Questions on knapsack and ammo

What was the md. designation of the load-bearing equipment? How much ammo did a rifleman carry (60, in two pouches with 6 clips reach?) How much LMG gunners with the ZB md. 1930? How much those issued a SMG? What about those issued a pistol? Thanks!

Cheers

HANS

The knapsack was model 1939.

Riflemen had at the belt two pouches containing 5 clips each (in total 50 cartridges). Another 50 were carried in the knapsack.

Gunners of ZB-30 were carrying a bag with room for 4 clips (of 20 cartridges each).

Paratroopers armed with MP40 had the specific German bags for the SMG clips. I am not aware if there were issued special bags or pouches for Beretta or Orita SMG clips.

>The knapsack was model 1939.

Thanks! How heavy was it? What was its volume?

>Gunners of ZB-30 were carrying a bag with room for 4 clips (of 20 cartridges each).

Did they carry additional magazines in the backpack?

In pictures, I see two large canvas pouches being carried on the rear of the belt, plus the rucksack.
What was carried in these three items? The right looks like a breadbag, what did the left contain? The gasmask md. 1932?

Which capacity had the canteen? 1 litre? What was its model number?

What was the weight of the md. 1939 helmet (the Dutch M.23/27)?

Thanks!

Cheers

HANS

QUOTE

Thanks! How heavy was it? What was its volume?

I do not think that is really relevant since the soldiers did not usually carry it. They generally just took the food, ammo and the tent sheet with them. The backpack was left behind at the regimental train.

QUOTE

Did they carry additional magazines in the backpack??

They had two four-clip bags, in total 160 rounds.

QUOTE

In pictures, I see two large canvas pouches being carried on the rear of the belt, plus the rucksack.   What was carried in these three items? The right looks like a breadbag, what did the left contain? The gasmask md. 1932?

You are correct in both assumptions. The one on the right hip also contained the equipment for cleaning the rifle. The gas masks used were also model 1935 and 1939 B.

>>How heavy was it? What was its volume?

>I do not think that is really relevant since the soldiers did not usually carry it. They generally just took the food, ammo and the tent sheet with them. The backpack was left behind at the regimental train.

Well, of somebody knows it anyway I would appreciate it.

What about the canteen? What types and which capacities were available? How were any hand grenades carried?
Thanks!

Cheers

HANS

The canteen was 1 litre, made of glass or aluminium, covered in khaki canvas.

I have a question on the combat belt the Romanian soldier wore. Was it like the german belt with a detachable buckle or was the buckle part of the belt like the Bulgarian belt. Also was the shovel carrier like the WWI Austrian carrier. I cannot tell from the pictures, it looks like a single point attachment to the belt but I cannot tell any more details. Was the shelter quarter like the Russian quarter, brown with wooden toggles? I am trying to put a Romanian set of equipment together for displays ansd presentations. So far I have a VZ-24 bayonet and frog and a Dutch helmet I am going to have converted to a Romanian helmet. It looks like a lot of the Romanian equipment is made locally and is different than other armies.

This drawing was made by Horia Vl. Serbanescu in 1995 and published in Armata Romana 1941-45, RAI, 1996. I think it answers some of your questions. It is the standard equipment a Romanian infantryman was supposed to carry.

Attached Image

thanks this really helps a lot.

The Romanian soldier belt plate was plain, or decorated with a crown. The plate was detachable but the belt was of a single piece, not two as the German model. Occasionally, old model belts with blackened buckles (carried on the left hip) were also worn. In 1944-45 captured Wehrmacht/Waffen SS belts and plates were carried.

From 1942, Romanian infantrymen carried anything was available to round their equipment: Soviet captured canteens and mess tins or, later, German models.

The shovel, if it was pointed, was fastened by a single point attachment to the belt, as the Austrian WW1 model. However old types of shovels, with rectangular metallic head, were carried in a sheath fastened with two loops. German folding entrenching tools were sometimes used.

The M.1937 tent sheet was made in kaki tissue, of rectangular shape and had 12 buttonholes and metallic buttons on each side. In the corners it had large holes reinforced with metal. No wooden toggles

Here is a picture of my equipment for Romanian solder at the end of the war, using a lot of captured German equipment.

Very nice display of equipment.

Foreign (german/russian) items of equipment were often used by Romanian WW2 soldiers, particularly at the end of the war, as many contemporary photos show.

What about Romanian equipment (gas mask, canteen and knapsack)?