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Post by Étienne on Jul 6, 2014 11:18:14 GMT -5
I've had in my collection a few pairs of French military undershorts (dated July 1952) that I got at a California surplus store circa 1990; they were unissued and the stamps are legible (see attached photos of an unissued/unused pair). I actually used to wear one of the pairs, but the cloth is somewhat coarse/uncomfortable (they're a muslin cotton, almost a lightweight canvas, I'd say) and the cheap plastic buttons kept breaking so they wouldn't always stay up! After finding them in my pile of stuff the other day, I realized that after washing and wearing them, they did get softer and lightened up (color-wise) a bit, and all the buttons have been replaced. I think Tranchee Militaire sells the "matching" (long-sleeve henley-style) undershirt: www.trancheemilitaire.com/fr/sous-vetement/3303-gilet-de-corps-indochine-algerie-armee-francaise-original-.htmlAlso, attached are some pics I found online of some French Vernon brand (the same as the pataugas) socks, but they could very well be from the 1960s or 1970s (and they might not even be military). Cheers, Steve |
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Post by lew on Jul 28, 2014 8:10:08 GMT -5
Those socks are unlike any I have seen in period photos. Issued socks were dark green/olive and did not have any identifying marks.
Neat find on the boxers. I have not seen those before. Thanks for posting those.
Private-purchase undies were just as common, if not moreso, and many chose to go commando in the field for obvious reasons.
As for under garments, the Henley-style shirt would have been worn during the cooler months, if at all. Most troops wore the issue white crew neck T-shirt in garrison/FOB and the issue khaki or private purchase OD green tank top in the field or in garrison. Added to this was the wool sweater (pull en laine) with a crew neck. V-necks sweaters wear seen, but were nowhere near as common. These days, original sweaters are not easy to find, while the late-'60's onward issue V-necks are.
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Post by Étienne on Mar 23, 2015 19:09:20 GMT -5
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Post by Étienne on Mar 23, 2015 19:12:28 GMT -5
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Post by lew on Mar 24, 2015 18:35:57 GMT -5
Yep, that's the one. There was also a v-neck sweater, but that crew neck was a thousand times more common.
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Post by Étienne on Mar 25, 2015 17:17:57 GMT -5
Thanks!
The same dealer sells the mle 1950 musette as well, and has a pile of them from what I saw on his page. Some of them seem to maybe be earlier ones, as they are a brownish-khaki color.
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Post by lew on Mar 25, 2015 19:23:12 GMT -5
Interesting. The Mle. 50 TTA musette I have is that color, rather than the darker olive drab.
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Post by Étienne on Mar 25, 2015 20:03:31 GMT -5
I would think that it is the earlier version, because of the color, but I guess it could just be a contractor's variation. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel that the "standard green" or olive drab-ish color is "late" (meaning 1953-ish and on) compared to the brown-ish and khaki-ish versions of the French gear. But, of course all the photos I've seen of the gear is B&W...so...
(yes, there are a lot of "-ish"es in my post!)
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Post by lew on Mar 26, 2015 9:14:32 GMT -5
I get what yer drivin' at. In general, earlier equipment does seem to be lighter. My musettes TAP Mle. 55 exhibit the same trend. The later one is much darker, and that is not entirely due to the earlier two having been used and fading. Maybe it's related to the same trend, but the OD chapeau de brousse dominated in Algérie, while the chapeau de brousse en sable was predominant in Indo. That's as much as I know, but I'm an idiot.
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Post by Étienne on Mar 26, 2015 17:56:59 GMT -5
Of course, it's just a theory of mine, based on viewing surplus gear with a few very minor "facts" thrown in (but not quite enough to be a reliable theory yet). For an extreme instance of color variation, here's a French canteen cover that I believe to be 1944 dated Attachments:
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Post by lew on Mar 26, 2015 18:55:49 GMT -5
Did you mean "1954"? There wasn't much manufacturing going on in France in 1944.
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Post by Étienne on Mar 26, 2015 19:08:35 GMT -5
I know, as that's what I thought...but the stamp looks like 1944 (well, "44")! (See photo below) But, in my defense I do not know much about French contractor and/or military stamps, so my deciphering of one could be waaaay off. BTW, I just re-read your excellent write up on Algeria packs, and was wondering about how something you noted applies to the earlier part of this conversation about "earlier" packs vs. "later" packs. Do the brown-ish ones have lift-a-dot or snap fasteners? Attachments:
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Post by Étienne on Mar 29, 2015 18:45:25 GMT -5
Oops...forgot I posted pics of this cover before, and that I was informed by "lew" that the 44 is perhaps a maker's code or something similar. The light color sure looks out of place to me...
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Post by lew on Mar 30, 2015 11:39:48 GMT -5
Do the brown-ish ones have lift-a-dot or snap fasteners? Only the Mle. 50 and 51 TAP packs had the Lift The Dot fasteners. The musette Mle. 55 TAP used snaps for the entire duration of production, and the Bergam had leather closure tabs. |
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Post by Étienne on Apr 3, 2015 18:31:49 GMT -5
Was it the 50 or 51 that had the buttons?
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Post by lew on Apr 4, 2015 8:20:37 GMT -5
51
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