Australian Army uniforms; Page 2

Pte L Marshall, Victorian Mounted Rifles, Boer War. Note the British sun helmet, bandolier and puttees.	B and J.E Mullins, father and son, both enlisted in the 3rd Australian Bushman's Contingent in South Australia. Both served in South Africa. Both RTA.	The uniform and equipment of a pre-WW1 Militia soldier.	This soldier wears the Australian designed tunic of WW1 but this one was British made.
	These images from Grants Militaria

Cadets in training camp pre WW1. Note the side caps.		South Australian Lancers in the mid 1880s. Australia has never sent a Lancer unit into action as lancers. Those Units that bear the Lancer title always served as Mounted Infantry ie they carried rifles not lances.

WORLD WAR 1. Army issue kit and uniform equipped the infantryman with the bare minimum for fighting and living in the trenches, but if an Australian wanted something extra he was able to barter and buy whatever he needed to supplement or replace his kit.

Despite the standardisation of army equipment, the AIF soldier always managed to stay unique. Most distinctive was the Digger’s uniform. The workmanlike woollen khaki jacket, cut loose-necked and baggy, and detailed with blackened metal buttons, (see below) plus baggy woollen trousers topped sturdy, lace-up, ankle-length boots made entirely of leather and hobnailed for extra grip.


	buttons from AIF uniforms

Puttees were nine feet long strips of woollen material, 3 inches wide, bound round and around the lower leg from ankle to knee and were intended to stop water and mud sloshing into boots and breeches. They were cursed by soldiers as worse than useless; they cut off circulation when too tight because they shrank in the wet, and unwound when too loose, hampering movement.

The AIF had two hats and a cap. The rabbit fur-felt slouch hat with its Rising Sun badge became the readily identifiable symbol of Australian soldiery, and when the AIF arrived in France their slouch hats were reluctantly swapped for British steel helmets. They left their peaked caps at home.

In France the Australian soldier was also issued with a wet-weather "gas" cape as worn by the British. Spare uniform, standard kit and a few personal items were packed for travel in a kit bag, a drawstring, light canvas duffle-bag with the soldier’s name and number stencilled on the outside.

As well as carrying identity papers, the Australian soldiers wore two engraved oval ID discs, called "dead meat tickets", on necklets. One was to be placed in the mouth of the corpse and the other returned to a higher authority to prove death. On many many occasions that did not and could not happen.

This disk identifies No 546 A E Bailey of 37 Bn AIF as blood type B and of the Church of England faith.>>>

It was the unenviable job of the Graves Registration Unit to recover these discs from the bodies of the dead to identify those killed in battle.

for more details

Worn by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Chisholm, who commanded 5 Light Horse Regiment, CMF, in Queensland from 1921 to 1924.

Papua. WW2. Note the tropical issue shorts, the tin hats and the puttees.

WW2. Note the American issue gaiters that many units used to replace puttees. Photo supplied by Grants Militaria

Officers issue service jacket for Light Horse units

The photo was taken in Malaya in 1956-7 of Officers of 2 RAR. The uniforms are the standard dress worn by officers and WOIs in barracks, and with the Sam-Browne belt, for ceremonial parades. The shirts and shorts were tailored by the Regimental Contractor's tailor to the British Army standard officer pattern. Other Ranks wore standard British Army issue jungle green uniforms, both with short and long trousers. The socks were woollen sock tops, worn with puttees over the boot tops. There were red and white ribbons worn under the rolled over sock tops. This last was a battalion initiative, taken up in line with the general usage of the British Regiments.

These WW2 model anklets are made of cotton webbing and replaced the stupid woollen puttees that were uniform in WW1 and were so hated by the troops. Anklets led to gaiters and gaiters led to the famous GP Boots (below) with the mid leg upper that gave the Diggers a reasonable chance of decent foot hygiene for the first time.

Australian troops have always been sent away with good quality footwear and heaven help any Digger that does not treat his boots with care and attention. The RSM will 'have his guts for gaiters' AND his feet will hurt. These are WW1 boots.

In WW1 and WW2 boots were worn brown to fit in with the khaki uniforms. Later the Army changed to black with jungle green uniforms.

Current boots are brown unpolished for bush work.

A WWI AIF soldier displaying a front view of an Australian 1915 Pattern leather equipped uniform. The pouches, belt and shoulder straps were made of green hide and the side pack and water bottle holder made of canvas. This model equipment was made due to a shortage of British 1908 Mills webbing equipment. The Australian equipment was used in France and Belgium in the early stages of the war and was found to be unsatisfactory in the wet and muddy conditions. It was replaced by British web equipment as quickly as possible. The item in front of the bayonet scabbard held a helve which served as a handle for trenching tools carried on the soldier's back as shown >>>. (Donor J.K. Jensen)

A WWI AIF soldier displaying the rear view of an Australian 1915 Pattern leather equipped uniform. The back pack, belt and shoulder straps were made of green hide and the side pack and water bottle holder made of canvas. Trenching tools were carried in a pouch below the back pack. This model equipment was made due to a shortage of British 1908 Mills webbing equipment. The Australian equipment was used in France and Belgium in the early stages of the war and was found to be unsatisfactory in the wet and muddy conditions. It was replaced by British web equipment as quickly as possible. (Donor J.K. Jensen)

MELBOURNE, VIC. 1943-07-01. in an effort to smarten up the Australian soldier's uniform, Land Headquarters made the following alterations to the uniform:- (a) half belt instead of full belt; (b) inside pockets instead of outside pockets; (c) sleeves with two seams, front and back; (d) collar slightly higher

(The AIF and the ACMF are fighting for their lives in Mubo, Salamaua and a dozen other TROPICAL places and some genius from LHQ wants them to "look smarter" in a winter uniform. Unbelievable. Why do front line troops despise pogos from HQ?).