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Is this a WW2 British Army shirt?


LarryH57

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I saw this shirt at a jumble sale which I bought for £1. I think I am auto tuned to look at anything green! The lady on the stall thought it might have been a mans nightshirt and perhaps that's what many were used for. The shirt has button holes round the neck for a collar to be attached; for an Officer?. In the area above the label there are marks that look like a name or perhaps a dhobiwallah mark. British Army WW2 shirt (2).jpg

British Army WW2 shirt (1).jpg

Edited by LarryH57
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It IS the WW2 O/R pattern.......these were the same pullover design, made from khaki-drab wool-flannel............but O/R's issue did not carry any label (they were size and maker-marked inside the collar band with ink-stamps but often undated) and were usually fitted with small grey "gunmetal" buttons (though some later issues around 1943-44 did feature plastic/veg-fibre buttons).........also, the issue-type didn't have buttonholes on the collar band............BUT (!) some earlier shirts were subsequently modified by the addition of buttonholes when attachable collars were permitted to wear a tie when off duty (from 1944 onward)..........

 

Many officers shirts of the era were of a similar style to the OR's type, but had attachable collars as ties were generally always worn........this style (for officers) persisted into the early 1950's when the collar-attached type became common, along with pockets, open front and epaulettes...........

 

The wartime collarless OR flannel shirt was itself modified around 1944 by the addition of a permanently-attached collar, labels NOW being featured and buttons generally all fibre/plastic rather than metal...........022.jpg

 

Shown are an original (rare 1940 dated) collarless OR shirt (new) and the 1944 issue with the now attached collar and plastic buttons............

021.jpg

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Dear Wdbikemad, thanks for your reply; it would seem then that I have a modified mid WW2 OR shirt if it has 'plastic' type buttons, rather than metal, and buttonholes to take a detachable collar. The green colour of mine is just like the first photo I posted and not brown like yours or the shirts I have seen on Living History guys. Presumably they were made in slight colour variations or was there a shift away from brown at some stage? BTW mine has a small loop sown in to the shirt behind the collar, presumably so that it may be hung up but I'm not sure if this was a post-war mod when in use as a nightshirt!

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Dear Wdbikemad, thanks for your reply; it would seem then that I have a modified mid WW2 OR shirt if it has 'plastic' type buttons, rather than metal, and buttonholes to take a detachable collar. The green colour of mine is just like the first photo I posted and not brown like yours or the shirts I have seen on Living History guys. Presumably they were made in slight colour variations or was there a shift away from brown at some stage? BTW mine has a small loop sown in to the shirt behind the collar, presumably so that it may be hung up but I'm not sure if this was a post-war mod when in use as a nightshirt!

 

The loop was also not featured on issue O/R shirts...........

 

I strongly suspect that yours is an officers private-purchase or WD-supplied officers pattern....dating from WW2 up to approximately 1953............

 

 

The other possibility is Commonwealth manufacture...?

 

OR's issue shirts do vary in colour, but are mostly a brown-shade of wool flannel....this varies from a rich brown, through light-tan, through to a khaki-green but always more "brown" in shade than "green"............officer issues on the other hand often vary more toward the greener shades back to light "tan" ...! :-D

Edited by wdbikemad
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