Hi there
Just a quick question; would 1951 pattern battledress trousers be passable for WW2 re-enactment?
I also have a 1951 pattern dismounted greatcoat displaying majors crown plus three stripes.
Would the two go together and also pass for WW2?
Complete newb here…
Stuart
Crown + 3 Stripes = Colour (for infantry) or Staff (for everyone else) Sergeant. The crown isn’t quite the same as that for a major - it’s a bit bigger and has a slightly different shape from memory.
Thanks for the info pdf, so much to take in isn’t there…
Stuart
Depends on the group’s standards. Many here now no longer use the postwar 1949 trousers, even properly converted, now that there are repros available.
The 1951 greatcoats are a bit on the green side. The cut is not all that different from the wartime ones but the colour gives it away.
What modifications do I have to make to them closer to the 39 pattern?
Stuart
are you talking about the trousers?
Yes trousers, though i actually have a 51 pattern shirt also, which I am not sure how close it is to earlier patterns.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Stuart
well, there is no '51 Pattern, though presumably you’re thinking of the '49 ones which are commonest now.
The side leg pocket has to be moved to the front, a dressing pocket made out of another piece of serge from somewhere, the left rear pocket sewn up and the flap removed, the belt loops removed and put back on upside down in the right places, if you want them at all, the waistband unpicked and the pleats in the top of the legs removed by pulling back the material so that the hip pockets become simple slits. All vegetable ivory buttons to be replaced by brass ones and the tab-and-bar trouser closure removed and replaced by a straight front with a plain button hole. There are various other points to be attended to if the '37 pattern is being copied - properly all buttons should be fly-fronted. The gathering tabs on the legs can be omitted.
If you can do all this yourself then you might conceivably save money; paying someone else (who knows what they are doing) will put you not short of the price of the various repro trousers which are out there now.
Mark VII
Thank you very much for such specific details. Amazingly, every single modification you mentioned, is a feature of the trousers or has been converted exceptionally well. The printing inside, does state 1951, so I am puzzled as to the origin of this garment.
On the cost front, they cost me just £10, as opposed to the £99 offering from outlets such as Soldier of Fortune. Winner.
Cheers for all of the help.
very pleased in Stratford
I have seen WW2 trousers which have been converted to the later pattern in BAOR, but not the other way round.