RAF 80s Recruit Dress.....

[wdbikemad]

I recall, with horror, the ridiculous dress combo worn by us sprogs entering RAF Swinderby during the early 80s.......it was worn for the first 3-4 weeks........(thank God)

 

Dress was: - light-blue shirt, towelling cravat (bought at your own expense !!!....and you HAD to have one in your Flight's colours), crew-neck woolly pully, DMS ankle boots, black woollen socks and a pair of RAF blue-grey coveralls with the dark-blue collar.......headgear was a blue-grey beret with a horrendous large coloured plastic disc behind the RAF badge in Flight colours to match your (purchased) cravat.........

 

You had to wear the above ensemble with the overalls over everything....BUT, with the legs tucked-in to the socks !!! (you looked like Max Wall).... Over this, you wore a boot-polished 37 pattern webbing belt AND a similar 37 pattern small pack to cart around your various books, papers, etc......

 

In wet or cold weather you were issued with a RAF blue-grey single-breasted flashers mac to wear over the top............always far too large and dangerous in a high wind or near schools.......

 

The whole lot was f%$£*&n awful....a real embarrassment......:red:

 

Apparently, the reason for the above was between weeks 1 - 4 your RAF blue No.2 dress strides were being "tailored" to fit.......oddly, in week four I went in a long line to stores to be given two pairs straight off the shelf......:undecided: (and they needed tailoring !!!!).......

 

After this, you "graduated" to trousers, tie and a peaked cap, though the latter was fitted with some sort of illuminous band over the black issue one...........and the dreaded coveralls went back into stores........

 

I recall some laughing SAC stores W£$%*&r plonking a cap on my head that was a size 62 (despite my protestations).......(I'm only a 56)........first parade wearing the thing I got a bollocking for having too big a hat, then had to go to stores to get the right one, and got billed for it because the old one was "worn"..........:embarrassed:....the cost was almost my entire week's pay at the time (paid in cash at a pay parade).....and the same grinning SAC processed the paperwork.............vengeance was, however, mine a few years later when he got posted to my station still a SAC when I was on the gate with a white hat & corporals stripes and he had no 1250 on him......Gotcha !!!!

 

Such memories.......

Edited May 14, 2012 by wdbikemad

[bovington1]

Something like this

[chevpol]

nice!!!!!!!!

 

Mark

[wdbikemad]

Something like this

 

Oh the horror !!!!! It was captured in photography.......:embarrassed: !!!!!

 

Mind you.......my kit lay-out featured no females (they were at somewhere called Hereford ???!!)....

 

It also never featured the kit laid out on the bedding........well, not for long in my case anyway......my kit "lay-out" could usually be inspected on the grass outside the block, from where it had descended from a window on the first floor on an almost daily basis......:cry:

 

The inclusion of the Padre in the shots is most enlightening........with no disrespect intended, a toothless tiger......."well my son, you did volunteer.......?"........hmmmmmm.....(but I'm glad I did......saw things and experienced things that have never left me since....!....apart from that unfortunate dose of the....)

 

I will forever be grateful, Corporal Jenner........:-\

Edited May 14, 2012 by wdbikemad

[wdbikemad]

That's reminded me of some of the useless items issued along with your kit that you NEVER wore after basic.........

 

This included the "flasher" mac......and that ridiculous RAF replacement for the old battledress blouse......the zip-fronted No.2 dress blue-grey barathea jacket.......No one EVER wore the thing....EVER......(well, not in my unit at least....)...the woolly pully being worn everywhere...........

 

Most trades got 2 pairs of DMS shoes and 1 pair of DMS boots, unless you were RAF Police or Regiment when you got 2 pairs of boots and one shoes........

,

No DPM kit was issued during during basic, apart from a loan issue for "MFT" (military field training).......in week 5-6 we were led into a hangar stacked to the roof with 68 pattern DPM for a few days for MFT, but had to be returned thereafter......

 

When I got to trade training school (Newton) we were issued with additional role-specific kit.......for RAF plod it was a set of blue nylon RAF MK2A waterproofs, a white-top cap, "mars bar" epaulette flashes, corporal stripes, two armbands (one for No.1 dress and a printed type for working dress)....plus "combat kit"..........the latter comprised two sets of DPM 68 pattern, one 68 smock liner, a green woolly pully, 2 pairs of green long johns, 2 pairs of green wool/nylon knitted gloves, a woollen balaclava, a scrim face-veil (although for some reason all my section were given mesh "snipers hoods"..???!!), a pair of puttees, a green nylon poncho, 3 x KF combat shirts and a DPM combat cap........all supposedly sufficient to keep you warm and dry in BAOR in winter................

 

When we got to our station, additional items were issued, including NBC suit (MK1 or 2 - no MK3....), a tin hat (MK5) plus net, an S6 respirator and bag, a set of green nylon RAF foul weather waterproofs, a DPM parka plus a set of 58 webbing (belt, pouches and yoke....plus a pistol holster)..............in time, other kit appeared, including DPM arctic windproofs and Canadian arctic parkas.........

 

This was the early 80s.......