Interesting collection of 1944 photos of Brits wearing all sorts of attire!
http://arromanches1944.skyrock.com/1.html
Love this one:
fecking officers... lol
What has happened to their Field Dressing pockets anyway?
Looks like they've removed the pleats to fit more in, doesn't it?
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.
yup certainly does!
Probably for holding spare pouches of pipe tobacco!
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.
Manufacturing variation probably.
I've seen 37 pattern with no pleats before but these could well be privately tailored ones on officers.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
yup... its definitely different... one has a button and the other doesn't
37 pat as we know it shouldn't have a button and the same pair of trousers isn't 40 pat as it doesn't have a button on the map pocket either.
private purchase seems rather likely... I wonder if they're barathea as well? (nah... too rough... just serge)
odd the jackets aren't officer's private purchase though..
Pick the bones out of these then!
Top pic:
Rare shot of denims in a 'combat' as opposed to labouring setting really.
Also unusual to see ORs with a collared shirt, bloke on far left seems to have some sort of improvised carrier on his back. He also either has a strange neck scarf or a privately purchased white/cream undershirt wit a high neck
Pretty good pic of how tommys actually looked as opposed to staged photos.
next one down:
Incredibly unusual to see shorts in NWE! Also modified shirts with sleeves cut down, thats not in KRs 
. Interesting mix of blancoed and unblancoed webbing too.
next one: Nothing majorly noteworthy other then the major on the left has obviously aquired himself a beret against regs and a tank corp holster. He *should* be wearing the GS cap like the lieutenant next to him but they were pretty much hated and anyone who coudl get away with a khaki beret did.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
That's the thing - these aren't rare or unusual photos. Just a bunch of ordinary work-a-day stuff taken to or by the town photographer's shop in the months after the D-Day landings...
Yeah but that actually makes them rarer as most pics are posed and show regulation stuff as it was so heavily censored.
You rarely see stuff like short sleeved shirts, in fact i've only seen it once before in a pic of 6th airborne div, likewise its rare to see denims in the field in 40s photos although it obviously happened a lot.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Ah yes, I see what you mean...
How the hell did the germans fight when they looked like that 
DONT TELL THEM YOUR NAME PIKE
Also, in this picture, note the buttoned field dressing pocket too on their far left (our far right) and the short 'tashed fellow third from their right (our left); both without pleats and one's 37patt' and the others 40patt'. Perhaps this was a common alteration?
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.
How the hell did the germans fight when they looked like that
Perhaps it was because our forefathers just got the job done and were not really fussed about looking gucci - just kicking fascists out of europe
Looking good didnt really stop the germans getting their arses kicked did it?
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
I must admit, they look the scruffiest bunch of men I've ever seen. 
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
My uncle has a couple of my Grandads' old photo albums, going from pre war, the BEF in 1940, North Africa, Normandy, the Rhine, Belsen, etc, which he took himself on a camera he carried all the time. I have to say, what a bunch of scruffs! My Grandad was an RSM as well! (so you'd have expected him to be a bit smarter). They only look smart and "proper" in pictures taken on leave, in barracks and at the Berlin victory parade. I'll have to see if I can get him to scan some for me.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
Hmmm... here's me in the field in the late 90s.
Comfy and combat effective took precedent over tidy then as now...
Oh and to get back to the 40s here's the Waffen SS being the epitomy of smart & militaristic...
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Gadge... what is that on your head?
thats called a crap hat rich, or HATS,DAFT , RECRUITS FOR THE USE OF.you only get a beret as an infantryman after you have earned it.( but can be used by trained soldiers who are enemy/hunter force , they are awfull, the peak is card board and turns to an unshapley turd in the rain)