My WW2 British Commando Impression

[LettuceHead]

There's another thread discussing WW2 British Royal Marine and Combined Operations Commando. I just picked up a Dec 1945 dated Leather Jerkin and figure I have a close enough impression of a WW2 British Commando. This would be a D-Day and beyond impression, as the Lightweight Respirator and Bag dates it.

This would be considered Battle Order with the Haversack and Entrenching Tool. Typically, if an assault was expected the haversack would be dropped off in a rear area and retrieved later. I don't have a green beret or a MkII steel helmet but the Cap Comforter was popular with the Commandos and many era pics show it in field use.

[Patterson]

you should cut off the stock on the Thompson yo.

[Duniway]

and where the shazaam do u sugjest the batterie go?

[Patterson]

in the bottom shelf with the dictionary....?

It was only a suggestion, albeit semi- tongue in cheek. As for the representation, a Thompson without it's stock would look very commandoish. Furthermore, with a homemade sten (difficult, yet possible) the impression would blast through the roof.

But you do bring up a good point with the battery...

[LettuceHead]

I've only seen two pics from WW2 of Thompsons without their stocks... one was of a US Airborne Pathfinder on D-Day with a 1918 trench knife taped to the forestock, and one is a famous pic of US GIs crawling forward along side a building, with a stockless M1A1 laying next to one of them.

There was a guy doing a Pathfinder impression at Jump To Destiny last summer and he took the stock of his Thompson AEG, wrapping the battery in black tape to the body. It really killed the whole look, in my opinion.

I will be picking up an AEG Sten in the future for my other Brit WW2 impressions, but the Commandos were originally issued 1928 and later M1A1 Thompsons, and many preferred them over the Sten for their increased reliability and larger caliber.

[Deathlycobra]

I give you thumbs up for your impression. You make me jealous... BUT I will never do WW2 airsoft til they include skrimable bolt action springers.

[Darius137]

I give you thumbs up for your impression. You make me jealous... BUT I will never do WW2 airsoft til they include skrimable bolt action springers.

You mean like the Kar98 (used at most games by Vidar) or the conversion kit to make Garands?

[Raging Hormann]

Looks absolutely awesome!

[danneskjold]

There was a guy doing a Pathfinder impression at Jump To Destiny last summer and he took the stock of his Thompson AEG, wrapping the battery in black tape to the body. It really killed the whole look, in my opinion.

That was actually me...and I agree - I forgot my stock screws at home so couldnt attach the stock

I think your impression looks great...shave though!

[LettuceHead]

There was a guy doing a Pathfinder impression at Jump To Destiny last summer and he took the stock of his Thompson AEG, wrapping the battery in black tape to the body. It really killed the whole look, in my opinion.

That was actually me...and I agree - I forgot my stock screws at home so couldnt attach the stock

I think your impression looks great...shave though!

Ah, didn't know you forgot the stock screws. I figured it was intentional. I have an extra Thompson AEG now, so if you forget'm again I got ya covered

And yeah, I do shave the beard and sideburns off before serious events but my wife prefers me with a goattee so it gets regrown immediately after.

[Charlie]

That looks great. If you are looking for a Sten:
http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/Airsoft_A ... /87060.htm

[Juicemachine]

And yeah, I do shave the beard and sideburns off before serious events but my wife prefers me with a goatee so it gets regrown immediately after.

...Wha?...



Great looking impression. One question: What's the rope on your back for?

[Juicemachine]

Great looking impression. One question: What's the rope on your back for?

For tying French women to their beds. That was an important activity among the British Commandos during the Second World War

Seriously Juice, why not have rope?

Touche.

[LettuceHead]

The Toggle Rope was used by the Commandos, Paras and a few other units. Rather than issue big coils of rope to inevitably get lost or otherwise, they issued every man a 6 foot or so section of rope with a loop spliced in one end and a wooden toggle on the other.

If you needed to scale something, you linked however many ropes needed together via the loop and toggle. They also used them to tow collapsible equipment trolleys and create V-shaped rope bridges quickly.

Where you carried the rope was personal preference. Some wore it looped around the neck and shoulders, wrapped around the waist, under the pack flap or coiled around something. I usually secure it to my entrenching tool handle where its out of the way. I couldn't shoulder a weapon properly with it around the shoulders.

[Patterson]

the reason I mentioned cutting off the stock was because some U.S. paratroops would have a broken down Thompson strapped to them like their leg bag (this was in addition to their primary weapon.)

I was looking at the impression and liking it so much that I completely spaced the fact that it was a fully functional AEG and not a prop.