Tony, thank you for the images of the web equipment, what you have in your top posting is a set of Utility Pouches and the bottom post shows what is known as a Basic Pouch. Here are the details and some images,
The Utility Pouches were issued as a pair, front and rear that were attached by a 2.5cm (1in) web strap at the bottom and a web Yoke at the top. Each Utility Pouch was a rectangular web case that was designed to carry three Bren 30 round magazines, or two Anti-tank Rifle Magazines, or Small Arms Ammunition, or a number of Grenades, or a Water Bottle. They were secured with a flap at the top, hinged at the rear, which was fastened with a brass stud fastener on a short web tab. The inside of the flap on Canadian Basic Pouches has three web loops sewn on it, these are to secure three Balistite Cartridges which are used to launch grenades from the Rifle when a Cup Discharger is used. Each Pouch is labelled front and rear; the difference being that at the bottom of the rear of the front Pouch was attached a 2.5cm (1in) strap similar to the Supporting Strap; in that it had a 2.5cm (1in) buckle on one end and a metal end-cap on the other. The rear Pouch had a web slot at the rear in which the metal end-cap was slipped through. At the top rear of the Pouch was a 4.0cm (1½in) metal buckle for attachment to the Yoke. The web material used to secure this buckle to the Pouch has a gap between it and the pouch in which the Yoke passes through.
The Utility Pouches were designed to be worn diagonally across the rear of the wearer so that the front Pouch was on the front left hand side of the wearer and the rear Pouch was on the rear right hand side of the wearer. The Yoke would run across the back. When secured, the 2.5cm (1in) metal buckle and eyeletted end-piece were centred at the front of the wearer just above the centre buckle of Waistbelt. In order to unencumber the wearer, the Utility Pouches could also be secured around the Haversack with a Pouch mounted on each end, the Yoke passing under the top flap of the Haversack, and the web strap wrapped around the body of the Haversack. This was done by some units for the Normandy Invasion when large amounts of equipment were carried for the initial assault.
Utility Pouches were to be issued at a scale of four sets for each Bren Gun (for the carriage of 24 Magazines) and two sets for each Anti-tank Rifle (for the carriage of 8 Magazines).
The Utility Pouch Yoke was a wide section of 6.4cm (2½in) web shoulder section with a 5.0cm (2in) web strap at each end. Yokes were manufactured in two distinct ways, the first was the original method were the 6.4cm (2½in) wide portion for the shoulders narrows to the 5.0cm (2in) strap. The second method is a 5.0cm (2in) strap is encased in a tapered 6.4cm (2½in) web shoulder section. In all cases the ends of the straps have metal eyeletted end-pieces.
The Basic Pouch was a rectangular web case that was designed to carry two Bren 30 round magazines, or Small Arms Ammunition or Grenades. They were interchangeable and secured with a flap at the top, hinged at the rear, which was fastened with a brass stud fastener on a short web tab. The inside of the flap on Canadian Basic Pouches has three web loops sewn on it, these are to secure three Balistite Cartridges which are used to launch grenades from the Rifle when a Cup Discharger is used. At the bottom of the rear of the Pouch was a pair of metal hooks that fastened into the flat web loops of the Waistbelt. At the top rear of the Pouch is a triple slot metal buckle for attachment to the Braces and the metal hook on the Shoulder Straps. The web material used to secure this buckle to the Pouch has a gap between it and the pouch in which the Brace passes through.
Canadian produced Basic Pouches were manufactured in three sizes to meet the changing needs of the military as new weapons were developed. There were, however, four distinct types produced during the Second World War. The difference in the four types is the overall length of the pouch as well as the way in which the triple slot metal buckle is attached to the pouch. The first type of pouch is the original 1937 Pattern designed to carry two Bren magazines and was in production until 1942. The second type is a lengthened pouch that was designed so that the 30 round Sten magazines could be carried inside and was introduced in 1942 when the Sten began to begin to be issued. The first type of pouch was not long enough to accommodate the Sten magazine. The third type uses a different version of the triple slot metal buckle, which was manufactured in steel instead of brass. The fourth type employs the same triple slot metal buckle as the third type, but it is longer then the other three and more importantly, was specifically designed to accommodate the 32 round 9mm Sten Magazine. The other major distinguishing features of this fourth type is that first of all the three web loops, sewn into the inside flap for Balistite Cartridges, have been discontinued. Secondly, there are sections of web sewn into the top of the pouch in order to lengthen it. All four pouches were issued concurrently and no distinction was made officially between them. Each is stamped ‘SMALL’ on the back.
This image shows the three different sized variations of Basic Pouch as well as the Basic Pouch which was designed for Sten Magazines.
