Changes in fashion and developments in Industrial processes lead to new cloths being introduced during this period.
– Khaki Serge:
Developments in weapons effectiveness in the early C20th caused most Euorpean Nations to adopt Drab coloured uniforms as an aid to camouflage.
British WW1/WW2 Khaki (Drab Mixture):
A worsted warp, woollen weft fabric, the colour is made up by dyeing the wool into 6 different colours before mixing them together, spinning them into yarn and weaving into cloth. The depth of colour achieed can’t be replicated by dyeing a piece of cloth after it is wovn, as that only gives a single shade without depth.
Canadian WW2 Green Shade:
During WW2 the Canadian Army adopted a variation of the British aterial which is technically the same in construction but mixed different colours resulting in a charateristically green shade.
– Foreign / Field Service Serge:
Prior to the adoption of Khaki for Home Service uniform by the British Army the traditional colours of Scarlet, Blue and Rifle Green were still used for both Full Dress Tunics and Field Dress Frocks. The latter was a simplified garment made of Serge very similar in construction to the Khaki Serge but dyed in the traditional colours of each Arm of Service. Similar garments had been used for Foreign Service in some theatres, notably during the Zulu Wars of the 1870s.
Available now in Scarlet, Blue and Rifle Green.
– Hospital Serge:
Used for uniforms proivided for convalescing soldiers during WW1, it was similar to Foreign / Field Service Serge in that it was a bit denser than the serges intended for lining garments, but was dyed a distinctive shade of Mid Blue.
