The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-12

| every soldier gets refer EuSOn
every one Of the 10 uniforms men,
toned above. But these uniforms
will keep the soldier clothed and in
his right mind, protected from the
elements in any climate from Alas
ka to Africa. All told, there are $500
different items Of equipage.
At the one extreme is the new
tropical uniform Of shorts and pith
helmet now being worn by the
YankS on Bermuda.
At the other extreme Is the Arctic
parka, which Is something extra.
outside, 1t Is reversible poplin
wind-proof and weather-proof fab
ric, one side white to blend with
snow and Ice, the other side the new
shade of olive green to blend with
woods and tundra. For extreme
temperatures, below this palts-and-
parka are two suits Of half-inch
thick, high-pile undergarmetlts
made af alpaca and mohair, warm
er than fur, and worn hung from
special suspenders.
If soldier gets too warm and
sweats, then cools down, the ten
dency is for the perspiration to
freeze, but It's easily removed. Sim
ply take off the underwear and
shake out the icicles, or brush them
off.
OLIVE DRAB INDIES
Speaking Of underwear, the new
Army issue underwear Is to X: olive
drab instead Of white. Not to hide
dirt-to provide camouflage so that
when soldiers wash their undies In
stream and then spread them on
the grass to dry In the sun, they
won't h. spotted by enemy aircraft.
Blue jeans, more properly known
as blue denims, may disappear from
use as overalls and work clothes as
one result Of this war, for the Army
has developed a new material for
fatigue uniforms, fpsrringbone
twill In the new Army olive green.
It's much stronger than denim, and
Just about the same In price.
The Quartermaster Corps licked
the raincoat problem with q new
fabric that will probably find wide
acceptance when made available TO
civilians. It's a cotton sheeting I'M
pregnated with viscous resin that
Is better than rubber. 1t won't
crack and 1t won't stick like the old
oilskins. Manufacturers Of the new
rainwear for q time tried to have
q lot of garments rejected, so they
could sell them to civilians for more
money than they get from the
Army. But the ONO put o quick
stop to that.
CHAMELEON CLOTHES
New Army camouflage suits for
jungle fighting are reversible, en-
abling the soldiers to change their
spots like chameleon by simply
turning their garments inside out.
On one side, the greens predominant,
for use in jungles. On the other
side the browns and sand tone pre-
dominate, for use In desert country
or mountains.
One OF the neater accessories for
the jungle camouflage suits Is
pair Of flotation bladders. When a
soldier wants to wade across a
stream and he doesn't know how
deep 1t Is, he simply blows up these
spare bladders, puts them under
hts armpits like water wings, and
starts walking.
If Quartermaster Corps clothing
procurement officers have their way,
the end Of this war won't see the
springing up Of lot Of so-called
Army and Navy stores, peddling
Army surplusses and seconds at
distress prices. Reason is that to-
day, Army clothing is Of such high
quality that the garments can all
be stored indefinitely. The stuff
dumped on the market after the
last war was mostly stuff that would
not keep.