Australians in South Vietnam

I  have been on hiatus from my 15mm project since late November, not from the lack of mojo, but from the lack of time. As the holidays approached I started pulling a lot more shifts and hours at work, not to mention all the other things holiday related that demand my time. Now that the holidays are passed, and things have quieted down, I have resumed working on this project. Battlefront's Vietnam ANZACs have a lot of detail, maybe too much detail for 15mm. The basics, uniforms, boots, watches, web gear, ammo belts, scarves, weapons, etc. are now painted and I am almost ready to start the final "cutting in", but one detail is a bit of a mystery too me. On the butts of many of the weapons, there seem to be something attached, but in 15mm it is so small I have no clue what it  might be. The pictures below will give you an idea what I'm talking about. These packages, bundles, what ever, appear to be attached with black electrical tape or maybe rubber bands and the pics give me an idea what color the are, but What in the Hell are they??




-BadMoon

They are field dressings. My understanding is that they were taped on for easy access as it's a bit difficult to strap a field dressing onto a bush hat. It may have also made the rifle butt more comfortable when carried under the arm.

Definitely field dressings. They were a very light tan colour. They were originally carried in the day pack at the back of the webbing but that made them hard to find in a hurry so most battalions added taping it to the rifle butt SOP.