British Army String vest, origins of!

[Old Git]

Been going through some files from the National Archives and have found a couple of minutes, dated from the early part of 1942, which cover the testing of some cold weather clothing. The items under test are a snow suit (which tore too easily) and a Norwegian item of clothing called a Brynje vest. The tests were conducted at Corby (on Thursday, 19th February,1942 at 5:00am), utilising volunteers from 432 Heavy A.A. battery, R.A. Corby, under the supervision of a Major Rackham R.A.M.C of Cambridge. The two sets of minutes were written by Dr A.B.D. Cassie of the 'Wool Industries Research Association' and a Dr F.T. Peirce of the 'British Cotton Industry Research Association'.

 

The Brynje vest is what we now refer to as the standard British Army 'string vest' and the tests that these minutes describe bear a very strong resemblance to the 'layering system' of cold weather clothing as described by Brian L. Davis in his book "British Army Uniforms and Insignia of WWII". In this book Davis appears to be quoting from the 'War Clothing Regulations' 1943, Appendix V, p. 138. However, nowhere does Davis mention the Brynje system of clothing and to be honest I'd never heard of it before I discovered these documents. I did do a search on Google to see what I could turn up and was surprised to find that the Brynje system is still made in Norway and that it doesn't look like it has changed all that much since the war.

 

http://www.manufactum.co.uk/brynje-string-vest-p838614/

 

I think what I've found here is a reference to the very early testing phase of the British Army's cold weather 'layering system'. The file I'm studying is mostly concerned with the air permeability of some flame proof clothing so I can only assume that they were also considering the Brynje system as a means of wicking away sweat under a heavy garment like the 1942 Tank Overall!

 

I'll see if I can't scan the minutes and upload them as it makes for a fascinating comparison with the description in the Davis book...and if you're an anorak like me you'll like that sort of thing!

Edited September 20, 2012 by Old Git

[Enigma]

Interesting thread.

Goes to show what info is out there for the expert or amateur to find.