Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
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Post by Jacques on Oct 8, 2020 21:22:56 GMT -5
Hello everyone! My name is Jacques and i was looking to build my first Indochina war impression! I don't want to go out buying anything yet because i don't want to buy things that aren't needed or accurate! I'm not sure as to what exactly i want to do yet but probably start off with a paratrooper at DBP. If you guys don't mind can you guys tell me some of the basics and what i should get first? Merci!
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Post by lew on Oct 15, 2020 10:58:46 GMT -5
Bienvenue sur notre forum, Jacques!
To focus your search, you'll need to specify which particular unit, as their uniforms could be substantially different. The web gear is easy to figure out: French Mle. 50 green canvas belt, suspenders, pouches and Mle. 51 canteen. US WW2-era web equipment and canteens can be thrown in. Smaller amounts of British P44 equipment could also be seen.
The M3 fighting knife was extremely common, and a good example is easy to find. In lieu of the model with the folding stock- the CR39- which are almost nonexistent, a regular Mle. 36 rifle in 7.5x54mm will suffice, as will an M1 Carbine- either Para or fixed-stock. Mle. 50 TAP (Troupes AeroPortée) packs can be hard to find and are usually expensive. For an officer, radioman, or other specialist, a US M1911A1, Walther P38, or French MAC Mle. 50 pistol will owkr. Good luck finding the latter in any decent condition.
For a majority of the para units- 6e BPC, 2e REP, et al...- a US P42/P43/P44 "frogskin" camo jacket and British Windproof pants will work. 1e RPC and most of 1e BEP wore the French Mle. 47/52 TAP camo uniform, along with smaller amounts of Mle. 47/51 unfiorms. 5e BPVN wore some 47/52 sets, but were mostly outfitted with the then-new Mle. 47/53 TAP uniform. 6e BPC wore the "Bigeard" cap in British Windproof material.
8e BPC offers you by far the greatest latitude with uniforms, as they wore every combination of US camouflage jackets and trousers, French camo, earlier French olive drab/khaki airborne trousers, British Windproofs, and even the British Denison Smock. They had their own distinctive cap made from Windproof and US frogskin camo fabrics.
For paratrooper berets, 1e RPC and other Metropolitan airborne units had blue berets, Foreign Legion wore green, and the Colonial and Viet units maroon. Doursoux.com has/had all of these in the correct three-part construction. The beret insignia for all would be the famous "winged dagger" still worn by most French airborne units today, although the modern versions are cast instead of stamped, so be careful with that.
US M1 helmets liners, and the tighter-weave helmet net were standard, and a few different helmet suspension systems could be encountered.
The trouser waist belt, if worn at all, would be a US WW2-era open-buckle canvas web belt, or its French copy.
Boots would depend on the specific unit, but there was a fair amount of crossover. 6e BPC primarily wore US M43 buckle boots, and the rest wore the French Mle. 50 TAP boots and its derivatives. 8e BPC had a mix of both; I have yet to see a picture of 1e RPC with M43 boots. "Pataugas"- green canvas shoes with black or OD soles- would be worn as well. Palladium still makes the style, but their color selections rotate. Although the sand/khaki pattern was available for private purchase until well after the Algerian War, these were by far the minority. Finding the more correct "OTAN" variant can be hit or miss. Mil-Tec makes a pair that is workable, although ordering from Europe has its own challenges.
That should get you started. Please feel free to ask more questions if you have them. If I've made an error, I'm sure someone will be along to correct me.
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Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
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Post by Jacques on Oct 29, 2020 15:23:42 GMT -5
Thank you sooo much for the info! i was definitely looking for something along the lines of a 6e BPC radioman. what types of radios were used?
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Post by lew on Oct 30, 2020 11:11:19 GMT -5
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Post by craigtx on Oct 30, 2020 20:13:32 GMT -5
Steve is our local expert on radios. He has great resources.
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Post by lew on Nov 3, 2020 10:09:24 GMT -5
Hah!
If I didn't do the research for that thread, I wouldn't be able to keep them all straight. Electronics and I are not the closest of friends.
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Post by craigtx on Nov 3, 2020 20:26:11 GMT -5
Huh... I thought you were into the radio scene...
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Post by lew on Nov 4, 2020 10:25:16 GMT -5
Hell no! I mean, I do have a TRRP-8 and a French copy of the A/N PRC-10, but that's that.
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Post by craigtx on Nov 4, 2020 20:54:08 GMT -5
Ah, there was where I went astray...
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Post by lew on Nov 5, 2020 10:33:58 GMT -5
You "thought". That was the problem.
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Post by craigtx on Nov 6, 2020 8:27:09 GMT -5
LOLZ!
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Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
|
Post by Jacques on Nov 7, 2020 12:54:20 GMT -5
Hey again, so I've been looking around or some ww2 British windproof trousers and its really limited, and if i manage to find a pair its either not my size or way out of my of my price bracket, I found this website called "What Price Glory" and they are selling repros of those trousers, i was just wondering if you guys know anything about this website or if of have any other recommendations. Thanks!
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Post by lew on Nov 9, 2020 10:49:59 GMT -5
Craig an I have both done a lot of business with WPG. They are the gold standard when it comes to repro uniforms and equipment.
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Post by craigtx on Nov 9, 2020 20:56:28 GMT -5
Yessir, I highly recommend WPG. While I haven't seen their 47/52s in person, but everyone I've talked to that have them really like them. And I've given Jerry Lee (the Owner) significant amounts of money for a whole variety of items.
The only thing is that WPG always sends their shipments signature required. But you can make arrangements directly with WPG for delivery without signature, or have them delivered to work.
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Post by earlymb on Nov 25, 2020 8:37:46 GMT -5
Welcome! The benefit of repro windproofs is that you can alter them as the French commonly did then... not something I would recommend doing with original windproofs!
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Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
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Post by Jacques on Dec 12, 2020 15:12:15 GMT -5
How did helmets work? i know they were M1 helmets but how were they usually set up? Merci beaucoup!
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Post by craigtx on Dec 13, 2020 10:45:36 GMT -5
Well... If I understand your question correctly, the liner goes inside the shell. The usual netting, if any, is the small "shrimp net" late war US netting. The French Mle51 helmet was also used, but not as common as the M1. It was based on the US M1 helmet. Same, same for netting. Some of the helmets used by paras had in country modified liner chin straps. It was common for a field dressing to be worn under the helmet band around the netting. The shell chin strap was usually worn either tucked under the helmet band, or hooked into the netting. I haven't seen many photos of the shell chin straps being worn fastened around the back as was the habit with the GI in the ETO.
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Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
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Post by Jacques on Dec 13, 2020 21:21:34 GMT -5
Yes this answered my question perfectly! thanks! the only other thing was did they use standard usgi airborne liners or were they all modified?
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Post by craigtx on Dec 14, 2020 8:31:37 GMT -5
To my knowledge they used whatever liners they could get. Some modified, some not. Another thing that seems to be fairly common is some white paracord tied to a bale on the shell and the other end tied to the webbing. To keep the shell from gettin' lost while jumping. On the ground the paracord is seen wrapped around the helmet band. Attachments:
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Jacques
Entraînement
"Paruru te fenua" - Devise de la Regiment d'infanterie de marine du Pacifique (RIMAP)
Posts: 44
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Post by Jacques on Jan 3, 2021 3:30:42 GMT -5
Hey Lew! i saw your post about you owning a French copy of a prc-10. What is the name of the French copy because I found a French copy with the name CY-744 and was wondering if it would be accurate? Merci!
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Post by lew on Jan 3, 2021 10:06:31 GMT -5
Mine is marked with the STTA logo on top, first line "Case 714 A/PRC", and second line "CSF 79 Bd. Haussmann Paris"
I would really love to find someone who can get these up and running. I am learning-impaired when it comes to electronics. Mechanical things are my forte.
And congrats on the score. Even if they sit around awaiting use only as props, I think my French radios are totally awesome.
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