Blacking up!

[michael steinrok]

Be very wary of any reference works regarding British Army unforms and equipment-or regarding this or that picture taken at a particular time of a soldier/s.

This is because units would often have their own ideas, even battalions within the same regiment might not share a common uniform code.

I've seen pictures purporting to be of my unit, yet they were entirely different to what we actually wore.

So the fact that some units might wear an apron only, and others an entire all round khaki covering is just the way it happens: too individuals might have as is common scrounged something not available to others in their battalion/platoon even.

I'll close by saying that I'm rather sure that you'll not see a picture of British soldiers wearing stable belts on operations in a reference book: but we did.

This is not to knock Osprey who are doing their best, but please accept that their generalisations are not of necessity correct when looking at a particular soldier/unit at a particular time.

James

The book referred to is the Scots 1914 . I looked again so as to further enlighten the brethren here ; the illustrations were of the 7th Kings Own Scottish Borderers 15th division and 52 Lowland Division 1/6th Highland Light Infantry. The illustrations show the aprons. My mistake was that below the title of the Booklet It says Piper, Black Watch:1914. So any confusion was on my part a lone not Osprey all though they do sometime make mistakes as I have done.

[James]

It's not about mistakes, rather the near impossibility of establishing a definitive dress code for the British army. An army where even the sealed pattern would be ignored at a whim.

James