Genuine 1940 Dated '37 Pattern Battledress Blouse - 49th Infantry Div. For Sale

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I HAVE MADE THE HARD DECISION TO SELL MY ENORMOUS COLLECTION OF WW1 AND WW2BRITISH AND ALLIED MILITARIA(PRIMARILY BRITISH) TOFUND A RETURN TO MY FIRST LOVE - CLASSIC BRITISH MOTORCYCLES.. I WILL BE LISTING ITEMS STEADILY OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, THERE ISN'T MUCHI DON'T HAVE AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE OF SO IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR GET IN TOUCH AND I WILL LIST IT FOR YOU..

OFFERED HERE IS A 100% GUARANTEED GENUINE WW2 BRITISH ARMY OTHER-RANKSBATTLEDRESS BLOUSE DATED DECEMBER 1940 WITH ALL ORIGINAL PERIOD INSIGNIA FOR A ROYAL ENGINEERS COMPANY SERGEANT MAJOR (CSM) IN ONE OF THE FIELD SQUADRONS OF 49TH (WEST RIDING) INFANTRY DIVISION - THE CSM WAS QUALIFIED IN BOMB DISPOSAL...

THEBLOUSE IS MANUFACTURED IN THE CORRECT KHAKI WOOL SERGE WITH KHAKI DRILL LINING TO THE '37 PATTERN (dated '1940') BUT IT HAS HAD A KHAKI DRILL COLLAR LINING ADDED (THIS WAS A COMMON MODIFICATION ON '37 PATTERN BLOUSES AND INDEED IT WAS MADE OFFICIAL ON BOTH TYPES OF THE LATER '40 PATTERN PRODUCED FROM 1942..) - ALL FLAT BRASS BUTTONS ARE PRESENT ALONG WITH THE CORRECT REVOLVING SHANK BUTTONS TO BOTH EPAULETTES.CORRECT '37 PATTERN WAISTBELT BUCKLE. TWO INTERNAL POCKETS, ONE OF WHICH BEARS THE MAKER'S LABEL GIVING THE SIZE AS '8' (ROUGHLY AVERAGE SIZE FOR WW2,i.e. 38 INCH CHEST, 5 FEET 8 INCHES TALL..) CORRECT VIOLET INK STAMP TO LABEL GIVING DATE AS'DEC 1940' (DECEMBER 1940)

INSIGNIA IS THE PROVERBIAL 'REAL ARM-FULL' ! - IT IS ALL ORIGINAL AND 100% GUARANTEED TO BE WW2 PERIOD APPLIED TO THE BLOUSE, IT COMPRISES (TO BOTH UPPER ARMS) :- PRINTED 'ROYAL ENGINEERS' SHOULDER TITLES (I TOOK THEPHOTOS AS THE DAYLIGHT WAS FADING AND THIS SEEMS TO HAVE AFFECTED THE COLOUR ON THE RED INSIGNIA, IT IS IN FACT THE CORRECT BRIGHT RED..) PRINTED 49TH INFANTRY DIVISION FORMATION SIGNS, FELT R.E. ARM-OF-SERVICE STRIPS (BLUE/RED) AND PRINTED SQUADRON FLASHES ('50' WHITE ON MID-BLUE). TO BOTH LOWER SLEEVES ARE A MATCHED PAIR OF CSM BRASS RANK BADGES WITH THEIR ORIGINAL BACKING PLATES. TO THE LOWER LEFT SLEEVE IS AN EMBROIDERED BOMB DISPOSAL QUALIFICATION BADGE, TO THE LOWER RIGHT SLEEVE ARE PRINTED RED OVERSEAS SERVICE STRIPES.

CONDITION OVERALL IS GOOD WITH NO DAMAGE BUT WITH SOME MOTH HOLES, MAINLY ON THE LOWER SLEEVES AND ONE HOLE ON THE LEFT EPAULETTE. NONE OF THIS IS HORRIFIC AND DOESN'T REALLY DETRACT IN DISPLAY. THE BLOUSE DISPLAYS LIGHT HONESTSERVICE WEAR COMMENSURATE WITH THIS BEING A 'BEST' BATTLEDRESS.

AS WE KNOW THE BOMB DISPOSAL UNITS WERE ON ONE THE ELITES OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS, THE WORK WAS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE WAR THE DEATH TOLL WAS VERY HIGH. THIS N.C.O. IS LIKELY TO HAVE TRAINED INITIALLY ON DEFUSING GERMAN UNEXPLODED AIRCRAFT BOMBS OR 'U.X.B.s' DURING THE 'BLITZ' BUT WOULD ALSO HAVE BEEN TRAINED ON DEFUSING GERMAN MINES AND UNEXPLODED SHELLS. ONCE POSTED TO DIVISIONS FOR THE D-DAY ASSAULT THE MAIN TASK OF BOMB DISPOSAL PERSONNEL BECAME CLEARING UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE IN THE REAR AREAS AND CLEARINGPATHS THROUGH THE MANY GERMAN MINEFIELDS IN NORMANDY, BELGIUM, HOLLAND AND ULTIMATELY GERMANY ITSELF. AGAIN CASUALTIES WERE HIGH DUE TO THE GERMAN'S INGENUITY IN CREATING UNDETECTABLE ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES MADE FROM GLASS AND WOOD.

A CRACKING 100% ORIGINAL 1940 DATED '37 PATTERN BATTLEDRESS BLOUSE, GUARANTEED ORIGINAL WW2 PERIOD APPLIED INSIGNIA TO A ROYAL ENGINEERS SENIOR N.C.O. WITH A RARE AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS TRADE, VITAL TO THE ADVANCE INLAND AFTER THE D-DAY LANDINGS AND AN ESSENTIALTRADE STILL CARRIED ON TODAY BY THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MODERN BRITISH ARMY'S EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSALUNITS OF THE ROYAL LOGISTICS CORPS IN AFGHANISTAN..

LOW START PRICE ANDA BARGAIN LOW RESERVE (AS USUAL, MUCH LESS THAN I PAID FOR IT, BUT I SUPPOSE MY LOSS IS YOUR GAIN !..)

PLEASEKEEP AN EYE ON MY LISTINGS IN THE NEAR FUTUREFOR MORE WW1 AND WW2 BRITISHUNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT ITEMS...

I KEEP ALL MY sales 'PRIVATE' TO PROTECT buyers FROM FAKE 'SECOND CHANCE' OFFERS..

UK buyers - YOU CAN PAY VIA PAYPAL OR BY PERSONAL CHEQUE DRAWN ON A UK BANK (PLEASE ALLOW TIME FOR CHEQUES TO REACH ME AND CLEAR INTO MY ACCOUNT BEFOREI DESPATCH YOUR ITEM..) BUYER TO PAY POSTAGE AT COST.

NON-UK buyers - PAYPAL ONLY PLEASE - BUYER TO PAY SHIPPING COSTS -PLEASE NOTE - THE SHIPPING COSTS QUOTED ON THE LISTING ARE FOR THE UK, CANADA AND THE USA ONLY, PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR EXACT SHIPPING COSTS TO YOUR COUNTRY BEFORE offerDING..

PAYMENT BY WHATEVER METHOD MUST BE WITH ME WITHIN5 DAYS OF THE END OF THE sale AND PAYMENT BEFORE THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED !..

This item has been shown 405 times. Genuine 1940 Dated '37 Pattern Battledress Blouse - 49th Infantry Div. : $190