The Battledress Era

Battledress represented such a radical departure from previous uniform designs that when a prototype suit was unveiled in 1938 it came as quite a shock to both army and public. The uniform was tailored from the same coarse khaki serge as service dress, that was about the only similarity. Gone were the shiny brass buttons, the soldierly peaked cap, the long puttees, the knickerbocker-style breeches. In came a short 'bum-freezer' blouse, belted snugly at the waist, with concealed buttons and two breast pockets. The generously cut trousers featured a large pocket for maps on the left thigh and a small pocket for field dressings on the right.

The unwieldy puttees were replaced by short canvas gaiters, fastened with two straps, which encircled the boot tops and held the folded trouser bottoms. The matching '37 pattern webbing belt was narrower than the belt worn with service dress. The basic headgear issued with battledress was a somewhat impractical forage cap, although this was replaced by a beret-style general service cap towards the end of the war (seen in the photograph left). The only part of the old uniform which remained was the footwear, still the same ramrod stiff ammunition boots with steel-shod soles.

Critics of the new uniform pointed out that battledress ignored the need for a soldier's upper garment to provide some cover below the waistline, a lesson which had been learnt once already during the 19th century. Battledress soon showed its other shortcomings. It was difficult for a soldier - or cadet- to take any real pride in the drab and utilitarian uniform, a point further rubbed home when American troops arrived in their well tailored outfits later in the war. The blouse tended to part company with the trousers, exposing the midriff, and the trouser bottoms had a habit of pulling loose from the gaiters.

A website for one of the numerous Second World War battle re-enactment groups warns potential recruits that 'the battledress is at first very uncomfortable and itchy to wear. With time you get more used to it. During the summer it is very hot to wear and during the winter it is surprisingly cold, because it is not windproof. However this does help it to dry out if it gets wet. It is very hard wearing and doesn’t rip or puncture easily, even when crossing barbed wire'.

Cadets began the war in the now outdated service dress, but it was not long before the new battledress was being issued in sizes suitable for boys. A wartime cadet recalled:

When I was a cadet in the OTC during WW2 we were issued with old WW1 uniforms and tightly wound puttees were considered very important. Dreadful things were threatened if our puttees were loose! Later in the war we were given
proper battledress uniforms with gaiters which were much easier to wear. However, as soon as I could I transferred from the army cadets to the ATC (Air Training Corps) and enjoyed the luxury of wearing trousers without gaiters that had to be blancoed (and there was also far less drill).

A cadet who wore the uniform a few years after the war remembers:

The battledress could never really be called smart, although we always tried our best. The most tedious job was blancoing all the webbing equipment: I grew sick of the sight of blanco, which came in dull green blocks manufactured by a firm called Pickerings in Sheffield. I disliked the way the rough collar of the uniform chafed my neck, but any cadet who dared to wear it unfastened without permission would soon find himself in trouble. Those were austerity days, with rationing still in force, and the drab unglamorous uniform probably suited the mood of the times.

Public school cadet NCOs pictured towards the end of the war

Cheltenham College cadets undertaking wireless training with an adult instructor in 1949. Not long afterwards the wartime style battledress seen here was superseded by the smarter '1949 pattern' uniform.The prewar OTC had by now become the JTC (Junior Training Corps). Not long afterwards, school cadet contingents became the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) which continues in schools to the present day

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