Engineer Equipment

Small Box Girder Bridge

Folding Boat Equipment

Bailey Bridge

Flamethrower

Load Bearing Equipment

1903 Pattern Equipment
►Oliver Pattern

►1908 Pattern Web Equipment
1937 Pattern Web Equipment

1942 Battle Jerkin

1951 Pattern

►1964 Pattern

1982 Pattern

 Personal Kit

Correspondence
Edged Tools
Glasses
Handkerchiefs
Identification
Kit Bag
Lighters
Polishing, Washing & Shaving

Rations

Sewing Kit
Weapon Cleaning Kits

Protective Gear

►MRC Body Armour

Specialist Clothing

Tank Crew Suits

 

Weapon Cleaning Kits

One of the most consistent activities for modern soldiers, especially among front line combat troops, is weapons maintenance. A variety of tools evolved in the 20th Century to help the soldier achieve the aim of keeping their service weapons in working order.

Service Rifles/Pistols

clean.jpg (76307 bytes)

Artifacts courtesy the Calgary Highlanders Museum

A selection of Second World War cleaning kit is shown above, including two pistol cleaning rods (with a slotted tip for inserting a cleaning rag), metal oil bottles, two pull throughs (with a loop on one end and a brass weight on another - the brass end was dropped through the barrel, and then used to pull the looped end (with cleaning rag inserted) through the barrel after it.)  The items are resting on a khaki carrying bag with drawstring closure

At right, a funnel, used during the Second World War for pouring hot water down rifle barrels. funnel.jpg (12481 bytes)

pullthru.jpg (50384 bytes)

Above, a rifle pull through - essential just a length of cord with hole for cleaning rags, and a weighted brass end to drop down through the barrel.  The Lee Enfield rifle had a trapdoor on the end of the butt; the pullthrough - as well as a bakelite or brass oil bottle - could be carried inside a hollowed out portion of the buttstock.

The FNC1 and C7/C7A1 rifles also had these trapdoors.

c7cleaningkit.jpg (26679 bytes)
Photo courtesy Ed Storey

The C7 cleaning kit - which could be folded and stored in the buttstock - contains a three-piece cleaning rod (with folding handle at one end), a bore brush, a slotted tip, and a bottle of "Break-Free" oil.  The contents were kept in a small olive-green nylon holdall.

The cleaning kit could also be stored in the C8 Cleaning Kit Carrier as shown below.

C8a.jpg (7568 bytes) C8b.jpg (5479 bytes) C8c.jpg (8680 bytes) C8d.jpg (11873 bytes)

Photos courtesy Ed Storey


Support Weapons

Larger weapons required more extensive cleaning and maintenance materials.  Se the page on BREN GUNS under WEAPONS for a look at Bren Gun associated equipment.

cleaningvickers.jpg (9718 bytes)
Cleaning rod for a Vickers Machine Gun.

 


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