1. Uniforms
Paratrooper
So, this is really for Miss Drop 44 members; if members of other groups do things differently, great! At Miss Drop 44, we all wear the same kit (after all, that IS why it's called a uniform) and do things our own way, if you like our way, great! If you don't then that's fine, too.
Most people will quickly find that re-enacting soon fills all the available free space in your home with random items! It's quite easy to buy everything you see at a good price, not because you need it, but because it looks good or is a great price!
However, the list below will give you the basic list of what you'll need. This is all based on a 101st Enlisted Trooper jumping into Normandy. If you're planning on doing a more specialist role, then obviously your kit will be slightly different, but all members will have the complete kit for a rifleman, as well as any other items necessary for any secondary impression.
Combat Uniform - your first biggest purchase!
The M42 Paratroopers Jump Jacket and Trousers can be purchased from a variety of places. However, Soldier of Fortune (SOF) is the easiest option; At The Front (ATF) seem to be good again, but their standards seem to rise and fall more than the stock exchange. Epic Militaria M42s are worthy of getting and tinkering with.
DO PLEASE DO NOT BUY FROM ANY OTHER PLACE!!!
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I'm not saying this to be mean, other suppliers are just crap; yes, some of them are cheaper... guess why.
M42 Jump Jacket (Reinforced)
M42 Jump Trousers (Reinforced)
M42's come in two types... unreinforced as they were issued and reinforced as they were made stronger for the Normandy jump. You need to get reinforced M42's. They are easy to spot as they have big knee and elbow patches and around the bottom jacket and leg pockets are green reinforcing material.
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Once you have your M42 jump uniform, you should really get a 101st patch for the left shoulder. If you get a jacket second-hand, then it might already come badged up. Check the quality of the patch with the ones on the Patches pages as some are appalling and are only good for fire starter. When Green Army Productions (GAP) vanished from patch-making there a was a void in the market... I decided to solve this problem myself by setting up Patch King and can now provide premium quality patches for virtually any unit you can think of. If you have a special request, please let me know via the Patch King Website and I'll see what I can do!
Almost all uniforms would have been marked with the first letter of your surname and the last four digits of you Army Serial Number (ASN). These markings were usually stamped into clothing but were also hand-written in pen and marker. For example, M9865 is what was marked on my jacket and trousers. Totally optional, but gives a nice unique touch, although rarely seen by anyone! If you need to be 'issued' a WW2 era ASN, we can give you all the details to match a soldier coming from any location in the USA. If you ever get paperwork like ID cards, pay-books, you'll want it all to make sense and match up.
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Uniforms didn't stay clean for long! Grime and oil from weapons, messes from food, mud, soil, sand and anything else that was on the ground would be ground into the jump suit. All this can be simulated should you want to. However, nothing beats the actual wear and tear of wearing it in and years of abuse you'll give it.
Almost all the clothing worn for the invasion of Normandy was treated with a gas resistant chemical called CC-2. It changed the colour of clothes giving them an darker oily look, with white powdery residue left in places, particularly in the seems. This really is a step above and beyond for accuracy and is a really nice look to the M42. The link here will take you to a page full of information on this CC-2 Chemical.
This is not an optional step. This is mandatory, as all 101st members in Normandy would have had a CC2 treated M42 jumpsuit.
USE DECKING OIL - NOT WAX
​Yeah, I know, I'm drilling it home... but we get asked this thing over and over and over. Decking oil is easier, simpler, cheaper, gives a consistent coating, makes it waterproof, makes it warmer and takes you about 5 minutes to dunk and hang up in the garden to drip dry! If you're joining us, then this is your only option. No WAX coated M42s - Period!!!
To simplify the process: - bucket - m42 - cover in oil until sodden - hang in garden - leave in garden until dry (if it rains, snows, thunderstorms, it doesn't matter). That's all you have to do... decking oil, not Tung oil, not varnish, not paint, not snowseal, not vaseline, not petrol, not cheese.... JUST DECKING OIL!​
Again... this is for Miss Drop 44 members. If you're not a member of Miss Drop 44, I'm not telling YOU what to do. Use whatever you prefer.
INVASION FLAGS!
Sooooo... back to basics we go again. After some recent fun and games with some stubborn child on Fascist book, this question clearly needs to be address as a separate thing.
Simply put, the 101st Airborne did not wear invasion flags of any kind for the Normandy jump. The 82nd Airborne did. Before you all jump up on a high horse and scream that you've seen it in a film, or on a plastic children's toy or even on those cheap crappy jumpsuits made in China that come with them already sewn on... none of that makes it right. Let me spell it out clearly.
The 101st Airborne did not wear invasion flags of any kind for the Normandy jump!
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They did later wear them on the M43's during Market Garden, just not on any M42s in Normandy.
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Still don't believe me... go buy the only decent books on paratroopers in Normandy. Anything by Michel de Trez will do. Carentan part 1 or part 2 are ideal. Play spot the invasion flag on all the hundreds of photographs... I bet you the only ones you will see are on 82nd jackets... except that one prejump photo of one guy who is almost totally green due to his camo paint. When you can't find one single trooper in Normandy wearing an invasion flag, are you really going to continue to try to convince me that the 101st wore them? Or do you think there was a top secret order in place for troops to remove them every time a camera was about to be used?
Just in case you're wondering who the childlike captain pictured above might be... this is the now legendary ultra-FARB Michael Musumeci who won himself this special place on the website. There is nothing more respected in this hobby than someone who insults you when you try and help them improve their frankly ridiculous impression.
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Now on to something that I discovered on You-tube when making reactionary videos... this guy I adore... his passion and struggles match my own. He is aware that almost all other 101st re-enactors are a joke! I agreed with everything he said (Except for the M1911, as we know that they were all withdrawn at Company level and below during 1943)... everything else he says though is spot on and I had to share his video below.
Jump Boots
Over the years, Jump Boots have gone up in price tremendously. Even the cheaper reproductions are racing up in price. The best boots you can buy are made by Corcoran, one of the wartime manufacturers. They are solid, look great and will last forever. My pair, although very worn, are about 15 years old and still going strong. However, you will pay extra for a pair of Corcorans. They are not cheap, but you get real quality made from an original wartime manufacture. If you can find a pair for sale that is!
Insoles - Even if you buy Corcorans, your feet will not be used to wearing stomping great boots! You don't need to buy extra insoles, although you can from a variety of places. I pulled out the insoles from and old pair of trainers that were going in the bin, trimmed a little of one of each of the sides and now they fit great.
Garrison Cap
You have to have at least one item of headgear since nobody should be bareheaded outside. So the garrison cap is the ideal choice; the helmet will come later. There are so many reproductions (many are dog-shit) of caps, but realistically there are so many originals out there in all sizes. Unless if you head is the size of a beach ball then there is almost no reason not to buy an original. Check eBay and militaria fairs (You may need to replace the piping around the edge, but that is hardly difficult. By the way, basic sewing is fairly useful in this hobby). The piping must be light blue as this signifies the infantry. You can get original un-piped examples, or even purchase an original that has alternative piping on it and just remove it. I recently took the piping from an old moth-eaten cap and put it on an lovely condition original engineers piped cap that was really cheap because nobody really needs engineers piping, and that kept the price down! Simple adjustments like these can save a lot of money and give you some stunning kit. The piping can also be purchased on its own for a few pounds and sewing really isn't that hard! After all every Trooper would have had to sew up rips and tears, their own unit patches, cap patches, rank insignia... so it's good practice... also a fairly handy life skill to have.
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Extra, extra... so people are still struggling with this... so it's time to super simplify.
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1- Find out what size your head is.... in inches! It'll probably be something like 7 1/4 or 7 3/8, etc.
2 - Original caps are really easy to find in sizes that will be too small. Unless you are tiny, anything under a 7 is no good. SO DO NOT BUY IT.
3 - Go on eBay; both .com and .co.uk YES THEY ARE DIFFERENT. search for "Garrison cap *" *=insert size. You can also search for "US cap *" "cap *" "side cap *" and it will even bring up different results.
4 - Find a good example (not moth eaten) in your size, that is wool brown and not tan. Buy it.
5 - If the cap you buy doesn't have blue piping around it, not a problem as those caps are always more expensive. Go to the next step
6 - Find any cap with blue piping in roughly your size; as it needs to be almost your size or the piping will NOT BE LONG ENOUGH! Buy it!
7 - Removed piping from both caps by cutting threads carefully.
8 - Sew blue piping onto your chosen cap in the same way it came off.
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Yes, I'm typing this like a primary school lesson (please don't embarrass yourselves by asking why I felt the need to type it like this).
everything else uniform related that you'll need
That covers the minimum uniform that you can get away with. Everything below is desirable and will give you a better appearance and also a better feel for what a Trooper would have worn. Some things are really simple to obtain, others you'll have to search high and low, and some you might already have.
M1, M1C or M2 Helmet!
The chronological order for the introduction of paratrooper helmets is M2, M1, M1C... Now if you're not familiar with U.S. World War two helmets that line may already sound complicated! Don't worry, it's all straight forward. The M1 helmet is the basic American helmet you will have seen in a 1001 photographs. The original M1s had rectangular shaped fixed bales. These were changed to rectangular swivel bales around October of 1943, but were not labeled by the Quartermaster as the M1C until January of 1945.
The M2 is the first version of the helmet supplied with a paratrooper liner. The M2 had large D-shaped bales that often broke, requiring either repairs or, later, being discarded and substituted with a standard M1 helmet shell being worn over the paratrooper liner. This is the most common pair in Normandy for the 101st (M1 shell with paratroop liner). The bulk of the M2 helmets were issued to the 82nd, with the 101st getting some, but very few in comparison to the 82nd.
To keep the ratios to a sensible level, almost all members will wear an M1 shell with paratroop liner, with only a few wearing a complete M2 helmet. The M1C was a late 1943 helmet and had swivel bales, so a few may have been present for Normandy, but it's unlikely that many were in use. To keep things simple, we consider the M1C as incorrect. However, despite being technically incorrect, the term M1C is also very commonly used to depict any paratrooper helmet that isn't an M2.
If you're mechanically-minded, any helmet can be adapted to have a fixed bale; you just need to be able to weld the bales on to the shell... The Shackrats living history group can do this if desired, and you can contact them through Facebook.
M1 helmets (all WW2 American infantry helmets are generically referred to as "M1", so I will call them this from now on) were made in vast numbers, so there are plenty to available to buy. However, they are also very collectable, so prices are always increasing. However, you can get an original helmet from time to time for a reasonable price. There are also lots of post war shells that are identical (none with correct bales, of course) but with a good liner inserted, you can get a less expensive, workable helmet. There are several companies that produce reproduction and refurbished helmets: At The Front and Top Pots are very good. J. Murray are expensive, but the absolute best. Avoid the cheap Chinese crap on eBay - it's cheap for a reason!
Your helmet will be one of the more expensive items of kit that will transform you into a paratrooper. It adds so much to your impressions, that it has to be right. The basic kit requirements for Miss Drop 44 does include this and it will be a fairly expensive purchase. It's better to buy the best when you can, rather than buy the first piece of rubbish you spot... do not buy something that is wrong and will just need replacing.
Liners can easily be completely redone by Miss Drop 44 with suspension, A-frames, nape band, etc. with no labor charge. Of course, you will need to pay for all the parts and cover shipping to and from us. If you wish to supply us with extra parts as a thank you for the work, that is always much appreciated.
Above - shows the correct Inland A-frame buckle; the Westinghouse style was not worn during Normandy.
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Left - A small pile of liners and helmets recently finished by Miss Drop 44.
Getting yourself an M1 helmet is one of the most difficult things to add to your impression as there isn't a good supplier in the UK. So, you either bite the bullet and go all in and order a J. Murray (the best refurbished helmets on the market, but it's gonna hurt your pocket) or you can create one yourself. For details on how to do this, click the pukey green link above!
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First, find a suitable M1 helmet shell. Ideally you want a fixed bale helmet. However, if you know someone who can weld; they could grind off the existing bales and weld on some correct bales. To find a shell to start with, you either go hunting at militaria shows or search Facebook (F/B) groups (beware of scammers who will take your money and disappear!) and eBay listings. They do come up at reasonable prices from time to time. WARNING! There is lots of crap on the market, mostly in the form of EURO-CLONES! These are all wrong and problematic. Yes, they are cheap, there is a reason for this! If they were suitable for a good impression, they would be 10 times the price.
Next comes your helmet Liner, which simply fits up inside the shell. Start looking on F/B pages and eBay. A good liner is harder to find than a good shell. You don't want the liner to be plastic, but rather it should have the weird looking tortoise shell sort of finish (I won't even mention Hawley Liners here - they're cardboard!). These have all the webbing parts held in place with rivetted clips. These are often rotted and falling apart but can all be replaced with some minimal skill and a few inexpensive tools. So refurbishing your own liner can work out really cheap and you'll know that all the parts won't be suffering from rot or rust.
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Also attached to helmet liner are the 'leather chin strap' and the 'A-Yokes'. The leather chin strap clips into the two inner studs and goes around the front of the metal shell over the helmet net. The 'A-Yokes' can be purchased from the same places that supply helmets (just make sure they don't have Westinghouse buckles).
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Leather Chin Strap
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Westinghouse A-Yokes
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Inland A-Yokes
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Installing the yokes will require some of the existing rivets to be drilled out so the new hollow rivets and A-Yokes can be inserted and set in place. It sounds daunting but is really pretty easy, just go slowly and carefully! If you don't want to do it, let us.
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Leather Chin Cup - some good news: these can be fairly inexpensive, and some guys threw them away anyway; lots of guys stuffed them up inside their helmets and so they were never seen. All that means that a chin cup isn't 100% necessary, so get one if you want but NEVER wear it done around your chin. There is no evidence that anyone wore the chin cup fastened once on the ground.
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Helmet nets - Simple! Get one from Soldier of Fortune (SOF), either green or chocolate brown (never tan or khaki). Just be aware that the brown ones have a weird tint of purple in them. So should be re-dyed using Dylons Expresso Brown. That should eliminate the odd undertone.
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Scrim - All members of the 502nd PIR wore various amounts of scrim, but not the rubbish that almost all companies in the UK sell. There was no bottle green, there was no natural; if you look on the J. Murray website, they sell original scrim pieces that have been removed from helmets and there is a huge variation of flat and dull greens and browns and also some black! Don't buy the rubbish on sale, it's not cheap for a few bits of hessian and is also wrong.
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Unit Identifiers - Hearts were hand-painted on each side of all 502nd PIR helmets. Huge variations can be seen in style, skill and paint type, so there is no need to feel that your hearts won't be "good enough". They will be correct (as long as they are roughly the correct size - around 2 1/2 inches in height) no matter what they turn out like, regardless of if you are an accomplished artist or have never painted anything in your life.
Socks
Of course we all wear socks! The best looking socks for re-enacting are either thin cotton, what I call 'old man socks' or thick green woolen socks. The latter are fairly padded to help with the wear and tear on your feet from the boots. It's not often the public will see you take your boots off, but it's always better to know that if you have to, you won't be showing the world your modern and very out of character pink flamingo socks! These can be obtained at a very reasonable price from Miss Drop 44 either off this website or from eBay!
T-Shirt - Nope...
T-Shirts... Just don't do it... I know the urge is there to buy the Camp Toccoa T-Shirts because you saw them being worn at the start of Bandwagon of Brothels. They were not worn in combat!
Just bear in mind that anything worn under the M42 jacket and the wool shirt, will most likely not be visible, but that doesn't mean it's okay to wear the wrong T-Shirt! Wearing the M42 with the T-Shirt directly underneath is consider uber-FARBY and will firmly stick you in a category of re-enactors who will not be taken seriously. Unless you want to wear the Toccoa T-Shirt with the tiny blue PT shorts, these should never really be seen. It is best to get a singlet vest. Remember, all modern T-Shirts have a very modern shape to them and just look wrong.
NO!
Undergarments
There are an assortment of undergarments that can be worn, the common ones being the vest with the thin, almost rolled-over shoulder straps in OD or white (Yanks call them "wife beater shirts"). Long Johns would have been worn and probably taken off (or cut off) the second they had the chance as the troopers would have also been wearing the wool trousers under their M42 jump trousers!
The vests are a good purchase and can even be gotten from SOF. An easy win for a handy piece of kit that helps keep you warmer in the evening.
Shirt, Enlisted or Officer
After going through hundreds of original wartime photographs it became very apparent that most Paratroopers wore either the enlisted man's wool shirt or the officer's wool shirt (with shoulder epaulets), depending on rank. This makes sense as just wearing a T-Shirt and M42 Jacket wouldn't be very warm at all. When surviving outside all day and night, the more layers you wear, the better.
There are plenty of original examples of these still available to buy, check eBay and militaria fairs. If you need to buy reproduction, then At The Front or Quartermaster Inspector (QMi) are preferred suppliers.
Shown clearly in this photo, Tommy Lonergan (right) and his buddy Johnny "Peanuts" Hale (left) are both wearing the wool shirt. Tommy Lonergan has closed the gas flap. You can just make out a tiny bit of white under Johnny's Hales shirt, which is likely the oatmeal vest.
Lonergan would grieve the rest of his life over Hale's death. Both were members of the small group known as the 'Filthy 13' in the 506th PIR.
Note Hale's rigger pouch and the tape around Lonergan's grenade handles and that they are hung by the handles, not the pull rings!
Trousers Suspenders or Enlisted Belt
Belt and Braces! Yup, they really did wear them both. Although some wartime documents state only one is to be worn, others say both, and considering the weight that was in the trousers, I can see why some chose to wear both! The trousers belt shown here is the enlisted man's type, or open front buckle as it is sometimes called. Available from dozens of places, they are so basic that even cheap ones will suffice as long as they have the correct look.
Braces were always worn by Paratroopers. At right are the M42 trousers suspenders (not to be confused with the M1936 webbing suspenders... or ladies hosiery, and if you don't know what that is, don't Google it, you'll only go blind!)
Shown at right are four pairs of original suspenders. Top is the early style that was issued with the M42. I don't know of any supplier that makes these. The second from top is by far the easiest style to find for sale, At The Front or Quartermaster Inspector sells these. The other two are rather ugly, but both original, if you want something different in your appearance, then either of these could be a simple option... provided you can find them of course!
other uniform items that are useful to own
Gloves - Tan Leather
All Troopers were issued tan horsehide leather gloves, as they were expected to be dealing with possibilities of sliding down drop ropes, extracting themselves from tangled parachute cords, or even having to hold parachute risers in windy conditions. These sturdy gloves were essential and became part of their unique appearance. If a soldier can't use his hands, he is pretty ineffective. For us the threat of getting your hands shredded by cords while trying to take off a parachute is fairly minimal, but these gloves not only keep your hands warm, they are also useful when putting up and taking down the tents and gathering firewood.
There is a lot of debate as to whether or not the original gloves had adjustable straps at the wrist. There is evidence to support NO... and YES. At right, two pairs of original gloves are shown, the top pair has buckle/straps, the bottom pair does not. Just make sure the gloves you buy are TAN, not yellow.
Greatcoat
You'll find one of these greatcoats really handy when the weather drops. After all, remember which country we live in! Originals can be found as long as you're not big; and when I say big, I mean not above a 44 chest. They won't be cheap but are a fantastic item to have. If you can't find an original then the French 1950s style is extremely close, the colour is a little off, but with a swap of the buttons it looks pretty good.
However, please note that these cannot be worn when the show is open! They are for after hours only, as no paratrooper jumped into Normandy with one of these huge bulky coats!
Sweater, Wool 5-Button or Vest Type
Another way of fighting the cold yet still wearing only your M42 as an outer layer is to get hold of a woolen sweater; the high necked 5 button ones are really good at keeping the heat in. There are also vest styles ones.
Although these do keep you warm and are a period item, they are to be worn as an under layer only. Frankly they look pretty ridiculous when worn on the outside! So if you get warm, strip of your M42 jacket, pack up the sweater and put the jacket back on.
Although the buttons on the one shown right are incorrect as the one shown is probably a 1950s example.
If you want to have a vest type, I have these hand knitted (not machine knitted) in all sizes to an original wartime pattern. Some of the guys in Miss Drop 44 have them and they love them!
Raincoat, Synthetic Resin Coated, O.D.
The raincoat was widely issued, commonly seen in Normandy photos and far more widely carried since it was a handier item and much more compact than any other type of coat.
There are not too many of these being reproduced, the very best of which is made by Soldier of Fortune and is not inexpensive. It comes in a wide selection of sizes from 38" to 48" Chest. Consider buying a size or two larger than you need as it can go over all those extra layers of clothes you may have on. I was at one event and the heavens opened up in the way that England is renowned for, the guy next to me pulls out a raincoat and puts it on over all his webbing! He had purchased the biggest they sold at the time and wore it like a tent!
Of course, there are much cheaper examples on the market... but don't expect them to either keep you dry, or look anything near as good
