THE PATTERN 1944 WEB EQUIPMENT

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>This Pattern had its origins in two requirements for lighter patterns of web equipment one for temperate zones the other tropical. The result appears to have been a convergence of these designs. In 1945 the course of the War changed Germany collapsing more suddenly than was expected leaving a war in the Far East. The newly designed pattern was then pressed into service for that campaign which was envisaged as lasting until 1946. Pattern 1944 therefore became a theatre issue for units serving in the Far East. It also doubled in the role of a unit specific Pattern being routinely worn by Airborne troops and the Gurkhas often in temperate zones. All this makes Pattern 1944 W.E. rather different to other Patterns before or since.</span></p>