During the 1950's it was decided that
a new set of webbing was needed to replace the 1937 and 1944 pattern
webbing of World War Two fame. The design chosen to replace them
was the 1958 pattern webbing which consisted of a Belt, Yoke, 2 Ammo
pouches, Water bottle pouch, Kidney pouches, Poncho roll and a Large
pack. Besides the main combat webbing set there was a Pistol
holster, Compass pouch, Binoculars pouch and a SLR Butt pouch.
With the introduction of the new webbing came a new Poncho, Sleeping
bag, Water bottle and Entrenchment tools consisting of either a Pick axe
or Spade.
The '58 webbing was a good design but
over time faults were found. It was found not to be suitable for
tropical conditions due to ability to soak up large amounts of water
that not only made it heavy but also took a long time to dry and over
time, shrank. The large pack was also found to be too small for
the modern soldiers needs. Concerns were also raised that if it
could hold water that it may not be possible to fully
decontaminate after a chemical attack and could pose a danger to its
user. Although several attempts were made in the early 1970's to
rectify the webbings problems is a testament to its durability and
design that it lasted nearly 40 years before it was finally phased
out.
At the start of the 1980's
there was still a shortage of the '58 webbing and some soldiers
during basic training had to make do with '37 pattern webbing. The
problem with using the '58 webbing in the Tropics was solved by carrying
on issuing the '44 pattern webbing.
The thing with the '58 webbing is that you could almost do anything you
wanted to it. The Para's were famed with modifying there webbing
by replacing the Kidney pouches with water bottle pouches and used
the '44 pattern water bottle and pouches. Over time the other units
caught on and started to adapt the webbing to the wearers needs.
The '58 webbing was designed to be
used in two configurations, CEFO and CEMO. CEFO stands for
Complete Equipment Fighting Order and consisted of Belt, Yoke, Ammo
pouches, Poncho roll, Kidney Pouches and Water bottle. It
contained all the soldiers ammunition and food for 24 hours fighting in
the field. CEMO stands for Complete Equipment Marching Order. This
consisted of CEFO and the Large pack which would contain spare food
& ammunition, Dry clothes, Sleeping bag and anything else the
soldier was
able to cram in. The contents of both orders were laid down in
unit Standard operational Procedures (SOP) but was usually tailored to suit
the individual needs depending on the mission or environment.
Examples of CEFO and CEMO contents are regularly displayed by Forces 80
at events (shown below).
CEFO
CEMO
