WW2 British Soldiers with the 1911A1

They proberly got the holster from the yanks as well when they did the trade!!:D

I am informed that there were a lot of trades with the yanks for many different objects!!! And services as well!
 
Here's a link to various images of 1911 holsters etc. I'd hazzard a guess & say that the majority come from the Americans. Most pics I've seen are the leather hip holsters with the brass closure...I do know that Sears was contracted to make some of them. :http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...&sigr=11bkgm0d1&sigi=11afg59d5&sigb=1300lak33 Click on the 'accessories' image. Not sure if this will be of any help...
 
Seems to me it was the Mills Pattern Holster
I wonder if anyone makes a reproduction model?
45holsters2.jpg
 
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Saw an exRAF issue 1911 with the P1937 AM stamped revolver holster for the .38 that the vet who owned carried it in and was issued with the pistol.
 
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green said:
Saw an exRAF issue 1911 with the P1937 AM stamped revolver holster that the vet who owned carried it in and was issued with the pistol.
Click to expand...

I have one of these coming to me as soon as the paperwork from the CFO comes through. Could you post a pic of this holster or direct me to a site that has pics of one? (Sorry to side track the thread.)
 
Riflechair said:
Seems to me it was the Mills Pattern Holster
I wonder if anyone makes a reproduction model?
45holsters2.jpg
Click to expand...


Didn't the 1st Canadian Division have the .45 auto/Miils holster when they first went to France in 1915....then after the Colt and S&W revolvers were issued to the following divisions .

Curious if a Colt .45 auto will fit in the web holster of a Webley.455 revolver
 
I purchased a 1911A1 Colt from a fellow that had it issued to him during WWII. He was a local SW Ontario farm boy that ended up serving in the RAF in India. He said one day they came around and took their .380 Enfield revolvers away and gave them the .45s. He put it in the pattern 37 web holster he had, which was actually for a .45 revolver. He brought the hole rig home at the end of the war. The only way I can make sense of this is that maybe they didn't keep track of the serial numbers of the Lend Lease items very close. He added that he never liked the .45 as much as the .380 because it was too heavy.
 
myenfield said:
I purchased a 1911A1 Colt from a fellow that had it issued to him during WWII. He was a local SW Ontario farm boy that ended up serving in the RAF in India. He said one day they came around and took their .380 Enfield revolvers away and gave them the .45s. He put it in the pattern 37 web holster he had, which was actually for a .45 revolver. He brought the hole rig home at the end of the war. The only way I can make sense of this is that maybe they didn't keep track of the serial numbers of the Lend Lease items very close. He added that he never liked the .45 as much as the .380 because it was too heavy.
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He would have changed his mind very quickly about the weight of that .45 auto, if he had met a couple of Japs with their long bayonets that wanted to skewer him...that little .38 Enfield wasn't the best when stopping fanatic's...i read that alot of Brit's that fought in the jungle actively sought out the .455 Webley for its good knock down power..also the .45 auto was well respected.
 
My Dad, while serving with the Canadian Army in Germany, traded cigarettes for a US .45 and eventually got rid of it because of the weight.
 
There is a larger version of the .38 holster that will accept .45 automatics as well. I have one here, went through a bunch of them to find one that closed easily.
I suspect the prototype of this was supplied to the Air Force in the '20s for their .455 ones.
 
There was a P-37 holster that was made to hold large frame pistols including the 1911. It looks like the holster for the 380/200 pistols only larger. The top end and flap are more angular than the Webley MkVI / N-frame S&W holster. There were quite a few 1911s purchased by Great Britian and Canada in both WWI and WWII
 
The Mills holster with the metal endcap shown by Riflechair is a World War One pattern,

It is my understanding that the standard Pattern 1937 web "case, pistol" (British military terminology for "holster") was intended to fit a variety of handguns, including 1911 Colts.

Although not that easy to extract .... also a problem even with an Enfield revolver housed in this design, actually .... my 1914 Canadian-purchase Colt 1911 fits quite nicely in an unissued Pattern 1937 pistol case -

1911_exposed.jpg


1911_inserted.jpg


1911_closed.jpg
 
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As far as I know, if a 1911 doesn't fit in a P'37 holster - i.e. the flap won't fully close, or whatever - then the holster has shrunk (a problem with a lot of P'37 webbing, actually) or its size was "under spec" to begin with ..... Admittedly, the design was a compromise - with a 1911 Colt "being a "close fit" so that an Enfield revolver wouldn't be flopping around in it excessively ..... It would not have made sense to make two versions, only very slightly different in dimensions, instead of the "one size fits all" approach. If there had actually been two versions, the detail-oriented minds of the War Department would have ensured that they be designated "Mark I" and "Mark II", and that they be marked accordingly ....

Gary - I have fallen away behind in my 'clean up and reorganize' campaign, so let me know in advance, eh? ;)
 
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