but for years I keep seeing the word "Blanco" what is meant to do or what for,I know ww2 webbing had this done too..............

[douglas2496]

No problem Jake. Blanco is a powder (usually comes in a block) which is mixed with water and applied to webbing. It is used to colour the webbing for different uses and theatres of operation, for example, in Europe it would be green, yellow would be used in desert conditions and white blanco for parade use.

[William1]

Good luck with the further progress of your collection Doug. It's always good to see a WW1 collector from the younger generation. It can be discouraging with the rarity of the kit and the very high prices people are asking, but keep at it and there will be bargains every so often. US ebay is a good place to trawl. British helmets and respirators turn up fairly regularly and don't always attract the same high prices, though of course shipping and customs have to be factored in.