Nobody was wearing ear defenders up until the very late 60's so far as we were concerned. I remember the first ones we were ever issued with in Oz. We all went down to the canteen sort of area where someone from the RAP looked at our ears and decided what size we needed. Then someone else dished out a suitable size. I think that there were 3 sizes, the usual small, medium and large. Naturally (so said), those that were most well endowed in the wedding tackle department got the large ear plugs - and so on, downwards!!!!!!!! They were little pink things with a little tag that the (usually) the Armourers shop would pull out with a pair of snipe nosed pliers when they got jammed in! The training areas are probably still littered with zillions of the things as nobody really bothered using then during rifle, MG or mortar fire. But by heavens....., we noticed the effect when it came to the rocket launchers and recoilless A/tk guns at Ashan ranges. They went off with a huge instant BANG............. that shook your brains out.
Our regular/approved Armourers testing ranges usually had baffled ranges with sound absorbing firing stations. But out on the usual 25m camp ranges it was a hearing free for all. I did fire a 40mm tear gas grenade into the sand butts once and for days afterwards tear gas was leeching out from the sand. Someone came in a few days later and told us that the band practice room had been unusable for a few days because it seemed to be contaminated by a choking gas residue! Don't ask me how we ever got away with these stunts but we were young lads, far from home, the nasho's were counting the days and...........
