Uniform Ramblings

Sandy probably will!

Sandy probably will!

As soon as I wrote it I thought that!

put me down as engineer please.... I do have some RE shoulder titles though.

The raiding forces were made up of 611 men; 346 Naval men and 265 Commandos. The Commandos were split up into 3 types of group; The largest proportion were for assault. Smaller groups of men were formed into demolition squads, and the rest formed protection for those tasked with demolition duties. The 'engineers' of these demolition teams weren't RE posted to work along side the Commandos (no external men were drafted in from other regiments or services to comprise the raiding force), they were just Commandos who had been trained for the raid, and so our RE shoulder titles and insignia wouldn't really be fitting.

Looking at period photos, no insignia is the way to go.

Also, seeings at there was such a high number of the Navy present (who, after loosing most of the flotilla, had to fight as post-Op. evacuation was now not an option), any room for people with RN duffel coats - it'd be a great time to have a use for people's Lanchester convertions too!

Sandy probably will!

As soon as I wrote it I thought that!

I was considering it for a drinking uniform, I've played in it before,and spent a week picking thorns out of my legs

The raiding forces were made up of 611 men; 346 Naval men and 265 Commandos. The Commandos were split up into 3 types of group; The largest proportion were for assault. Smaller groups of men were formed into demolition squads, and the rest formed protection for those tasked with demolition duties. The 'engineers' of these demolition teams weren't RE posted to work along side the Commandos (no external men were drafted in from other regiments or services to comprise the raiding force), they were just Commandos who had been trained for the raid, and so our RE shoulder titles and insignia wouldn't really be fitting.

Looking at period photos, no insignia is the way to go.

A quote from the pages of the St Nazaire Society confirming the above:

"The Raid on St. Nazaire... was the work of No. 2 Commando and demolition parties from 1,3,4,5,9 and 12 Commandos"

Unfortunately distressing as it is to my love of regimental bling no insignia does seem to be the rule for when in action. BUT No 2 commando seem to have been pretty unique in having their own shoulder patches, cap badges, lanyard and uniform headwear (although apparently 5, 6 and 9 Commando also favoured the ToS) proudly worn in many permutations at every other opportunity so at least that's the drinking uniform sorted out. I will however leave the kilt to Sandy.

Another quote from the same pages:

"The problem arose from the fact that no less than 79 different regiments and corps of the British Army were represented in the Commando and that each was wearing the head-dress peculiar to his parent unit. Thus a motley collection of caps, tam-o-shanters, bonnets, forage caps, caps “fore and aft”, berets, peaked KD caps, etc., appeared on the Commando parades, the forest being a veritable RSM’s nightmare!"

As previously posted, unbadged and badged BD are both equally acceptable. A motley crew is fine, but we look much more like a unit if everyone has the same headwear.

The raiding forces were made up of 611 men; 346 Naval men and 265 Commandos. The Commandos were split up into 3 types of group; The largest proportion were for assault. Smaller groups of men were formed into demolition squads, and the rest formed protection for those tasked with demolition duties. The 'engineers' of these demolition teams weren't RE posted to work along side the Commandos (no external men were drafted in from other regiments or services to comprise the raiding force), they were just Commandos who had been trained for the raid, and so our RE shoulder titles and insignia wouldn't really be fitting.

Looking at period photos, no insignia is the way to go.

A quote from the pages of the St Nazaire Society confirming the above:

"The Raid on St. Nazaire... was the work of No. 2 Commando and demolition parties from 1,3,4,5,9 and 12 Commandos"

Unfortunately distressing as it is to my love of regimental bling no insignia does seem to be the rule for when in action. BUT No 2 commando seem to have been pretty unique in having their own shoulder patches, cap badges, lanyard and uniform headwear (although apparently 5, 6 and 9 Commando also favoured the ToS) proudly worn in many permutations at every other opportunity so at least that's the drinking uniform sorted out. I will however leave the kilt to Sandy.

Another quote from the same pages:

"The problem arose from the fact that no less than 79 different regiments and corps of the British Army were represented in the Commando and that each was wearing the head-dress peculiar to his parent unit. Thus a motley collection of caps, tam-o-shanters, bonnets, forage caps, caps “fore and aft”, berets, peaked KD caps, etc., appeared on the Commando parades, the forest being a veritable RSM’s nightmare!"

The Commando Veterans Association site is quite a good source of photos,and if you trawl it and various others it shows an amazing variation in insignia, some with just "commando" some with No.2 commando ,some with para wings ,some with the combined ops.patch,quite a variation of complete and partial insignia and loads wearing the lanyard ,sometimes only the lanyard.
Looking at the photos of pre St.Nazaire quite a few still had insignia on their BD, and one of the photos of a survivor shows him wearing a denison( not that unlikely as No.2 trained as a "parachute" commando in 1940) .Some of the photos appear to have been taken during lulls or stand down from action,surprisingly the lanyard features in a lot of them,perhaps a unit pride identifying the unit and easily removable.
The lanyards are kinda rare, as it happens I have a spare.

surprisingly the lanyard features in a lot of them,perhaps a unit pride identifying the unit and easily removable.

That unit pride certainly comes across in the photos and all the insignia, hand made cap badges etc.

Looking at period photos, no insignia is the way to go.

Fair enough, I'd rather we look like a unit than a fancy dress party of every uniform in the British Army.

I'll save the cap comforter for Friday night as well, unless I can bodge up a bobble to go on my GS cap as a looks-like Tam

Cheers
Martin

my 2p's worth is all in helmets ,as has been seen in other games it really makes for a fantastic combined effect visually .plus makes target's obvious to identify.

Awww... But I look like a right div in a Mk. 2 lol.
On the other hand, a cap comforter isn't going to be offering much comfort in summer time...

Awww... But I look like a right div in a Mk. 2 lol.

Everyone does. That's why they're cool.

Embrace the divviness...

my 2p's worth is all in helmets

Oh yes, helmets for the actual battle, as per the painting.

Cheers
Martin

Awww... But I look like a right div in a Mk. 2 lol.

Everyone does. That's why they're cool.

Embrace the divviness...

Yeah I suppose, but I believe myself to be something akin to a small grape with a drawing pin jabbed into it. I don't even have a gigantic head either lol. However, I have a pencil-necked mate with a tiny head and he looks pretty stylish in one...

What have you been smoking....???

Don't reckon the MkII was ever designed as a fashion accessory, could be why everyone takes them off as soon as they stand down

Don't reckon the MkII was ever designed as a fashion accessory, could be why everyone takes them off as soon as they stand down

Really?! They work wonders if you are caught in raining shrapnel though, by some accounts...

I actually like the iconic look of the British Tommy with helmet, I just happen to think I don't suit the battle bowler despite my liking it!

Spike Milligan had some very entertaining illustrations of how his pals wore both their Mark IIs and their anklets in one of his books (Hitler - my part in his downfall maybe?).

And I believe Airfix would say that they pride themselves on theirs too

That would explain the mysterious 'Sdkfz 234' armoured car, the hybrid Churchill Mk IV/VII and don't get me started on the British paras shooting their own mates as they descend.....

We could always play the Airfix multi-pose game in our commando gear, anyone got a canoe or a grappling hook?

Cheers
Martin

We could always play the Airfix multi-pose game in our commando gear, anyone got a canoe or a grappling hook?

Cheers
Martin

As it happens and 3 passable Mae Wests

We could always play the Airfix multi-pose game in our commando gear, anyone got a canoe or a grappling hook?

Cheers
Martin

As it happens and 3 passable Mae Wests

We'd also need to be entirely green and bring our plastic bases with us