What Soldiers Carried, from 1066 to 2014

[Panzerschwein]

Awesome!

I want a spiked trench club now LOL!

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I cannot get the list for #4, the Battle of Ajincourt, to come up. Is it available on that article..?

 

[CWL]

...
Were swords typically issued to infantry through the 1800s? It doesn't look like it from this bunch of kits.

Swords were still issued to specialist soldiers like grenadiers, up until at least the 1850's, and they were still used in European wars, however bayonets pretty-much ended the use of infantry melee weapons in general.

 

[Trent]

Yeah.. this is cool stuff. thanks for sharing.

 

[Cee Zee]

Swords were still issued to specialist soldiers like grenadiers, up until at least the 1850's,

Also cavalry troops had swords issued to them in the Civil War. Swords were often issued to artillerymen and infantry sergeants. Marines carried various blade weapons and naval men were given a cutlass.

 

[Kaeto]

The last war cavalry troops were issued swords was WW I. It was a sword Patton had designed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_1913_Cavalry_Saber

 

[CWL]

Actually, cavalry units were still issued swords into WWII, some even carried lances. English, Poles, Russians, and the Japanese rode with swords into battle, along with their rifles.

What I was commenting about is infantry use of swords, particularly instances when entire units fought a battle with swords. -I'm not talking about officers or individual soldiers wielding a sword here or there.

If you want to talk about obscure use of weapons, the last casualty caused by a longbow was in WWII when an English officer nailed a German soldier with his longbow during a rearguard action at Dunkirk. -This doesn't mean that longbows were used in WWII.

 

[rcmodel]

I would argue that the modern solders are 'issued' all that stuff for sure.

But that doesn't mean they 'carry' it everywhere they go.

In the 60's, I was issued more clothing & gear then I could comfortably lift.

But you got to pick & chose according to the SOP of the day how much of it you had to wear and carry.

The rest of it was left in the rear with the gear.

rc

 

[RWBlue01]

Great pictorial

I wish someone would do the same for US gear, then the gear the enemy carried.

As far as WWII, we did the right thing overall.

 

[Sam Cade]

Inevitable closure for veering wildly off topic.