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DavidKrigbaum — 1941-42 Philippine Scout Uniform Update III
#1941 #artilleryman #bataan #philippines #reenactment #remembrance #scouts #wwii #calugas #usaffe
Published: 2016-11-20 05:09:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 1658; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 0
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Description
Some more details have been added to this kit. I've been putting together an artilleryman Philippine Scout uniform from the 1941-42 Philippine Campaign to use as a teaching aid when talking about the Battle of Bataan and the Philippine Scouts. (as it stands its less artilleryman and more generalized) Since this is a second update I'm going to rehash the 'why I made this' after the run down.Uniform includes:
M1917A1 helmet (Praire Flower Leather Co.)
M1937 Cotton Khaki summer uniform with sergeant's stripes (WWII Impressions)
M1938 dismounted leggings (What Price Glory via TankFest 2014 tent)
M1936 pistol belt (WWII Impressions)
M1928 Haversack (WWII Impressions)
M1910 shovel (WWII Impressions)
M1910 first aid pouch (WWII Impressions)
M1910 canteen (WWII Impressions)
M1916 holster (local shop) w/ replica M1911A1
M1917 magazine pouch (amazon.com)
M4A1 gas mask bag (Hessen Antiques)
Type II service shoe (SM Wholesale)
You'll notice the belt, canteen cover and first aid pouch are different than before. The cheap belt I'd initially bought looked nice, but a grommet ripped right out the first time I had to move something, so I went and repurchased parts from WWII Impressions. It's pricey, but the quality speaks for itself.
I started a second, smaller project seen at the top, and that's an early war tanker's uniform. So far it's just a pair of coveralls, but I'm looking to get the proper helmet. Most of the rest of the uniform can be made from what I already have. The coveralls are from WWII Impressions and the cover from What Price Glory.
Not visible in this image is an original red Carlisle bandage inside the M1910 first aid pouch,a replica set of dog tags on an M1940 chain and a small collection of coins from the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Great Japanese Empire, Kingdom of Sarawak, the Malay States and British North Borneo. The bandage and custom dogtags came from wwiidogtags.com and the coins I've collected over a good number of years.
The artillery uniform is a tribute to Sgt. Jose Calugas, the first Soldier to earn the Medal of Honor in World War II. He was an artilleryman, serving as a mess sergeant, in the 88th Field Artillery (PS) during the Battle of Bataan when he saw another battery's 75mm guns go silent because the crew was injured and dead. Not asking for orders, he grabbed some other soldiers and ran 1000 yards over open ground under artillery fire to get it working again. Where it gets muddy is if he fired the gun alone for the rest of the day, or if his impromptu squad stayed with him. The citation says he kept them firing it, other writing about it makes it sound as if after returning it to service he did it himself and the Mt. Samat relief of "Sgt. Calugas firing his Cannon" depict him alone as well, though that may be artistic license.
The pistol belt and haversack is based on some training photos I saw, the Scout anti-tank gunners carried pistols in all of them and one field training image showed them with the haversacks as well.
There is no unit badge on the arm, because though its popular with re-enactors to show they are representing Scouts, historically it wasn't worn on shirt sleeves at that point in the war.
Originally I had wanted to make this a Class B and C uniform. The Class C is merely a stripped down version of the B- no tie, no hat unit badge and no collar devices denoting branch of service. The road block I hit with that was an inability to find the insignia of the 88th Field Artillery (PS) to buy or have made.
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Comments: 4
Thanks. Its surprising how it seems there is always another small piece to add to this. Luckily I found a single image of PS artillerymen doing field training carrying their full kit to confirm that they were issued sidearms and not rifles. I'd read from an interview that the artillery still retained the M1903 and that only the infantry and cavalry Scouts had been issued the M1 Garand, that made me wonder if they were issued the rifles. That said, I've seen pictures of heavier artillery crewmen on Bataan and they wore cartridge belts so I assume those ones were issued the rifles, but the 75mm artillerymen still had the sidearms.
I also bought the M1897 field manual, though it's not shown here, and a 1939 edition of The 39 Steps to help fill out the haversack.
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I don't think the M1 Carbine--a good weapon for Filipinos! Made it to the Archipelago before the surrender. Anybody in '41 with other work for their hands would have gotten an M1911A1 or an M1917. And many would have had a Bolo or Balisong as a way to make one final statement to Los Japons.
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The M1 carbine didn't come out until after Bataan ended.
Now I have this full kit together I'd like to take it out somewhere and take some pictures in it. Locally we have a few World War II sites, but this is Japan so it's not quite the same as the Philippines.
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