Pattern 1908 Fitting Instructions!
There's always been something slightly odd about the FI's for Patt. '08. We don't mean the instructions themselves, but the timing of their issue. First comes the Mills Company broadside, which appears shortly after the pattern is introduced in January of 1908. This was intended to be only a stopgap until the official document was published. As far as we knew, though, the War Office didn't issue its own set of FI's until 1913, five years later. Why such a long delay? We know that the Australian War Office, when it introduced W.E. Patt. '08 to Australia in 1911, issued its own set of FI's almost immediately. Thanks to KW pioneer Carl Woods, we can now state positively that, in fact, there was no long wait, and the British War Office actually issued its Fitting Instructions not five years, but only five months later, in May of 1908!
Small versions of the Mills broadside have been printed in numberous places, and since November of last year Karkee Web has made available a large format PDF on the Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions page. Chris Henschke has graciously allowed us to reproduce his original copy of the 1911 Australian version. The 1913 printing, which we now know to be the second issue, has been available in reprint since 1984, and last year Graham Tweeddale, leader of the very active Australian section of our Karkee Web Research Team, provided us with a scan of his original copy. Also on our '08 FI's page are the 1920 and 1940 naval versions, extracted from training handbooks, and an excerpt from the 1914 Field Service Pocket Book.
Today, we are pleased to add to that list what is, as far as we know, the first ever public re-release of the first issue The Pattern 1908 Web Infantry Equipment, originally published in May, 1908, in an edition of 10,000 copies. It is available at the link above. Be one of the first to read it!
It's also worth mentioning that we're actively recruiting new talent to develop new sections. Rog is hard at work on a new section on Sea Service Equipment prior to the 1901 Pattern, and there are several other projects in the works as well. If you want to contribute - welcome! Let us know what area you'd like to cover, get in touch, and start writing!
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