US M1956 web gear
In the first of a new six part series looking at the accoutrements of the NATO Allies in the Cold War, Edward Hallett looks at the ubiquitous US M1956 set
In the first of a new six part series on the accoutrements of NATO in the Cold War, Edward Hallett looks at the ubiquitous US M1956 set.
The Cold War lasted for 40 years and both NATO and the Soviet Bloc trained hard and equipped themselves for a hot war that, thankfully, never came. The NATO forces worked together and shared examples of best practice, however although there were some areas of standardisation such as on ammunition calibre, each country was free to procure and develop its own weapons and equipment. Over the coming six months we are going to be looking at six different NATO nations’ approaches to personal load carrying equipment across the Cold War, including both the largest powers and some of the smaller contributors, as well as considering the history and components of these accoutrement sets and what is available for the collector. Although the Cold War is now over 30 years in the past, much of the uniform and equipment used by the both sides are still available cheaply as surplus and so it makes an ideal area of collecting for those put off by the rising prices of World War I and II military equipment.
We start this month with the US M1956 webbing set. Used by American troops in Western Europe throughout the 1960s, when the Cold War was arguably at its most tense, this set also saw extensive combat duty in the Vietnam War.
The M1956 equipment set was born out of the experience of the Korean
War with both the existing World War II era accoutrements and the standard service rifle, the M1 Garand. It had become clear that the M1 would be replaced shortly, and most likely with a magazine-fed weapon. The existing mix of M1910, M1936 and M1943 webbing was not set up to carry magazines easily. There was also a desire to give the soldier the ability to more easily customise the exact selection of pouches on his belt, without having to completely dismantle the whole set as had been the case up until this point. The new webbing introduced in 1957 used sprung metal clips on the rear of each component to allow them to be more easily added and removed from the belt. These clips had the added advantage of preventing the items on a belt from bouncing up and down when a man moved, a common complaint about the wire hanger hooks used on the older patterns of equipment. New box pouches, more akin to British practice, were introduced that could hold magazines for the new M14 rifle. Finally the colour of the set was updated to a dark green cotton with blackened fittings made of brass, steel or alloy.
As introduced the set was designed to be used in two configurations. Firstly, a combat load which provided the basic needs for a soldier in the field and a full field load which added items normally carried on unit transport and not needed in actual combat. The combat load provided rations and water, an intrenching tool to make a shell scrape for cover and ammunition to fight with. The full field load added
the poncho, gas mask, sleeping bag and extra clothing and took the man’s load with rifle and ammunition from 39.5lb to nearly 60lb. Full fitting instructions for the set can be found online which makes it easy for the collector to assemble the set correctly.
The components PISTOL BELT
The pistol belt came in two sizes, a
Small size for those with a waist under 30in and a Large size for those above 30in. However, both examples could be extended much further to allow the belt to be worn over body armour and thick winter clothing. The belt was made of green woven cotton, with earlier examples having a horizontal weave and later examples a vertical weave. Unlike the earlier M1936 belt, The M1956 could be adjusted at either end to fit different waist sizes. It had three rows of eyelets down the entire length of the belt and a blackened metal belt buckle which used a ball tip and loop, rather than the older T-tip. The belt design was widely copied by both other militaries, and for commercial use, and has since been reproduced for the living history market. Original examples sell for £30-£40 on the collectors’ market.
COMBAT FIELD PACK SUSPENDERS
The suspenders went over the wearer’s shoulders and supported the weight of the equipment set. They consisted of a H-shaped yoke that sat on the shoulders
with a pair of straps coming down the rear and ending in snap hooks. These were attached to either the eyelets in the top of the field pack or, if the field pack was not being worn, to the eyelets on the belt itself. The front straps of the suspenders had a hook and angled loop to allow the supporting straps from the sleeping bag carrier to be fastened. These straps were designed to be attached to the belt, whilst a rectangular metal loop was provided where the yoke met the straps to allow the clip on the rear of the ammunition pouches to be secured, and for the supporting straps of the sleeping bag carrier to be passed through it. A pair of cam buckles on the front straps allowed the length of the suspenders to be adjusted for best fit. Late in production of the M1956 sets, the suspenders were modified by having nylon on the underside of the yoke to offer extra padding where it passed over the shoulder. The suspenders came in three sizes, starting with Regular for soldiers under 5ft 6in tall, Large for soldiers over that height and Extra-large for particularly tall and broad soldiers so that they would fit over winter clothing and body armour. Soldier of Fortune has original, 1969-dated unissued suspenders for sale at £40 each.
SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION CASE
Ammunition was carried in a pair of
pouches worn on the front of the belt. These were originally sized to carry the M14 magazines and each pouch could carry a pair of these, or other ammunition as required. Two loops were also provided on either side of the pouch to hold grenades externally. Use of these loops was patchy as the grenades were at risk of catching and being lost and some units forbade their use. The pouch itself was made of green cotton with a reinforcing plate in the front face, originally of fibre this material was later replaced with plastic. The pouch had a box lid secured by a loop, staple and quick release tab. A pair of slide keepers were fixed to the rear to allow the pouch to be secured to the belt and a vertical, adjustable strap was fitted with a spring hook at the end. This allowed the pouches to be attached to the loop on the suspenders and helped distribute the load.
When the M14 rifle was replaced with the M16 the pouches were found to be too deep to allow easy access to the magazines. In the short term soldiers just placed a field dressing in the bottom of the pouch to raise up the magazines, but a new, shorter pouch was also introduced specifically for use with the M16 magazines. Shoot and Scoot has original, M14-sized pouches in stock at £20 each.
CANTEEN AND CANTEEN COVER
The US continued with the tried and tested M1910 pattern canteen and cover for the M1956 set, but updated the cover to replace the wire hanger hook on the rear with a pair of slide keepers. The cover has two flaps at the shoulders of the canteen to hold it in securely and these were updated to replace the lift the dot fasteners with snap fasteners. The edge binding on the cover was initially made of cotton tape, but after 1967 this was replaced with nylon. Initially the old M1910 and M1943 canteens were issued for use with the cover but, in 1962, a new olive green polyethylene plastic canteen was introduced (complete with moulded reminders to GIs not to put it over heat as it would melt). Expect to pay £35 for the canteen cover and up to £65 for
the cover, canteen and metal cup with good Vietnam War-era dates.
COMBAT FIELD PACK
The field pack was a small haversack that carried the essentials a man needed in the field. It was worn on the belt in the small of the back which led to American troops nicknaming it the ‘fanny’ or ‘butt’ pack. It was made of dark green canvas with a top flap secured by two stamped metal buckles. A set of metal eyelets were fitted to the sides of the top flap to allow items to be attached with wire hanger hooks and two strips of webbing were sewn to the sides of the pack’s body to allow items such as the canteen carrier or first aid packet to be secured to it with slide keepers. A pair of eyelets were fitted to the top rear of the pack to allow the suspenders to be attached to it when worn in its intended position. Loops were fitted to the base of the pack to allow rolled items to be slung beneath it and a grab handle was fitted to the top so it could be picked up and carried in the hand when not attached to the rest of the equipment set.
In 1961 the pack was modified slightly, based on early feedback from users, and had an internal neck added with a draw cord and the sides of the top flap extended to improve the weather keeping properties and better protect the contents. Soldier of Fortune
has a stock of the 1961 modified M1956 field packs for sale at £60 each.
FIRST AID PACKET/LENSATIC COMPASS CASE
This small pouch was sized to allow it to be used either for holding the first aid packet or the lensatic compass. It was a small rectangular pouch with a top flap secured with a press stud. A single slide keeper was attached to the rear to allow it to be attached to the belt or other parts of the equipment set. Early production versions had no edge binding to the top flap, but this was introduced soon afterwards together with an eyelet in the base for drainage. Every soldier was issued one to carry a first aid packet in, and only issued a second if they had need to carry the compass. Original examples are available for £10-£20 each
SLEEPING BAG CARRIER
The sleeping bag carrier was a set of straps that held the sleeping bag roll with two buckled loops that could be tightened to keep the sleeping bag secure. Attached to this was a pair of straps which passed over the shoulders, passed through loops on the suspenders and secured with lift the dot fasteners. A pair of thinner straps passed under the arms to secure to an extension on the front suspender buckles and prevented the sleeping bag from bouncing
around. In theory the carrier allowed the sleeping bag to be quickly dropped if needed, however it was the weakest component of the set and was often left out by troops entirely. Original sleeping bag carriers are not expensive with Soldier of Fortune selling a mint set for £15 and a Grade 2 used set for just £2!
INTRENCHING TOOL COVER
The M1956 intrenching tool cover was a development of the earlier M1943 cover and was a lozenge-shaped cover with a hole in its base to allow the handle of the intrenching tool to pass through. The cover had a top flap secured with a press stud and in a departure from the earlier design had an added tab with eyelets, a short strap and press stud on the front to allow the M5 or M6 bayonet to be attached to it. The rear face of the cover had two slide keepers attached to allow it to be mounted on the belt, although it was often seen being carried in other places where it was less of an encumbrance. Intrenching tool covers cost around £20 each.
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