A detailed history and review of the modified T-5 parachute has been long overdue. This article is based on my own research and my purchase of a faithful reproduction from The Rigger Depot.
It can be hard to find reliable and detailed information about this type from websites and forums, as so few of these parachutes are actually in the hands of collectors and museums. Unfortunately, even reference books sometimes get versions of these parachutes mixed up and mistaken information then gets redistributed online.
History
In Normandy, troopers had a hard time freeing themselves of their parachute harness, hindered by all their equipment. Those unlucky to land in water in the flooded areas often drowned before they could release themselves. Consequently, SHAEF ordered for all troop parachutes to be retro-fitted with a quick release box.
The reproduction from The Rigger Depot
Now 15 years after buying my first T-5 reproduction, and after a lot of research, I finally ordered a T-5 modified Market Garden parachute from the Rigger Depot in sunny California. Even in the process of this purchase, I learned some very interesting new details from the owner, Joshua De Jong. He really is the go-to guy for any type of WWII parachute. His reproductions are hand-made to order, and in my case made from original WWII canvas, and mostly original hardware, as with most of his projects. Joshua has also supplied parachutes to movies and series.
The V-ring for the Griswold bag is correctly mounted on the right-hand side (the 501st PIR had them mounted on the left side). The Griswold V-ring even retains the partial canvas chest guard roughly hacked off, exactly like the originals down to even the most minuscule detail. Also note how the ends of parachute webbing have been correctly daubed against fraying.
I ordered mine with a correctly shaped lightweight foam filler, and with the aging service. Ready for display. I have to say that I’m very satisfied with the quality of the materials and workmanship. Really top-notch.
The picture on the left shows the parachute as it was before the optional aging treatment.
Main characteristics
What most visibly distinguishes the modified T-5 from the regular T-5 is the quick release box on the chest. More details about this below.
The extended white straps are attached to the harness at the chest and to the leg straps. The original T-5 back strap hardware was left disengaged. The lower two white straps on the quick release didn’t go between the legs, as you might expect. On period photographs, you can see them go around the hips, forming an X on the chest, rather than a Y.
Who used them
This modified version of the T-5 was used by the 101st Airborne in Holland for Operation Market garden. Some of the 82nd Airborne did train with it, but due to insufficient quantities, they were issued regular T-5’s for the Market Garden jump.
In Holland, the 101st used different versions of the modified T-5, and it continued to use it for the rest of the war, as the new T-7 parachute was still scarce in 1945.
Use of the reserve parachute in Holland
Not all troopers used their reserve pack. In photographs, you often see them holding the reserve pack in their hands. According to first-hand accounts, many were discarded prior to boarding the planes, as the Holland jump was expected to be very low-level and the reserve would not have had the chance to deploy in case of a main chute failure.
As the manual that comes with the T-5 from The Rigger Depot illustrates, the waist band from the main pack is supposed to be passed through the loops on the back of the reserve pack. I always thought this webbing was just for reinforcement, but now this makes sense. When the reserve is deployed, it would otherwise tip up at the hooks, and put all of the strain on the D-rings.
In the picture below, you can also see my mannequin holding the reserve pack in his hand. The extended Griswold bag and his musette bag are on the ground.
Also note that the M7 assault gas mask bag for the M5 gas mask was still being used for Market Garden, even though they were mostly discarded after the Normandy jump. Sometimes, these bags would contain other items that needed to stay dry, such as demolition or personal items.
How the B-4 life jacket was worn
As with the reserve pack, many photos can be found of paratroopers holding the yellow B-4 life jackets in their hands, or wearing them loosely slung over the neck, on top of the parachute webbing. For the actual Holland jump, though, it looks like many of them were also discarded. When dressing up my own mannequin, I was mainly wondering whether to put the B-4 underneath the T-5 webbing, or on top of it. I ended up choosing underneath, but mostly because my B-4 is in used condition, so not really flat anymore. I would like to hear more opinions about this.
How they were made
None of these modified T-5’s seem to be exactly alike, because they were rigger-made. The chest straps were crudely cut off and replaced with white webbing which was attached to the lugs of the quick release. There were two ways of attaching the white straps to the leg straps:
The first pattern modified harness utilized simple clip-on leg strap extensions. In this version there’s a lot of variation between harnesses due to the manual work.
The second pattern had completely new sliced-in leg straps, and the details are much more standardised between harnesses. Generally, for Market Garden it was the first pattern and for Varsity the second pattern, although there were exceptions.1
The second version may be found with OD or white chest straps, but the added leg straps will always be found in white. After taking these pictures, I found a better photo of how to run the leg straps around the harness and through the legs. A detail picture of this will follow soon.
The quick release box types
Other parachutes at the time already had a quick release box, so it wasn’t a new invention. Most notably the British X-Type parachute and the RAF Observer parachute. It was from the harness of the latter that U.S. riggers took the quick release box for most of the modified T-5’s. The release button on this type is round, whereas the button on the later retrofitted T-5 and T-7 harnesses were squared-off.
For Market Garden and Varsity, a square of brown horsehair felt was mounted underneath the box for padding. On the T-7, the quick release had a leather pad instead.
Safety pin
The safety pin that can be seen in certain books is the RAF version. Generally you see it on postwar gear. It’s a bit different from the US/Canadian version safety clip which is much more commonly seen during Operation Varsity. Generally the safety pin is not seen until then.
Markings
As I already had an empty original RS-marked T-5 reserve parachute pack (for Robert Sink, the CO of the 506th PIR), I asked for a matching main parachute and harness. The RS stencil can only be seen on the inside of the webbing, so not when the parachute is on a mannequin. Same for the reserve pack.
The main pack is stamped with N.A.F.I. (National Automotive Fibres, Inc.) and dated JAN 1944. The markings are really well done throughout. See photo gallery for details of all of the markings.
1 https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/247350-t5-parachute-question/ 16/08/2015 comment #10
Your input matters
Please leave a comment or send me an email if you have any corrections, extra information or questions. I would like to grow this article further, as I do with my other articles.
