Type 100 20mm HE Round

I picked this up at a local show because it looked like something a Marine may have picked up as a battlefield souvenir.

This is type 100 20mm HE round for the Type 98 machine cannon.  These would have been used in a ground and anti-aircraft role.  When I bought the round it had already been previously properly de-activated for display.  Still retains all markings including the often missing stamps on the brass shell.

USMC Pack Impression - Guadalcanal

The goal of this pack was to make something that represented what the Marines would have used at Guadalcanal.

I needed to find the earliest USMC Depot made components for this one, and I was lucky to find an e-bay an estate seller who was selling the following components as one lot:

-DQP Pack with D rings
-DQP pack straps, and a set of
-M1941 flat buckle suspenders

When I received the pack it was covered in dust, dirt, and spider webs and required some careful vacuuming and cleaning but the end result was a nice authentic and complete pack.  A nice bonus was that all the parts were named to the same Marine.

I re-assembled the pack to the proper configuration and added the following parts:

-Early OD USMC shelter half (No frog camo for Guadalcanal)
-WWI Surplus USMC blanket
-Depot made shovel cover

I may add a bayonet, lower pack, or early OD rainjacket in the future but for now I'm happy with the overall of this layout and calling this one ready for a mannequin display.

USMC M1941 Flat Buckle Suspenders

These USMC M1941 suspenders with flat buckles are from the first year of production and are most appropriate for early to mid war USMC impressions.

The later curved buckle M1941 Suspenders can typically be found on e-bay very cheap but this variation requires more patience. It's a good idea to grab this flat buckle variety when available if you're planning on doing some early USMC rigs.

USMC M1905 Bayonet and DQP Scabbard

This USMC bayonet consists of a WWI M1905 bayonet refurbished for WWII with USMC Depot manufactured scabbard.  The bayonet was original made by Rock Island Arsenal in 1918.

Early and pre-war WWII USMC cartridge belts

I was searching for early cartridge belts that may have seen service as early as Guadalcanal, and these examples fit the criteria.  Atlas 1940, BoyT -41- and BoyT -42-.



BoyT -41- and BoyT -42-



Atlas 1940:

USMC M1 Helmet with Hawley Liner

This helmet consists of an early M1 Steel helmet with fixed bales, early Hawley M1 fiber liner, and what is commonly called a type I USMC camo helmet cover.



The cover has had two slits cut for better fit and this feature is found on most issued covers:



One of several features to look for on an original cover is chain stitching on the beach side:



Further disassembly of the helmet at this time would likely risk damaging the very fragile original liner:



Camouflage helmet covers began being used with the U.S. Marines in combat following the battle of Guadalcanal.   Here's this combination in use during 1943:

Paramarine helmet impression

This topic has already been well covered on M1 Pencil Blog, but I decided to do my own impression using my USMC M1 helmet with Hawley liner and camo cover as I haven't seen this done before.  This was just for fun, the Paramarine/Pilot flight helmet is not original to this helmet and was purchased separately.

For more information on Paramarine helmets and impressions:

M1 Pencil Blog Paramarine impression

My impression:

USMC 1943 Identification Disks

I bought these USMC Identification Disks on e-bay because I thought they were a nice textbook example. Since purchasing them, I've discovered the following information about Owen Glenn Brantley:


Jul 1942 Rank: Private First Class Station: Vmf-212, Marairgroup-21, 2Nd Marairwing, Fmf., %Fpo. San Francisco, California.

Oct 1942 Rank: Sergeant Station: Marine Fighting Squadron Two-Twelve, First Marine Aircraft Wing Fleet Marine Force, C/O F.P.O., San Francisco, California

Oct 1943 Rank: Master Technical Sergeant Station: Marine Fighting Squadron-114, Marine Aircraft Group-23, Maha C/O Fleet Post Office, San Francisco, California

Jul 1944 Rank: Master Technical Sergeant Station: Cas Co #1, Mb, Nob, Ti, (San Pedro), Calif At U S Naval Hospital, Corona, Calif


This information comes from friends on USMF and I will continue to research the set as time permits.

USMC 1943 Boondockers

This is an unissued pair of well marked 1943 USMC boondockers:

USMC DQP Pick Mattocks Carrier

The Marine Corps pick mattocks carrier made by Philadelphia Depot has several distinctive features compared to the army version:

-USMC wire hanger
-USMC golden colored materials
-WWI era buckles and flat metal tips
-Lack of U.S. marking
-Typical USMC Depot manufacturing characteristics.