Slouch hat 7

Melbourne, Victoria.

Hand coloured studio portrait of NX92660 Corporal (Cpl) Neil Evans, 2/7th Cavalry Commando Company.

Cpl Evans served with the 2/7th Cavalry Commando which was operating with native police in the Wewak area and he took part in an ambush against a Japanese encampment at the village of But early in 1945.

There were no Australian casualties resulting from the action but thirty-six Japanese soldiers were killed. (Donor N. Evans)

Note the unusual "bash" in the slouch hat.

This WW2 version of the slouch hat gives a clear look at the unbound brim that was used to save time and money.

It also illustrates the press stud fastener that was used at that time.

Note the folded puggaree and the Signals unit colour patch.

Photo is a thumbnail, Click to enlarge.

This 1967 version of the slouch hat shows the fully bound brim.
It also shows the 'clip and eyelet' fastener that replaced the press stud.
Note the higher quality puggaree and the Royal Australian Artillery badge.
Note the sweat band.

Photo is a thumbnail, Click to enlarge.

Brass; Fur felt; Leather; Australian khaki fur felt slouch hat without puggaree. The brim of the hat is bound in khaki grosgrain ribbon, and has an oxidised Australian 'rising sun' General Service badge attached to the turned-up left hand side. There is a leather chinstrap and internal headband, the latter being impressed on the right hand side with the words 'CORONET FELTS PTY LTD 6 7/8 1940'.

Monty's Slouch Hat

Australian fur felt slouch hat presented to Lieutenant General Bernard Law Montgomery, commander of the Eighth Army, by the 9th Australian Division. On 14 August 1942, Montgomery, paying his first visit to the Australians at the Tel el Eisa ridge near Alamein, requested a slouch hat.

The hat was subsequently decorated with the badges of many of the units he visited, until it was superseded by a black beret, a gift from the Royal Tank Regiment. Many British personnel had considered the slouch hat to be entirely inappropriate, and must have been pleased to see it replaced. Evidently some Australian troops felt the same way, since Montgomery was reportedly described by members of 2/7 Field Regiment as 'a prize galah' who wore the hat 'jammed down on top of his head'. Others, however, felt that it was a valuable gesture of recognition to the many Dominion troops serving in the Eighth Army.

Australian Federal Police "slouch" hat

As the number of international aid missions undertaken by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) grows so does the inter-action between them and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as they share common postings with common goals.

Grey fur felt Akubra hat with a black and white diced band and an AFP cap badge. The badge is chromed metal with blue, yellow and red enamel. There are three brass eyelet vents on each side of the crown. The hat has a brown leather sweatband that is stamped in gold with the maker's details. An oval piece of satin marked in black with an akubra logo and has been glued to the interior crown. 'QUIGLEY' has been handwritten in black ink over this. The size '56' is indicated by a tag sewn to the interior sweatband.

Sergeant Delia "Dee" Josephine Quigley served with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on peacekeeping missions in Haiti, East Timor and Cyprus between 1994 and 2000. Quigley was born in Victoria in 1961 and worked in communications for the RAAF and Army Reserve before joining the AFP in 1983. In October 1994 she was one of three women selected in a contingent of 30 police to become part of an International Police Monitoring Team in Haiti. The mission was the first where armed Australian Police served overseas. The contingent arrived in the province of Jeremie on the 23 November and remained there until March, 1995. Their duties included monitoring the Haitian police, investigating human rights breaches and training Haitian police officers. They also educated schools and locals on the role of the International Police Monitors, the charter of human rights and the role the United Nations would play when they arrived in March.

In 1999 Quigley trained as a reserve for the Australian contingent to East Timor, which was part of the UN mission which oversaw the ballot for independence. She finally saw service with the 2nd contingent and arrived in Darwin in September to begin a gradual personnel changeover. At this time UN staff members were being evacuated because of dangerous conditions in East Timor and it was some weeks before the 2nd contingent arrived in Dili. Their duties included patrols, crowd control and investigations.

Police were also deployed into regional areas of East Timor as they were declared safe. Quigley also assisted in the development of an intelligence unit and a suspect person's database. She returned to Australia in December 1999 and left for Cyprus in February 2000 for nine months with the 63rd Cyprus contingent. There she acted as a Humanitarian Officer and was responsible for arranging medical transfers, transfers for family visits and meetings, pharmaceutical runs and humanitarian convoys as well as liaising with UN and government agencies.