Favorite Uniforms

I was stationed in Germany when I was in the army and that can be a cold, damp place. We still had wool shirts for field use and the heavier cargo pants, too, instead of fatigues for the winter. The rest of the time it was fatigues. One pair of field pants were the old style without cargo pockets.

In WWII there were several less common coats and jackets on issue, most intended for very cold climates. There was a so-called artic version of the field jacket, which was just a slightly longer and slightly heavier jacket. The Navy deck jacket is almost the same except for the color and the additional pocket. I doubt it's still in use. Of the less common coats and jackets, the mackinaw was probably the most widely issued and they appear in a lot of photos. There were also one or two different knee-length coats for cold weather, very much like a civilian coat. The most unusual issue clothing item might have been flannel-lined cotton khaki pants, a style still available.

One interesting point, which I probably already mentioned, was how few uniforms recruits were actually issued when they entered the service.

 

In addition to reenacting I have been "collecting" WWII uniforms and field gear for a long time and wear it sometimes in reenacting and sometimes just for day-to-day. That Arctic version of the M41 that you mentioned is noticeably better than the plain M41 and I always felt it was what should have been designed in the first place. It's not as good as the M43 but at least there is some hope that it would keep you warm in a cold climate.

I always like wearing the Type II mackinaw in cold weather. A good compromise between weight and warmth - and they look good, too.
I also wear a repro tanker jacket on moderately cool/cold days when biking to work. That was a very successful design.

 

The favorite uniform is worn on ETS day: estimated time of separation from service; otherwise known as 'echo-tango-suitcase'.
I wore Class-A greens and spit shined jump boots.
And the urine tossing hippies at the airport left me all alone.

 

Robert Capa photo of Chinese Nationalist soldier who would have been unusually well-equipped for KMT army.

 

Well, that explains a lot of things. I came home on the bus.

 

Just an aside is that a Mauser C-96 with the shoulder stock holster attached?

 

Yes and I once owned one with the shoulder stock when I lived overseas. Although in theory not a bad idea and in fact fairly popular for the first twenty years or so of the 20th century, the one I had was not a tight attachment, which detracted somewhat from the effectiveness of the combination.

 

Back in the day, Class As and spit shined Corcorans were the next best red flag to wearing Tiger Stripes in Japan.
In country only, but there were no hippies in Nippon anyway.

 

When you're more German than Germany.

 

Being a piper my nearly my whole life, I have a lifelong love of Highland Scottish military uniform.

Highland Full Dress is impressive, yes, but my favourites tend to be the khaki uniforms, either Khaki Drill, here



or here, Khaki Serge, in the immediate post-WWII period. This is probably my favourite image of Highland uniform of the hundreds I have



There's a ready-for-business quality to the khaki uniforms lacking in the ornate finery of Full Dress, though a Victorian Highland Officer in Full Dress is quite impressive

 

It's hard to imagine at this historical distance that there were those who went into battle in kilts still in the twentieth century (though that had, from memory, all but died out in early ww2). Especially these days when 90% of the men youj see wearing kilts in Scotland are American tourists or Englishmen at weddings. (You can usually spot the former as theyr'e the foreigner insisting they are Scottish, and the latter as they're the ones doing the "Look! I'm wearing A SKIRT! isn't it FUNNY!" routine. ).

I've become quite the fan of the kilt. I've even toyed with the idea of adapting one of those battledress kilt jackets for civilian use when wearing a kilt. Leather football buttons would be nice. KD version would be cool with a kilt in Summer.

 

Have you heard of Bill Millin? Probably the most famous piper in the world. He defied orders, and bullets, by marching from his landing craft on D-Day, unarmed, leading his company whilst playing his pipes up the beach. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-27672376/d-day-bagpiper-who-led-the-troops-onto-the-beaches

You need to keep this retort up your sleeve in case you get asked: "Is anything worn under the kilt?"
"No, it's all in perfect working order."

 

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, France WWI



The Black Watch, France 1944



Officers of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Korean War

 

It is a good line, that one. I'm also a fan of "Of course I'm wearing underwear. I'm a Celt, not a barbarian."

 

Rather supports my long held opinion about how vastly more stylish a kilt is than short trousers.