W.E. Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions
There have been many different versions of the Fitting Instructions for Web Equipment, Pattern 1908 issued during this pattern's long service life with different branches of the Armed Services of Britain and the Empire. Every variation of W.E. Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions that Karkee Web that has been able to locate is listed below, and most of them are available here as Adobe PDF files.
Fitting Instructions - Mills broadside
Soon after Web Equipment, Pattern 1908, was introduced, the Mills Equipment Company produced an instructional broadside at the request of the War Office. This broadside was printed by Gale & Polden, probably in mid-1909. This was the first form of Fitting Instructions for W.E. Patt. '08, predating the official manual (issued in 1913) by four years. Representatives of the Company travelled to various army units and used this broadside as a tool whilst instructing troops on the proper fitment and use of the new equipment. Various photos from this sheet have been published many times. The best reproduction we've seen is in Martin J. Brayley's British Web Equipment of the Two World Wars, Crowood Press, 2005, but even that example is far too small to reproduce clearly. We are very pleased to announce that we have just acquired an original example of this broadside for the Karkee Web Collection. Our poster is currently with a paper conservator, being properly stabilised and museum mounted - after all, it's 100 years old, and we want to make sure that this piece of history is going to be around for a long while to come. We are also experimenting with the best way to present it in high resolution here. It's approximately 24-inches by 36-inches in size, and a high resolution PDF would make a BIG file! KW will solve these detail issues, though, and scans of this document will be available, soon, in whatever form seems to work best. Watch this space!
Fitting Instructions - Australian issue
Coincident with the first issue of W.E. Patt. '08 to Australia in 1911, the War Office issued an Australian version of Fitting Instructions entitled The Pattern 1908 Web Infantry Equipment | Published by the War Office, and Reprinted 1.9.11 (with corrections). This document was printed in Melbourne by J. Kemp, Government Printer. As fas as I am aware, this version of the Fitting Instructions is not commercially available. This scan of a rare original copy was kindly provided to KW by Chris Henschke. The download is an Adobe *.pdf file, and is just under 2 megaBytes in length. You'll need to use the back button on your browser to return to this page after the download is complete.
Fitting Instructions - Army Orders 1913
A British set of W.E. Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions entitled The Pattern 1908 Web Infantry Equipment | War Office 1913 was issued in 1913 under the Army Orders, 1st August 1913. This pamphlet version was printed in London by Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to His Majesty. It is an expanded version of the 1911 Australian issue. This set of Fitting Instructions is readily available on the internet in a facsimile edition published by Tharston Press and dated 1986.
Fitting Instructions - 4th issue (?)
British and Commonwealth Web Equipment 1871-1944, by Rick Landers, Landers Publishing, 2005, includes a variation of the W.E. Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions. The title page shown in this volume is the same as that of the third issue listed above, as is the text, but the photos have been updated. I suspect this is editing done by Mr. Landers when this book was assembled, but I can't confirm that for certain. In any case, this volume is an extremely useful reference for students of British accoutrements.
Fitting Instructions - Naval Service (1920)
Taken from the Royal Naval Handbook of Field Training, 1920, the text of these Fitting Instructions is essentially identical to that in the 1913 War Office publication, but the illustrations are different and useful. These Fitting Instructions are provided as a PDF file. Use your browser's back button to return to Karkee Web after accessing them.
Fitting Instructions - Naval Service (1940)
This very interesting set of W.E. Patt. '08 Fitting Instructions is taken from the Royal Naval Handbook of Field Training, 1934, as amended and reprinted 1940. It has some instructions that differ from other versions, including an instruction to attach the Entrenching tool head carrier at the rear of the belt, and to fit the Water bottle carrier to the Haversack, when carried on the back, using the Pack supporting straps. It's worth noting that this chapter in the Handbook discusses both W.E. Patt. '08 and W.E. Patt. '19. The Patt. '19 pages can be found at the Web Equipment, Pattern 1919 Fitting Instructions page. The Fitting Instructions are provided as a PDF file. Use your browser's back button to return to Karkee Web after accessing them. Thanks to Rick Landers for telling Karkee Web about this source.
