To win a war you need the right stuff: clothes food [and] weapons. Those are the essentials. So how well-equipped was the British soldier in
1914?
British Forces had lots of different uniforms and equipment
but the most iconic uniform of all was worn by the British infantryman on the trenches of the western front
So there it is the British infantryman ready for action, but just how ready
The British infantryman went into world war one as the best prepared soldier on the planet
Let's take this for example the lee-enfield rifle
The brits were famously fast and accurate using this rifle
It could take [ten] rounds in the magazine the British built four million of these during the war
And [serviced] the years after this was the best rifle on the western front
Now instead of Gaiters the British had the ingenious idea of puttees that they brought over from their experience in India
[they'd] wrap these right around the lower leg and out keep your legs dry and also provide a lot of support as well
One of the biggest challenges for any soldier in the past or the present is carrying the sheer amount of kit
They need keep themselves alive and take the fight to the enemy [now] the British soldiers the 1908 patent
Webbing just slipped over the body like this
and it allowed them to carry much of what they [would] needed into battle
a water bottle here
Ammunition here and here and my bayonet 17 inches of sharpened steel
right here
Hidden around the back the entrenching tool or spades you and me simply drop that in there
this allowed British soldiers to get themselves out of trouble if they're being shot at by
Immediately digging a mini hole in the ground and giving themselves out of harm's way
So British [kit] was good. [it] wasn't perfect. This is a cloth [carpet] good bit of camouflage, but obviously it provided no [protection]
Against High-velocity shrapnel, and that's why about half way through the war steel helmets were issued to all the British troops
But believe it or not this was still a lot better than what the french and Germans had
the German pickle horn is made of leather and it provided an obvious Target for Marchman
[if] Britain had the best prepared soldiers no prizes for guessing it wasn't too far behind
So if the german kit wasn't as up-to-date as the british. They did have one major advantage there were over four million of them
[at least] German battle dress was fit for fighting a twentieth-century war in
[1941] [Army] Soldiers were color coordinated more for the Parisian runways than the trenches
It's not that the french military hadn't heard of cocky but lots of countries weren't prepared in
1914 and couldn't Produce tons of new kits overnight
sometimes you got to make do with what you got the british army's bang up to [date] uniform and weaponry was down to it's
battle-Hardened experience just as well because they would need every advantage they could get