This month’s impression takes us to the jungles of South East Asia in the dying days of World War II. As the war was coming to an end a new version of the WS38 radio was introduced that was better waterproofed against the climatic conditions of the jungle. The WS38 Mk III was covered on the blog a few months back, but it is shown here with the matching No 10 signals satchel that was introduced at the same time.
The haversack is worn in the back in the same manner as the haversack. The control lead passes around to the front to allow the operator to use the radio without having to take it off his back. He wears the headset and his microphone is clipped to the shoulder straps ready for use:
Our operator wears Indian produced jungle green battledress and Indian webbing, including the Indian made jungle hat. He is armed with an SMLE rifle that has the Indian pattern of bayonet that is both shorter and un-fullered:
- Jungle hat
- JG battledress blouse
- No 10 signal satchel with WS38 Mk III radio
- JG Battledress trousers
- Anklets
- SMLE Rifle
- 1937 Pattern webbing set
- Ammunition boots
Tales from the Supply Depot 
Nice post! In one photo it looks as if your waterbottle might be in need of a cork! I cant imagine that such boots would be great to wear for long in proper wet jungle conditions…
Is that a messtin or a shallow cup in a second waterbottle harness on the belt? First time I have seen it worn this way, or a British messtin that is not of the normal rectangular type.
The mess tin is an Indian oval aluminium example- very common in the Far East to have an extra water bottle carrier to carry your mess tin so it is quickly accessible for a quick ration break
[…] MkIII radio set over the last few months, including looking at a reconstruction of a radio operator here. One component I used in that reconstruction, but haven’t looked at in detail yet is the […]