The 1939 pattern webbing was an item of military load-carrying equipment used in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was a

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

variant of the

1937 pattern web equipment 1937 Pattern Web Equipment (also known as '37 Webbing') was an item of military load-carrying equipment. It replaced the 1908 Pattern and 1925 Pattern—on which it was based—and was standard issue for British and Commonwealth troops from its in ...

History

In 1939, at the beginning of the

, the number of troops in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

stood at roughly 200,000. This number rose to 2,000,000 with the introduction of

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

and the activation of reservists. The rapid increase resulted in a lack of proper equipment. Manufacturers of the webbing product—at the time a treated cotton variant, pattern 37—could not keep up with demand. This led the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

to commission the leather industry to design an alternative. The British army had faced the same problem in the First World War, when troops were deployed with the 1908 pattern webbing. The issue was resolved by introducing the 1914 pattern web. The difference between 1937- and 1939 pattern webbing, besides materials used in manufacturing, came down to the latter not being issued with a backpack. If troops needed a backpack, pattern 37 haversacks and packs were used. The government placed an initial order of one million sets of Leather Infantry Equipment Patt 39. Unlike the pattern 14 design used in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, pattern 39 was never used at the front line. It was employed only for training purposes and by rear line troops, including troops in the UK Home Guard. Once the 1937 pattern webbing production numbers could meet the needs of the British troops again, pattern 39 was withdrawn and reissued to the Belgian, Dutch, Czech and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

armies. The Belgians and Dutch carried on using it post-war.

History

References

See also