ltwtbarmy Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Noticed an advert on a maltese site, selling off military gear, and duly went along, and purchased a few items. The items were all the property of a now deceased maltese collector, who, from his long association with the british forces on Malta, had managed to accumulate a number of items, amongst which, was a collection of more than 1000 badges, from all the different branches, and from all eras. He even had a Bedford QL tanker, which is now at the Malta Aviation Museum, an Austin Utility, and a number of motor bikes. These had all been sold by the time I got to his premises (luckily for my bank account), but I managed to get a few uniforms, all in rather good condition. The first I'm putting up, is a Libyan 49 pattern battledress, c/w trousers, which, apart from two American uniforms, were the only items which were not actually british. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Didn't even know these Libyan battledresses existed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferrettkitt Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Didn't Libya have something to do with Malta in the eighties - nineties (politics). That might be the reason the battledress is in Malta?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltwtbarmy Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) The fact that i've never seen these mentioned is why i put up the post in the first place. The relationship with the Libyan government started in the 70s. There are numerous records, including photographic evidence that while the british forces were still in Malta, Libyan personnel were already present on the islands. In addition, search and rescue went from being the remit of the RAF to the maltese government, who divulged it to the Libyans, and the Italians. I think that the last remnants of the Libyan presence on the islands, at least, ended in the late 80s. That's all historical fact. What is also interesting is the date on the battledress, which predates the Ghaddafi regime, and must have been an order placed by the Idris regime. i knew these existed, because somewhere else I have a size 13 pair of trousers, also in mint condition. However this was the first instance that I came across a complete set, so I couldn't resist! The collector who had them had stopped collecting in the late 80s, and with him now dead, I can't find out the exact provenance, unfortunately. Having worked in the oil industry, and starting out in Libya, I, over the years, encountered numerous Libyans wearing some form of battledress, even in 2011. However, I never asked them to take the uniform off to check out the labels. That might have been asking for trouble! Edited February 21, 2014 by ltwtbarmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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