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beret industries
!!!!! Do not add to this thread see introduction steve !!!!!
Last edited by ASR142; 10-09-2014 at 10:35 AM.
Surpak berets
History of the beret
Supak manufacturing co ltd made berets from 1943 they change there markings after WWII during the war years they had a white line above their name.
Unlike the other makers they produced pre-sized marked liners which had there co name on above a date with the size above the white line and then the government arrow the size stamp is always central to the makers stamp they only had one white dashed line to stitch the internal cloth section to the berets and 2 rows of stitching .
They did not use a washer behind the eyelets and the leather pad is again hand stitched in place, with a single thread around the inside of the beret . Normally a WD stamp would be at the inside crown area of the beret which can some times be missing as with this example .
The leather band has a over lap and is stitched in place this leather band is slightly thinner than other makers and there for tends to crack and be brittle so check for new bands when looking at them these again are fixed in the same way as Kangol made examples with 2 machine stiched rows . a good bit to note here is how the leather band always sits flat with no curtain extra bit for the band to be stitched to .
A good bit to note here is how the leather band always sits flat with no curtain extra bit for the band to be stitched to shown below is a Kangol on top of a Supak .
A better example of the makers mark inside a 1944 dated black RAC / RTR example .
Beret - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Last edited by ASR142; 12-01-2014 at 10:16 PM.
British beret basque ltd
SADLY FOR THE MO I DO NOT KNOW WHERE I HAVE PUT MY WAR TIME BASQUE AND SURPAK BERETS SOME WHERE IN MY STORE SO I WILL TAKE A LOOK AT THE 2 EARLY POST WAR BASQUE EXAMPLES THESE ARE BOTH DATED 1946 !
2 1946 dated examples both green/ brown for Officers , mounted infantry units & Reconnaissance corps
The makers stamp on the BRITISH BERET BASQUE LTD ( BASQUE ) is the same as the war time examples and is only the name , date & arrow printed on the cloth with a series of 8 dots around the outer diamond ( See the pics with the red arrows show the locations ) all of these markings are printed at the same time and location and way round.
Interesting bit to note on the one is the shadow WD stamp which show that the beret was placed down while the hand stamp was still wet with these 2 examples you can see that the WD stamp location was moved during 1946 from the inner brim to the center of the beret ( A good marker for faked berets )
Something to note is also the way in which the inner brim is made of fabric off cuts and are stitched in a hap hazard way and are done in a way to make part of the brim larger than other parts of the beret ie shaping the beret each example is unique How ever they do have the 2 front and rear stitches to the inside .
There is no lose tacking stitch only a 4th machine stitched row . There is a hand stitched leather rectangle over the eyelets which have a washer in place as with the other makers of the war time British produced berets . The paint on the eyelets tends to crack and fall off . The outer part of the beret weave is the same as the Kangol made examples
The green / brown berets always have a green color leather band which is always a bit fragile and tends to crack probably something to do with the green paint and the leather drying out due to it creating a water proof layer below is a Kangol and Basque examples next to each other .
This maker made the lowest number of berets during WWII with these problems you can understand why .
Last edited by ASR142; 10-23-2014 at 10:17 AM.
canadian berets Dorothea hats ltd
As I have not had many Canadian WWII berets I can only go by what I have at my disposal ( Friends collections ( MAINLY ) and mine (1 EXAMPLE ) ) They are not very common and are seldom seen in the UK .
The beret outer appears to be made roughly in same way as the Kangol made examples with a center section which is stitched together rather than being a small knot. In the main its the same style as a kangol made example even with the way the leather trim has a ridge for it to be stiched to which makes the trim stand up .
The internal brim peace of black cloth is a single peace cut to shape with the join being at the back . The inner crown of the beret is one peace which has been stitched to the inner brim prior to it being attached to the beret Nether on the out side IE same side as the makers details and all ways hidden from view .
The makers details are printed in a white paint which turns blue / green with a double diamond to the out side this has no stitch marks to it there is no inner section / padding to the beret .
The leather trim is stitched to the inner section of the beret prior to it being stitched to the outer section of the beret . The outer stitching is done twice and are very tightly together the leather trim has 2 sets of stitches to join the ends together .
The eyelets have no backing washer and are fixed directly to the outer part of the beret , the leather padding / protector is machine stitched to it using a potato style stitch . There is no lose or machine stitched tacking thread around the inner brim of the beret.
Last edited by ASR142; 10-23-2014 at 01:59 AM.
Wwii private purchase berets
!!!!! please do not add to this thread is a on going project for the forum see the introduction !!!!!
Last edited by ASR142; 11-01-2014 at 10:10 PM.
Post war makers markings
As a collector I have all ways found it good to have one 1 or 2+ post war berets in my collection these have all ways been as a quick guide / reference item to refer to once in a while as there are all ways items that don't seam quite what they are meant to be and those that break the rules and can be faked to make them out to be what they not the 1st in this post is the most dangerous out of all of them !!!
Kangol change their makers mark during the year 1950 to the way shown below this example although is 1961 dated it still retains the WD stamp to the inner brim which by this time was normally done to the inner crown of the beret sadly this example is not very clear .
The inner taking stitch is a lose but strong diagonal lope stitch which was about during the war ( This example is a section of a 1943 41 pattern ATS serge dress ) and was used from about 1945 on berets , Mainly marine / RN examples and appear on the army examples from about 1947 onward's depending on the maker of the beret .
Also note the civil defence berets had a embroidered badge which would be stitched in place so there is no need for the slider pocket to be added to this beret .
The internal sacking cloth became a looser weaved, Example from a kangol beret this example is also a good example to note regarding the general shape of the beret which by this time was well and truly gone in favor of the smaller crown making this example a good one to fake up into a WWII RTR / RAC black example the example shown has a post WWII civil defence reference number to it c 146.
A good point to note regarding this late version of the beret is how the diamond stitch's are done as they miss the corner out and go straight across this is the most important part of this particular beret as if the markings are removed you have almost a war time beret beware of these .
Last edited by ASR142; 11-03-2014 at 10:50 PM.
Unique regt berets
11th Hussars beret
These are unique to the regt and are very hard to come by few examples from WWII exist although some where made locally and some have been WD stamped and made under contracts for the war department the example below is named and numbered and dates from WWII going by his number . Normally no badge was fitted how ever this example had 3 holes in it which match up to a officers collar badge which came in with the box of bits and was some times seen fitted to the beret .
The colors vary very little with the examples that I have looked at at the locally hussars museum in Winchester ( Well worth a visit as there are 5 in all to see A good day out and a reasonable coffee shop as well to boot ) .
please do not add to this thread see introduction .
Last edited by ASR142; 11-22-2014 at 05:43 PM.
Please do not add to this thread see 1st post !!
SORRY Chaps going back to look at a recent purchase of a 1943 dated royal marines example made by Kangol wear ltd a nice real named example to PL 22784 W L PIZER
This is probably a very dangerous example if it fell into the wrong hands as if the lining was removed and placed into a maroon or green early post war beret it would make a very expensive mistake for some one and as the lining could be removed as a lump and trimmed down the tail tell signs would disappear .
The liner is the standard Kangol example complete with its paper label to the inside the inner brim is shaped as with the other RN berets being noticeably wider at the side making the beret have the rugby ball shape again.
To the inside as with the other examples there is no leather rectangle / eyelet protector or internal lose stitching going around the beret the half moon section is hand stitched in place and there's no wd stamp makers marks etc are all as normal .
Please do not add to this thread see 1st post !!
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