UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT 
OF THE
 QUEEN'S OWN RIFLES OF CANADA


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EQUIPMENT

Lee-Enfield SMLE Rifle:  No.4 MkI or No.4 MkI*. Long Branch (Canadian) type if possible. Also you will need a spike bayonet and webbing frog for the bayonet.

Helmet:  Mk II, MkIII or IV. Also need a helmet net with scrim.  Recommend getting both a Mark II and a Mark III.  Both are very easy to find and not expensive.  Your basic Mark II helmet should go for $20, $35 with netting and scrim.  Often these are sold by vendors as combinations.

P-37 Webbing:  The equipment should be Canadian (C Broad Arrow) made, war-dated WHENEVER POSSIBLE.  British marked gear is okay to start.  Our members have been collecting both mint sets as issued (tan or okra color and blancoed, which is appropriate for any post D-Day impression).  You should get a non-blancoed set to start with.  The webbing consists of:

      Web Belt (have 2)one for field use, one for walking out.

      Braces and basic pouches.

Skeleton water bottle carrier and water bottle. Envelope carrier is acceptable.

Small Pack with L-Straps

Large pack with L-straps and blanket straps.

Entrenching tool and carrier.

This is not a complete set, but shows a lot of the personal items of a soldier, and what they were carried in.  The hold-all contains a lot of the personal items.  Shown here are a tin of foot powder, a tin of dubbin, cigarettes, a razor, blades and shave brush, knife and fork, toothbrush and button stick)



The rifle is a war-dated, "Long Branch" Lee-Enfield - made in 1942 in Canada.  The knife was a general issue to the QOR prior to D-Day.  It was worn or carried in a number of places, including tucked inside the boots and held in place with a 2" equipment strap, on the web belt, inside a bayonet frog, or in other places.

Basic infantryman's web gear during the war.  This set has been colored with blanco - a green, paint-like substance, that changes gear from issued okra/tan color to a more easily blending green.  Used extensively from D-Day onwards.  Most of the guys in our unit maintain a mint set of Canadian web gear, but also find beat-up, Brit or post-war sets of web gear and dye with blanco.