Our Impressions

The Hallamshire Battalion. No10 Platoon, A company

The Hallamshire Battalion were a Territorial Army unit attached to the 49 Infantry Division ‘The Polar Bears’ (so called due to their early war service in Iceland and Norway and the divisional sign of a Polar Bear!)
While today the term TA conjures up part time ‘weekend warriors’ in the dark days of WWII the TA battlalions were fully mobilized as line infantry and the 49th Division were trained to take part as the second assault wave on the D-day beaches.  The Hallamshires fought a bloody campaign through Normandy, fighting through France and into Holland and finally Germany.

Standard uniform for the Hallamshire Battalion is serge battledress, 37 pattern webbing equipment and a steel helmet

2nd Battalion South Staffords. 16 Platoon, C Company

The 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire regiment were trained to operate as an air landed infantry battalion.  Entering the battle in assault gliders the unit was highly trained and motivated enough to be considered elite by the standards of the 1940s.   The men of C Company are argued to have been the first allied troops to land in Europe as part of the troubled ‘Operation Huskey’ and after refitting and re-arming took part in Operation Market Garden where the battalion earned two Victoria Crosses.

Standard uniform for our South Staffords impression is serge battledress, Denison smock, maroon airborne beret and 37 pattern web equipment.