The sartorial elegance of the British officer on campaign

Discussion in 'General' started by Owen, Sep 28, 2012.

  1. TTH

    TTH Senior Member

  2. NickFenton

    NickFenton Well-Known Member

    Great thread Owen,

    I have no photo's to offer but know what the POW's must have looked like on repatriation but also during their shows, but i'm sure the latter does not count.

    I also loved the stories that were told of the guys at Arnhem, some of which were portrayed in 'A Bridge too far', golf clubs, hunting horns, umbrellas, etc. How much of this was true? I certainly hope so.

    Show me pictures of these guys with fat cigars rather than the other one anytime!, no, i'm not talking about Churchill.

    Nick
     
  3. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    .....golf clubs, hunting horns, umbrellas, etc. How much of this was true? I certainly hope so......

    Perfectly true if accounts of 24th Lancers (ref: 'None Had Lances') are typical of the rest of the Army et alia.
     
  4. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Here's a good one showing the range of Western Desert Pret a Porter rather nicely.

    Unfortunately not clear where and when.

    From IWM.

    All the best

    Andreas
     

    Attached Files:

    von Poop likes this.
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Some super pictures being posting, cheers everyone.
    keep them coming.

    Also I didnt realise that was Joanna Lumley's Dad, I knew he was in Gurkhas but didnt twig it was the same 'Lumley'.
     
  6. Bond

    Bond Senior Member

  7. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Here's a good one showing the range of Western Desert Pret a Porter rather nicely.

    Unfortunately not clear where and when.

    From IWM.

    That. Is pretty hard to beat.
    The sun-hat & Cricket Jumper in particular.
     
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  9. chrisgrove

    chrisgrove Senior Member

    Naturally; any regiment wherein two officers appear dressed alike is clearly lacking in initiative! 'Uniform' in the British Army sense does not conform to the normal meaning.

    Chris
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    An odd thought entered by head earlier today.
    Did any British Officers in WW2 have tattoos ?
    I know they are popular today amongst all walks of life but back in the 40s was it purely an Other Ranks thing to have a 'tat' ?
     
  11. RemeDesertRat

    RemeDesertRat Very Senior Member

    Monty had tattoos from his early days, but when he became a higher ranking officer chose to cover them up, as it wasn't the *done thing* for senior officers, hence the long sleeves in the hot desert pics.
     
    Teddy Edward likes this.
  12. Bernard85

    Bernard85 WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    good day owen.sep,28,2012,08:04pm.re:elegance of britich officers,an interesting thread,not being an army man I can only go by what read,or see in photos.but in the field they kept a low profile apart from showing there rank(pips ect,)on leave they would do there regiments prowed,there family's expected them to be smart.some of our generals were a bit prema donas.but they had to be noticed.thanks for posting.bernar85
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Chris C and ImOhShep like this.
  14. David Layne

    David Layne Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]


    The prisoners from left to right, Aubrey Niner, George Hunt, A.W.(Sandy) Simpson, and Tom (Titch) Lockyer. Lockyer is in the bottom photograph. The photos were taken at Oflag 21B at Schubin in Poland when they were temporarily taken there from Stalag Luft 3 in late 1942.
     
  15. David Layne

    David Layne Well-Known Member

    A cartoon drawn to depict the various clothing and habits obtained by POW's.

    [​IMG]
     
    dbf likes this.
  16. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    The Commanding Officer of the Calgary Highlanders, Lieutenant-Colonel D.G. MacLauchlan, speaks with scouts Corporal Kormendy and Sergeant Marshall, Kapellen, Belgium, on 6 October 1944.
    Notice the kukhri on the scouts belt?
    image.jpg
     
    Owen likes this.
  17. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    I've added some Canadian officers simply to contrast with our more resplendent British cousins. Canucks were more noted for comfort than style.

    Lieutenant-Colonel B.M. Hoffmeister, commanding officer of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, Sicily, August 1943
    image.jpg
     
  18. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    The US tanks came fully equipped, including 4 tanker's helmets of various sizes
     
  19. jonheyworth

    jonheyworth Senior Member

    Most of the deactivated Thompsons, Thompson mags, mag pouches and pistol belts for sale at the moment came from these very same WW2 stocks stored in, and just sold from Russia
     
  20. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Can I ask you to scroll up to my posting on Page 1 of this thread, comment #6, on Loopy Kennard's father ?

    I have always considered that if you have an open mind plus a working knowledge of how to get the best out of GOOGLE, the areas for research are limitless and, at times, just mind boggling

    Take today, for instance, and "Loopy" Kennard's father..

    I did a quick GOOGLE on Sir Coleridge Kennard and soon found this article about an artiste by the name of Jacques-Emile Blanche (1861-1942) who was a friend of Oscar Wilde.
    http://www.mr-oscar-wilde.de/biography/blanche.htm
    On reading through the article I was fascinated to find that Loopy's father "Roy" was the actual sitter for this evocative picture, at one time re-titled "Portrait of Dorian Gray"

    Don't you just love the internet ?

    Ron
     

    Attached Files:

Share This Page