Polish WWII Para

Where to fit the items on a Polish uniform

To complete the Polish wartime Para uniform you need at least a set of following items:

Pair of “Poland” shoulder titles,     One wartime polish cap/beret badge (eagle sitting on the shield)

One sticker/stencil of the wartime Polish Eagle emblem for the front of the helmet,  One mouse-grey-green woollen beret sewn from 

                                                                                                                         4    pieces (not pressed)

to purchace items from Pathfinder poland email Milchal at desantownik@gmail.com

The location of all this items on Polish battle dress and beret is presented at enclosed pictures.

The pair of collar patches with parachute metal emblem, one chest para badge (diving eagle) and  pair of “Poland” shoulder titles are located on a battle dress blouse.

The wartime polish cap badge (eagle sitting on the shield) should be fitted at the front of beret (as it is presented on enclosed picture). Beret should be sewn from 4 pieces (not pressed) of the wool in mouse-grey-green colour. The polish para brigade beret colour is very difficult to define, because it was not typical and it was a composition of three basic colours.

The Dennison smocks used by polish WWII paratroopers was free of patches, badges,  rank insignia and other coloured identification strips. You should use Dennison smocks without this items. No rank insignia, patches , badges, shoulder titles... etc. Especially the shoulder tabs of the smock should be blank

I am able to complete a some number of sets of items You need. My colleague from my reenacting group produces very gentle copies of items mentioned above. So the majority of items You need are of one source origin.There is some problems to find the berets in proper colour in Poland, but I try to find some berets for You.The price of complete set will be calculated by me soon, but it shouldn't be too expensive for British colleagues, I hope.If You decide to buy all of it from me, please tell me how many sets.

Best regards

U.S. 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Basic Uniform

 and Equipment circa September 1944 Operation Market Garden:

Photos from the WWII Impressions web site and they show what the Arnhem period US jacket and boots would look like. Text below is the basic uniform and equipment.

M1923 Cartridge Belt or M1936 Pistol Belt M1936 Suspenders M1936 Musette Bag M1942 First Aid Pouch M1943 Entrenching Tool Carrier with Entrenching Tool M1941 Mounted Pattern Canteen Cover with Canteen and Cup Steel Helmet M1C or M2 with Liner, Leather Chin Cup and scrim net
M43 Jacket with insignia appropriate to the unit portrayed M43 Trousers (Some had rigger modifications which could include reinforced patches over the knees, additional front leg bellows cargo pockets and leg tie-down straps). Notes: The M43 Jacket was intended to standardize the U.S. military combat uniform and was a replacement for the earlier M41 field jacket and M42 ( Normandy ) jump jacket. Some examples of the early uniforms would be possible as exceptions but these would be fairly rare. Brown Parachutist Jump Boots as correct for the Normandy period had also been recalled and replaced by the rough out Combat Boots with built in buckle ankle gaiters. The entrenching tool should be removed prior to parachuting as the handle can become entangled with suspension lines if a jumper flips through his risers due to poor exit from the aircraft.
Normandy uniform which is reinforced M42 uniform with WWII webbing. With the MC1-C parachute, most of the gear is obscured. I am even wearing a leather shoulder holster with WWII produced government model 1911 with full magazine and you can barely see the harness in a few places. The bag in front is called a M1936 Musette Bag and it should stay firmly in place with the reserve clipped over it and the parachute recovery bag which you can see in my para harness.   I/c Pathfinder USA 'D' Section Texas Dave Gordon dgordon4@austin.rr.com www.visualcollector.com

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