question Denison Hats?

[MHillyard]

It seems most unlikely to be real to me but.... on the film "The Wild Geese" the African troops chasing Richard Burton etc all where what seem to be denison smocks and also denison hats. Is this something they just done for the film or did they actually exist?

 

[wdbikemad]

Those commercial Denisons were made in the late 1970s by J S Franklin ......they were in almost all respects identical to the late production issue version.......

 

However, it is also quite possible that the film makers had access to lots of issue late-pattern denisons too......after all, the film was made around the mid-late 1970s and the Denison was in the process of being withdrawn from British military use at the time........quantities were no doubt easily available....I remember my local surplus shop had rows of the things hanging up and Silvermans were selling decent issued examples at £14.99 according to their 1977 catalogue.......happy days !!:-D

 

Apart from anything else, few actually wanted a Denison at the time, DPM being the sought-after item and difficult to obtain anywhere surplus........Denisons, 60 pattern combats, etc, were all plentiful........and cheap...