During World War 1, the Great War, in Australia over 410,000 people enlisted for military service with the Australian Imperial Force and the Royal Australian Navy. Of that number 331,781 embarked and sailed overseas. The Australian soldiers were mainly front line troops and therefore suffered casualties at a greater percentage than any other of the British dominions, about 65% (215,585 casualties). Most of the casualties were from the infantry.

The two soldiers are wearing the standard uniform of the infantrymen in WW1. The equipment is the British pattern of 1908 web equipment for infantry. The Australian soldier was recognisable in his uniform, which was proudly worn. The blouse was loose fitting and made for working in and for comfort. The 'slouch' hat was a practical hat, similar to hats worn by most civilians in Australia at the time. The breeches were stout and made of a strong 'Bedford cord' material, and the boots were considered to be some of the best supplied for any Army.

The Australian fur felt slouch hat was adopted by the A.I.F. and A.C.M.F. as a practical piece of uniform headgear, although under some conditions it was anything but uniform. It was made of either a fur felt (rabbit's fur) or a wool felt. It was worn with a puggaree, usually muslin cloth folded about the crown of the hat, but it could be almost any type of material. Most examples of the puggaree are either folds of cotton sewn together, or a band of woollen tunic material. Some folded types of puggarees also had a separate colour folded into them, the width of three folds. The hat could be worn with the left side of the brim laying flat as in these examples or the brim could be held to the side of the hat by a press stud or a small flat hook and square loop. The Australian rising sun hat badge was usually worn on the upturned left side of the hat, although it was also worn on the front of the hat, as seen in this example on the right hand figure. The 4th Inf. Division were ordered to wear their slouch hats to be worn with the left side turned down, an order from their commanding officer, in an effort to instill an esprit de corps. Although this was later withdrawn.

The blouse or tunic, were made of all Australian wool. The blouses were loose fitting to allow movement and air to circulate freely. There were four large pockets in the front of the tunic as well as an internal bandage pocket on the inside left front skirt.. A belt was sewn on about the tunic which had a simple brass buckle to the front, this belt was made of the same material as the rest of the tunic. At the rear of the tunic it is heavily pleated with a double fold extending down the spine, this fold and some extra material across the shoulders were to protect those areas from the sun.

Both these figures wear breeches, the fashion for working men in those days.
The Australian infantry breeches were not designed to be worn with a belt, but with braces, and there are six buttons around the waist to allow the braces to be attached. There at two waist pockets, and a small fob pocket. There are no pockets on the rear. These breeches finish just below the knee, usually being tied off with a piece of tape, although some examples have a laced vent for securing below the knee. The mounted pattern of breeches differ slightly from the dismounted pattern, where as the mounted pattern tend to be longer, and always seem to be laced up at the bottom of the leg, have reinforced inner legs and sometimes a reinforce seat. The pockets on the mounted pattern do not have a diagonal or vertical slash opening like the dismounted pattern, but have pockets that are accessed by the top of the waistband, or have horizontal slash openings below the waist band. The infantryman's breeches are intended to be worn with puttees. These puttees are cloth wraps about 3metres / 9 feet long with a piece of tape to tie them off. They are wrapped about the leg from the leg of the breeches to cover the top of the ankle boot. Usually the puttees were made of a woollen material, and often soldiers would do what they could to purchase a better quality item. In contemporary Australian's diaries there is often mention of the writer being fortunate enough to buy a pair of 'Fox' puttees, or bemoaning the fact his 'Fox' puttees were stolen

The Pattern 1908 web equipment worn by both soldiers was developed for the British Army, and at the time was one of the most advanced and useful sets available. The basic set consisted of a belt, shoulder straps, left and right hand ammunition pouches, a water bottle and carrier, bayonet frog, haversack, a large pack, entrenching tool carrier and entrenching tool helve carrier. The right hand figure is wearing this basic set of equipment. Through his 3inch wide belt is carried a large handled pair of wire cutters, the handles are made of timber, there is a rope lanyard wound about one of the handles. In his left hand he is carrying a D-shaped mess tin, for dismounted troops. The mess tin is in a mess tin cover. The cover is Australian made and the rear of the cove is visible, clearly shown are the two 3" wide belt loops, made of leather, also visible is the brass ring which is intended to be used with another set of equipment. This mess tin cover can be used with either the Pattern 1908 or the 1903 bandolier equipment set for dismounted troops. On the front of the cover is a 'plastic' button to close the cover over the tin.

The other soldier, on the left, is wearing a modification to the basic soldier's set of P08 equipment. This set is a 'pistol rig'. The components of the set here are; waist belt, shoulder straps, entrenching tool carrier, water bottle and carrier, haversack, and large pack if required, a bayonet frog (although used to carry the entrenching tool helve instead of the bayonet), a pair of 'brace attachments (to fix the shoulder straps to the belt), and a pistol case and an ammunition pouch for the pistol ammunition. The last two items are made of leather, and fix to the 3" wide belt by sets of two brass open loops sewn into the rear of the pouch and the pistol case (holster). The brace attachments fix to the waist belt and the shoulder straps (braces) attach to the brass buckle. Below the buckle is a 1" web strap, which is long enough to secure to the lower buckles of either the haversack or the large pack, when those items are worn on the back. Without these pieces the packs would have all their weight on the shoulder straps, instead of spread more evenly over the rest of the equipment.

In front of this figure is the tripod for signalling equipment. This wooden tripod had a brass fitting on the top, to which both the Heliograph or the battery operated signalling lamp (daylight) will fix. There is a simple cotton shoulder strap on the side of the tripod, to allow it to be carried more readily.

Grant

This page was last updated by Russell Napier 26th June, 1997.