British Battledress

Initially conducted on a small scale over several years, some of the ideas tested included deerstalker hats and safari jackets.

After extensive field trials of other uniforms,[3] Battledress, Serge (often referred to as 1937 Pattern) was adopted just before the Second World War.

The sleeves of the jacket had a forward curve built into them so that they were more comfortable to wear prone, shouldering a rifle, or seated holding a steering wheel for instance, although they tended to show multiple wrinkles near the inside of the elbow when the soldier's arms were held straight at the sides.

One problem often developed, the gap between the blouse and trousers would open up in extreme movement and buttons popped, so braces were issued; in some cases a sweater was worn.

Battledress was issued widely beginning in 1939 in the British Army (as well as the Canadian Army, who produced their own, almost identical, copy of Battledress after the outbreak of war), though shortages meant that some units of the British Expeditionary Force went to France in Service Dress.

The trousers lost their belt loops and ankle tabs, the pocket buttons were now exposed and made of brown or green plastic like those of the blouse.

Battle Dress [sic], Olive Drab, War Aid was made in the US for the British Army and was widely seen in the Mediterranean theatre.

[6] Canadian Battledress never had a 1940-type pattern introduced, though the collar closure did change from a set of hooks and eyes to a flap and button in about 1943.

Buttons were green painted steel, with a central bar across the middle for the thread to hold in place.

The buttons could be easily removed for laundering which, due to denim overalls being workwear, was more frequent than for serge battledress.

[8] 90,000 sets of denim overalls were issued to the Local Defence Volunteers (later the Home Guard) as their main uniform, in the weeks following their establishment in May 1940.

Supply increased as the war progressed but even by May 1945, standard Battledress trousers were still common in Airborne divisions.

During the Second World War, Britain's Civil Defence Service (for example, ARP wardens, rescue and ambulance crews) were issued dark blue battledress, and this battledress scheme continued with the Civil Defence Corps set up in 1949.

A similar pattern was produced in Australia for US personnel in the Far East and was called a ""Vandegrift" Jacket by US Marines.