The euipment of the post war Danish Army - the odd ones.

Once in a while, you stumble upon a configuration of uniforms and accoutrements that you simply can not believe ever saw the light of day - as the above photo. It is the reason why I wrote this small entry. The above configuration is very strange - But it is not at all wrong! All the items seen on the photo were used between 1943 (DANFORCE in Sweden) and the 1950s and beyond.

The items in the above picture, that I can identify, are the following: 

- British mk. II helmet

- Danish M/44 battledress uniform, with the 1949 appropriated collar badges in brass. 

- Danish M/1915 torch (in leather). 

- Swedish M/39 rucksack 

- Swedish "matttornister" M/1911 (underneath the gas mask cannister)

- Swedish M/ 1896 knife bayonet, for the Swedish Mauser Riffles.

- Swedish M/1888 shovel

- Swedish M/1937-39 Husqvarna sub machine-gun.  

- German WWII gas mask canister (M/38?)
- British patt. 37 webbing legging / gaiters.

All in all, it is quite an extensive collection of different bits of equipment. Although the great bulk of it, is made up of Swedish equipment because of the equipment brought back home with the Danish Brigade in Sweden (DANFORCE). 

This tells me, that official equipment (and clothing) regulations are not always the entire truth, and if one were to portray a Danish infantryman in the late 1940s, the above picture is perhaps more of a guideline than the official regs.? 

 The picture below supports the use of the German gas mask canister and the Swedish water bottle (carried in the new model water bottle carrier) continued to at least 1951!

The devil is in the details!