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UK P-40 Battledress Jackets and Trousers

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Smokey View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 11 2009 at 7:40pm
I've been somewhat curious about how well this uniform actually worked out for comfort and utility.
Any reenactors (or original users) willing to share their experience?
I've been using Swedish wool uniforms from the 1950's and really like them for the colder winter weather. I got several for pennies on the dollar.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2009 at 10:35pm
Tony could impart more on this than I...but fromwhat I understand it was a vast improvement over the 1st war stuff.
Cdn battle dress did differ(very slightly) from Britian's.For the most part it was pretty durable.
Hoadie
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2009 at 3:48am
I'm not that old you cheeky sod. It was phased out in the 60s . Sure it was tough and durable but itchy as hell at times. However I did manage to score an old greatcoat and boy was it warm in winter.
Rottie (PitBulls dad.)


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Smokey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2009 at 7:55am
Tony,
Wool can be extremely itchy with nothing between it and you. Assuming you wore cootton or something underneath, how was it for comfort? Did it bind and pinch in odd places?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2009 at 10:35am
From the ones I've had on I wud hafta say no.(course they weren't xactly "tailored fits").But with the undershirt the Canucks were issued-it seemed to do OK.The old boys did tell me tho-that whenever they were in the vicinity of the Brits-they ALWAYS seemed to wanna have a parade & inspection.The ONLY way to clean they're battle dress was to use petrol..well that became a problem-especially with the tankers.(Brits & they're pomp-go figger).
Course-when ya got good & wet,ya tended to smell like my husky!
Hoadie
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 12 2009 at 4:55pm
Tailored fit????  Yeah they looked like a 1 armed tinsmith had made em! I was lucky I didn't have to wear any of it. What I do know is when they got wet they weighed a ton. Try some and see! 
Rottie (PitBulls dad.)


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Smokey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2009 at 7:25am
Generally I wear my woolen stuff (usually Swedish) in the winter; with snow on the ground and temperatures well below freezing. When I was being one of the blue-suited people Hoadie kept missing, the wool uniform could be a real drag in hot, humid weather. I did notice that once I started sweating, it wasn't too bad.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2009 at 7:52am
KEPT MISSING??!! I DONT MISS PEOPLE IN UNION SUITS!! (Hoadie note: Confederate Army was "non-union" ) & furthermore-its the bullet proof underwear you-uns wear that aint fair!!Think of it this way...The south showed y'all ONCE..& if'n yas dont straighten out-they'll do it AGIN!! Now-play nice or the South'll wup yas again!!& THIS time I'll come down & give 'em a hand @ it!! (Blue-bellies in crusty underwear....sakes!
Hoadie(the Unrepentant)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote White Rhino Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2009 at 8:58am
Hoadie , I live amidst a Civil War Battle field or 2......
We have one close by that is unmarked... cant find any thing on it. I havent really tried though and am not really into digging about it on the NET... Wouldnt mind taking a metal detector out in that area though....
"White Rhino"

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 14 2009 at 11:15am
..Just watch out fer bushwackin Yankees,Rhino!!I hear stories bout 'em hangin around-STILL! Tryin ta get revenge fer they're loss in the war agin Northern Agression!!
(very)Pvt.Hoadie 22 Va Inf Batt.C Coy CSA
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Smokey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2009 at 7:40am
Well I declare Hoadie,
It seems I hit a nerve!
 
"Methinks the man doth protest too much!" Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2009 at 12:42pm
Protest???HELL! NO! Just callin a spade a spade!!
(Crusty underware Yankees STILL thinkin they won Lincoln's war... )
Sakes! See what propaganda does??
Hoadie
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Smokey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 17 2009 at 6:22pm
Well, all wise cracks aside, it was the better marksmanship of the South that led to the development of the NRA, to improve marksmanship in the general population.
 
I was looking at the reproduction uniforms at the "What Price Glory" website, and started wondering how well the issued uniforms worked out in service. The Swedish uniforms I use in the winter are excellent for the snow and cold.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DRC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2012 at 3:29am
Hoadie wrote 'The ONLY way to clean they're battle dress was to use petrol..' - My father fought in the Western Desert and claimed that his baldness was due to not only washing his battledress in petrol but his hair as well!
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go. Always a little further: it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow. Across that angry or that glimmering sea
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2012 at 4:45am
"Tailored fit????  Yeah they looked like a 1 armed tinsmith had made em!
What I do know is when they got wet they weighed a ton. Try some and see!
"

True that!

I'm not sure which pattern we were issued. The RAF sometimes had it's own variations on things. There were #1 (Gaberdine dress uniform), #2 (wool battledress blues) & #3 (cotton? coveralls).

We had the short jacket with the "V" neck over a blue shirt. (attached collar for officers, separate collars for other ranks). It buttoned to the pants. All (except the shirt) was blue-grey wool.

It was actually pretty reasonable, assuming the unit tailor didn't take a prayer break while "tailoring" to fit, & forgot where he was before the call to the faithful. I remember being referred to as "deformed" because I took different size pants & jacket & they fit with the exception of moving the buttons to line up with the button holes in the jacket's waist.



Sorry it's not a better pic, this was the only one I could find with the correct jacket (blouse). The earlier (pat 37 maybe?) could be buttoned & then hooked closed at the neck, this type couldn't be.



Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Smokey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2012 at 8:05am
Buttoning the pants and jacket together, how well did that work out?
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