USMC WWII Short Blanket Roll

[Gosport16]

If you are creating the short blanket roll it is attached to the field marching pack which only uses the haversack. The long roll goes on the field transport pack (the upper haversack and lower knapsack).

From the 'Guidebook for Marines', 1948 edition:

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1. Lay the shelter half out with the tent peg loops down and away from you with the triangular ends of the shelter half folded inboard.

2. Lay the blanket on the shelter half with the ends of the blanket covering the triangular ends of the shelter half and with one side of the blanket a few inches in from the end of the shelter half.

3. Fold the blanket in equally from each end so that the width of the blanket equals the length of the extended tent pole. Fold the blanket up from the edge near you, so that the blanket edge is within the shelter half.

4. Place the tent pole in the center of the blanket s few inches above the near edge. Place the guy line and two tent pins on a line with the pole at the edge of the blanket where the portion of the triangular end of the shelter half is exposed. Place the remaining three pins at the other end in a corresponding manner.

5. Fold the portion of the triangular part of the shelter half that extends beyond the blanket into the center from both ends.

6. Roll the blanket and shelter half, starting at the side which contains the pole and pins. Roll tightly and smoothly. Two men can do a better and smoother job of rolling the blankets and shelter half together. Team up with someone for this.

7. Bind the roll with "tie-ties." Then you attach the roll to the pack by means of the blanket roll straps.

Inclusion of an irate Drill Instructor breathing down your neck questioning your mental capabilities and parentage at top volume is apparently optional.

The Guidebooks for Marines are a treasure trove of period military information from uniform, equipment, and weapons to customs and traditions etc.. The earliest I have found was published in 1946. It was the 3rd publishing of the first edition so presumably the original was sometime during WWII.

Edited to include that your haversack contents would include a couple cans of rations, your toilet articles, one undershirt, one pair drawers, one pair socks, mess gear, and poncho.

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