| |
memories of Pte Tom Barker |
Tom Barker passed on October 1st 2008
|
LOOKING BACK TO 1939-45.
My name is Tom Barker and I was a soldier in WW2. I am now retired and sometimes when I like to sit quiet for a while I find little queries flitting through my mind. Like who invented the battle dress?
He must have been a right Charlie, to begin with it looked slovenly. A soldier is supposed to look smart, dressed in a battle dress most looked like out of work dustcart attendants. When the Australian and American service men came to Britain they put our lads to shame.But the battle dress blouse was ingenious, if a bloke got one that fitted perfect when he was standing up it was half way up his back when he bent to pick up anything, and when he straightened up it stayed there. When this happened with equipment on it was most uncomfortable and almost impossible to rectify unless the wearer undid the equipment belt first.
The other puzzling thing about them was they had two pockets on the inside, which were supposed to be fitted with flat steel plates. The flat steel plates were never issued and in all the historical data I have read so far, there is no mention of them anywhere. These steel plates were special in that they had been hardened and would repel shrapnel. Also I pondered if we were ever issued with these phantom steel plates how would we get them into the pockets. The pockets covered both breasts of the wearer but since there was only a slit of about six inches one assumes the plate to be six inches by eight inches. In my opinion that would have been about as handy as the cable drum some one tied rockets to and sent it careering out of control over the beach.
One leg of the trousers had a pocket at the front just above the knee. Cigarettes or sandwiches got squashed the moment the wearer hit the dirt. If ammo or any thing hard was in that pocket then the wearer got a bruised leg.
Aw hell they were happy days any way. T.O.B.1998
2982252 Pte Barker T.O. 1st Bn Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Born 23 May 1921.
Tom Barker
| ©copyright 2000, warlinks.com all right reserved |
