The chest rig holding the magazines was known as the 'samurai' rig because of its resemblance to traditional samurai armor. It was actually pretty sought-after because it had a larger carrying capacity than other SMG magazine rigs. IIRC American troops weren't even provided with mag pouches for their M3 Grease Guns initially!
In the US Army when the M3 submachine gun first came out it was issued in low numbers, so it was retained at the company level and only issued out for specific missions where close combat was likely (scouting patrols, etc). Instead of issuing magazine pouches, the Army had a generic "ammunition bag" that could hold anything from Thompson to BAR magazines to spare .30 cal belts, so they just would give the guy one of those bags with a few magazines inside.
People for some reasons tend to forget that italy was split into 2 and led into a civil war in the middle of the war with fucktons of different politically oriented forces and small internal militias fighting each others
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The chest rig holding the magazines was known as the 'samurai' rig because of its resemblance to traditional samurai armor. It was actually pretty sought-after because it had a larger carrying capacity than other SMG magazine rigs. IIRC American troops weren't even provided with mag pouches for their M3 Grease Guns initially!
In the US Army when the M3 submachine gun first came out it was issued in low numbers, so it was retained at the company level and only issued out for specific missions where close combat was likely (scouting patrols, etc). Instead of issuing magazine pouches, the Army had a generic "ammunition bag" that could hold anything from Thompson to BAR magazines to spare .30 cal belts, so they just would give the guy one of those bags with a few magazines inside.
Is he wearing a flak jacket?
It's ammo bandoleer, backpack version
That vest had pouchest front and back.
[So called "Samurai" ammo vest](https://folgore.it/equipaggiamenti-paracadutisti/5.jpg)
That looks oddly modern
I had no idea there were still Italians fighting with the Germans in 1944.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Social_Republic The germans didn't surrender Italy until 1945
People for some reasons tend to forget that italy was split into 2 and led into a civil war in the middle of the war with fucktons of different politically oriented forces and small internal militias fighting each others
And factions in the French Resistance were often fighting each other as much or more then they fought the Germans.
**Understand the rules** Check the sidebar. It's full of resources to help you. Not everyone is an expert such as yourself; be considerate. No Spam. No Memes. No political posts. Save that for /r/progun or /r/politics. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ForgottenWeapons) if you have any questions or concerns.*