Battle Dress was the specific title of a military uniform adopted by the British Army in the late 1930s and worn until the 1960s. Several other nations also introduced variants of Battle Dress during the Second World War, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States of America (the E.T.O. uniform) and after the Second World War, including Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, and Greece.
Battle Dress (BD),[1] or later No. 5 Uniform,[2] was the combat uniform worn by British Commonwealth and Imperial forces and many Free European Forces through the Second World War. It was worn mostly but not exclusively in temperate climates. In some armies it continued in use into the 1970s. During the Second World War and thereafter this uniform was also used for formal parades (including mounting the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace) until the re-introduction of separate parade uniforms in the late 1950s.
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From the early 1930s, the British War Office began research on a replacement for the Service Dress that had been a combined field and dress uniform since the early 1900s. Initially conducted on a small scale over several years, some of the ideas tested included deerstalker hats and safari jackets. After extensive field trials of other uniforms,[3] Battle Dress (P-37 for Pattern 1937) was adopted just before the Second World War. The uniform was designed with the needs of mechanized infantry in mind, and was inspired by contemporary wool ‘ski suits’ that were less restrictive to the wearer, used less material, were warm even while wet and were more suited to vehicular movement than Service Dress.[4]
Attempting to create a more standardized uniform across much of the British military, it was composed of a fairly streamlined short jacket of wool serge that buttoned to the outside of high-waisted wool serge trousers. The jacket (or blouse) was copied as the American Ike jacket of late WWII. The sleeves of the British jacket had a forward curve built into them so that they were more comfortable to wear prone shouldering a rifle, or seated holding a steering wheel for instance, although they tended to show multiple wrinkles near the inside of the elbow when the soldier's arms were held straight at the sides. On the pants or trousers, there was a large map pocket on the front near the left knee and a special pocket for a field dressing near the right front pocket. The mixed green and brown fibers of the British battle dress fabric matched the colors of heath and forests of England and Scotland fairly well without having to be a single muddy olive green color like American uniforms. One problem often developed, the gap between the jacket and trousers would open up in extreme movement and buttons popped, so braces (suspenders) were often worn, in some cases a sweater was worn. A khaki (tan colour) cotton shirt was typically worn under the wool jacket, wearing an open collar jacket (with tie) was initially restricted to officers, other ranks buttoning the top button of the jacket. Short canvas leggings or gaiters typically covered the gap between the trousers and the short boots, further adding to the streamlined look and kept dirt out of the boots without having to use a taller, more expensive leather boot.
Battle Dress was issued widely beginning in 1939 in the British Army (as well as the Canadian Army, who produced their own, almost identical, copy of Battle Dress after the outbreak of war), though shortages meant that some units of the British Expeditionary Force went to France in Service Dress.
The so called P40 or Pattern 1940 Battle Dress (also known as "austerity pattern") was introduced in 1942; it deleted the fly front, and the front buttons, as well as the pocket buttons, were now exposed.
Officers were permitted to tailor the collar of their blouses so as to wear a collared shirt and tie, especially if they had the austerity pattern without the openable "rise and fall" collar.
Canadian Battle Dress never had an austerity pattern introduced, though the collar closure did change from a set of hooks and eyes to a flap and button in about 1943. The Canadian version was also a much greener shade of khaki than the standard British version.[5] It was greenish with some brown, rather than brownish with some green.
The United States produced Battle Dress uniforms for use by the Commonwealth, these uniforms were known as "War Aid" Battle Dress[6]. The US also produced a version called the Ike jacket or Eisenhower jacket which subsequently replaced the OG Army service uniform for troops stationed outside the Continental United States for the duration of the war. Troops of the 1st Marine Division returning from Guadalcanal were posted to Australia where they were issued Australian battledress that the Marines called the Vandegrift Jacket.
Battle Dress trousers with additional pockets sewn to them were known as Parachutist's Trousers and were issued to men in parachute and glider units.
A version of Battle Dress intended for working clothing was produced from denim with several manufacturer's variants. It was issued a size larger as it was intended to be worn over the regular uniform.
Battle Dress in shades of postman blue and navy blue were also produced for the Royal Air Force (and Commonwealth flying services) and Royal Navy/Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (and Commonwealth naval services). The Civil Defence Corps were issued dark blue battledress with the same colour issed to post war prisoners in the United Kingdom.
German U-Boat crews were also commonly issued with British Army battledress (with German insignia added)[7]. Large stockpiles had been captured by the Germans after the fall of France in 1940.
Germany also produced a new uniform in 1944 to replace its existing uniforms, it largely resembled the Battle dress.
After the Second World War, individual Commonwealth nations developed their Battle Dress uniform into both a parade and a field uniform.
In 1970, the Norwegian Army introduced a version of the Battle Dress as the new leave uniform for all conscripts. The uniform, called by its issue name the M-70, remained in use as a leave uniform for many years. As of 2011 the only unit still using the M-70 is the Royal Norwegian Guard. The uniform is presently being replaced by a new, entirely different issue, and is expected to be completely gone by the end of 2011.
Battle Dress inspired the military combat uniforms of other nations such as the United States, which copied the Battle Dress Blouse directly with the M1944 "Ike" Jacket (also known as the E.T.O. (European Theatre of Operations) Jacket, though a similar pattern was produced in Australia for US personnel in the Far East), Germany (whose copy of Battle Dress was called the Felduniform 44) and France (Modèle 1945, 1946 and 1949 patterns).