Denison smock book

[gunner501]

It looks like the Denison book is going to be with us soon https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Airborne-Assault-The-Museum-of-the-Parachute-Regiment-Airborne-Forces/109068972454849

[wdbikemad]

Had some correspondence with the Author.....sounds like a great book, superb info and illustrations, but will still not cover the stuff that will be in mine (eg - the "run of the mill" combat kit from Korea through to the 90s).....and after all, you can't beat a bit of healthy competition !!!! :-D

[Enfield1940]

Buy all the 'run of the mill' stuff while you still can chaps. Once Steve's book comes out, it'll have the same effect on prices that the Europa Militaria books and Karkeeweb have had on British webbing.

[MHillyard]

Buy all the 'run of the mill' stuff while you still can chaps. Once Steve's book comes out, it'll have the same effect on prices that the Europa Militaria books and Karkeeweb have had on British webbing.

 

Denisons are expensive enough as they are!

[Enfield1940]

Denisons are expensive enough as they are!

Not unlike a lot of WWII German stuff their value seems to be governed more by their desirability than their rarity. I'd like a Denison for my collection, but the 'going rate' has gone rather above my level of desire. Hopefully I'll bump into a bargain one day, but if not I can live without.

 

Anyway; I have a pre-metric labelled DPM Para Smock and they're much rarer.

[paul_bish]

I had a rather late night drinking session with the author in Kentucky (for the Show of Shows) a while back, we went through some sample pages. Looks great!

[gunner501]

 

This is the front cover shown on the flyer

[gunner501]

some sample pages

[gunner501]

More

[gunner501]

More++

[cordenj]

My copy arrived today.

First impressions are excellent.

200+ pages of very good quality photos and much related info...it will become the standard work on the subject, and all written in collaboration with the Airborne Assault Museum.

 

Highly recommended.

[cordenj]

Having had time to read part of it, the book has explained one question I had about these smocks (probably well known to uniform experts).

Last year a neighbour was clearing out her father's belongings and in the loft were some of his WWII uniform and effects. She passed on several items to me and I'd posted on here previously about some of the spent munitions, but she also gave me her father's mint Denison.

 

As he was a Major in the Royal Signals I was surprised that he had an "Airborne" smock.

It was made in 1944 by John Gordon, and while near mint the construction quality was fairly shoddy.

 

Bruce Wilson explains in the book that John Gordon were the major supplier of the later wartime pattern, and seem to be well known for hastily made garments in the latter part of the war. The explanation being that there was a great demand in 1944 as the Commandos were to be issued with smocks and it was a case of numbers over quality in supply.

 

Anyway that explains why my smock has a poorly sewn label and has loose thread ends etc .... but why did a Signals Major get issued with one when he wasn't airborne?

 

This is the smock:

 

 

[43rdrecce]

Several possible reasons why he could have had a Denison smock, but you would need to know his specific employment or unit.

There are many examples of non-airborne use of the smocks. After Market Garden it seems that 43rd Wessex Division units acquired them, presumably from Airborne Division stocks. Several units in 43rd Div had them, including 4th Somerset Light Infantry, though they seemed to be largely confined to Officers and NCOs. I have the one used by Major GV Bennets, who was IO to 4 Som LI.

I also have a sketch of him wearing it drawn by his batman.

He also used German camouflage mittens and a small map case he recovered from a German sniper. I guess anything that could be acquired was possible, Denisons included!

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[gunner501]

Paul is bang on with what he wrote ,just to add infantry snipers got smocks to and just as now many items were not issued but acquired !In regards to the Denison book I,m very happy with it but like all books it,s not a last word bible but has taken the subject forward massively . It turned out to be quite a good thick work and is nicely presented in my humble opinion

[wdbikemad]

Paul is bang on with what he wrote ,just to add infantry snipers got smocks to and just as now many items were not issued but acquired !In regards to the Denison book I,m very happy with it but like all books it,s not a last word bible but has taken the subject forward massively . It turned out to be quite a good thick work and is nicely presented in my humble opinion

 

Got my complimentary copy today...... It's a brilliant piece of work.........

 

My forthcoming book will be in a similar format and will include additional para smock info not included in this book......sadly, our combined info didn't come together before publication..........:embarrassed:

 

I am in early discussion with the publisher............they may well be issuing my forthcoming book if things work out........general issue combat clothing from the end of WW2 to the demise of DPM....plus cold weather and specialist kit too..........

[Old Git]

Picked up a copy of this book last week and it is a good book, but it's not the definitive word on the Denison! Don't get me wrong, I'm not slating it, it's just that I was hoping for a bit more from it. There's some truly interesting things in here and they have made good use of the Airborne Museum's expertise. However, they do not appear to have made any use of the National Archives and my overall impression is that of some interested amateurs publishing what they know, and can pull together, rather than 'in-depth' research. I would have liked to have seen more on the development of the garment and of the various camo patterns and I'm sure this info nust be in the National Archives somewhere, indeed I'm pretty sure I've seen references in the MRC files, and elsewhere, to the development of Airbornes specialist items.

 

I haven't read it all as yet but the text is a bit clunky in places and doesn't read as well as it ought to, I found myself having to go back over a few lines to try to understand just what it was he was trying to convey, but then as I say 'interested amateur' rather than professional historian/writer so that is to be expected. All that said it is still a book I really want to have on my reference library and it's well worth the purchase!

[Scotch Harry]

I agree with Old Git about his comment(on books in general-dont own and havent seen this one on Denisons).

 

slating it, it's just that I was hoping for a bit more from it.

 

I own some very expensive books on various subjects,a lot billed as the best,must have etc and while I know no book will ever be perfect I cant help the feeling of being let down/dissapointed with a lot of them:cry:

 

Again,must add this is in NO WAY at all aimed at the Denison book;)

[wdbikemad]

The Author(s) are quite clear (within the book) that the work is only a starting point and doesn't claim to be a definitive work......!!! Read it again and you will find the relevant disclaimer......I did !! :-D

 

But, it's better than anything to date, the illustrations are superb, the text 90% accurate and a great starting point for further debate......

 

My forthcoming book will include the Denison, and will add additional info located but not included in this title........I have found much info regarding the post-war "battle" to retain the Denison against the official side's position to replace it with standard combat dress.......and yes, this was buried within the National Archives.....:-D

 

But, having been researching my own book for the last numerous years (on general British post-war combat dress plus specialist items) a lot of info just simply cannot be found today......it may well exist, but there is a limit to how much time and effort you input into finding the smallest elusive fact......as with all books, I will never claim that mine is the definitive tome, but it will hopefully be better than what we have within one resource to date.............

 

And I expect the same degree of constructive criticism !!!! No prisoners !!!!! lol :-D

[Scotch Harry]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DENISON-by-Bruce-Wilson-Denison-smock-Para-smock-SAS-PARA-/321172412661?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item4ac75e18f5

[Tug1970]

Hi,

 

May I just start off simply by saying thank-you to all those of you who have spent your hard earned money on a copy of the ‘DENISON’ book. I hope on the whole you are as happy with the book as I am and I’m pleased to announce that by Sunday morning at the War & Peace Show we had completely sold out. With dealers returning for more boxes of the book we had to mount a replenishment mission braving the extreme temperatures and driving hundreds of miles through insect infested highways and byways to satisfy demand. Perhaps a little dramatic but all the same it was true, you should have witnessed the carnage on the windscreen! The book has already broken even which is great news in such a short time frame, it was only printed limited numbers to stop the costs spiraling and hopefully the next project will be received as well as ‘DENISON’ has been.

 

I had always hoped that the book would be positively received not only by the collectors but perhaps by a much wider audience and this appears to be the case. Airborne Forces both past and present are of course hugely proud of their heritage; they remain instantly recognizable to this day and have a strong and somewhat protective affiliation with their beloved Denison smock from whatever era they served. The same can be said of the modern Para smock and the pride which continues to this day, and rightly so.

 

The main driving force behind this book especially for me was researching, tracking down and meeting WWII veterans like Les Kershaw, this was not only a huge achievement from a personal point of view but also a great honor to be able to spend time with him and listen to the stories. Veterans such as Les find it difficult to relate to or indeed understand the interest people have to this day of their personal exploits during WWII although he would have us believe he merely flew a glider across the Rhine during Operation Varsity. His involvement in this project makes it more than just a book about specialist clothing and this in itself makes this book slightly different from similar books of this nature.

 

Featured in this book are veterans from conflicts past and present. Many thanks to 3 Para who have gone out of their way and shown huge support for the project allowing access to equipment and also some willing ‘voluntold’ serving Airborne soldiers. Again, this is a great success for us to have been so positively received by the very soldiers/forces portrayed in this book.

 

‘Old Git’ is right, the book maybe “a bit clunky in places” but to be perfectly honest so am I especially in the morning! There are of course things that could well have been included, we are all individuals and as such will have varying views and knowledge with regards to what should have been or what could have been included but it is very hard to find that balance between too much information where it runs the risk of becoming dry and dare I say slightly dull. There are also time constraints that come into play with a project such as this, knowing when to say “STOP” is also very difficult because of the huge amount of subject matter.

 

I am not a great reader myself and become very easily distracted and as such a book nust be visually stimulating in order to hold my interest. I believe this has been achieved in general and I hope to a degree we have that balance somewhere in the middle with enough information without completely bogging you down.

 

‘Old Git’, I also find myself going back over a few lines mainly due to being dyclistec…..sorry dyslectic, good old spell check! I’m only joking of course, I welcome the critiques and I hope you accept that I really am simply an ‘interested amateur’ and by no means a professional historian/writer. An idea born from a collection, and that fascination with the iconic Denison smock. A strange passion for a Submariner but believe me there isn’t anything interesting enough to collect relating to submariners clothing and most of mine fell apart whilst it was still on me!

 

All my proceeds from this project were donated and presented to Airborne Assault who distributed it to an Airborne charity of their choice, this belongs to them not me. I didn’t earn the right to wear this iconic smock, I earned the right to wear my HM SUBMARINES cap tally and my Dolphins but its not quite as glamorous!

 

Brgds

 

Bruce ‘Tug’ Wilson