<P> The British personal equipment used in the Second Boer War had been found to be deficient for a number of reasons and the Bandolier Equipment was introduced as a stop - gap replacement . The equipment was made of brown leather and consisted of five 10 - round ammunition pouches worn over one shoulder on a bandolier, with an associated waist belt and pouches, and a haversack and water bottle . It soon proved to be unsuitable for infantry use, but was used throughout the First World War by cavalry and other mounted troops . The cavalry version of the 1903 Equipment had a further four ammunition pouches on the bandolier, worn on the soldier's back, giving a total of 90 rounds carried . </P> <P> On the outbreak of war, it became clear that the Mills Equipment Company would be quite unable to keep up with the sudden demand for webbing . Therefore, a version of the 1908 equipment was designed to be made in leather, as both Britain and the USA had large leather working industries with excess capacity . The leather was coloured with either a brown or khaki finish, and the packs and haversacks were made from canvas . It was originally intended that the leather equipment would be used by units in training or on home service, and that it would be exchanged for webbing before going on active service . However, in practice, reinforcement drafts and sometimes whole battalions would arrive at the front line still with their leather equipment . </P> <P> The Pith helmet is a lightweight helmet made of cork or pith, with a cloth cover, designed to shade the wearer's head from the sun . They were widely worn during World War I by British Empire troops fighting in the Middle East and Africa . It also had a wide pocket on the outer helmet . </P> <P> The first delivery of a protective steel helmet (the Brodie helmet) to the British Army was in 1915 . Initially there were far from enough helmets to equip every man, so they were designated as "trench stores", to be kept in the front line and used by each unit that occupied the sector . It was not until the summer of 1916, when the first 1 million helmets had been produced, that they could be generally issued . </P>

What did the soldiers wear in world war 1