Aussie Army Senior Officer Jacket

[Battery Command Post]

Cheers Rob
See what you can make out?
I added the pip

Hmmm.... interesting, not what I was expecting.

So it seems there are two sets of two 'inner holes', which you have shown will hold a pip or crown, and it looks like three sets of two 'outer holes'. Four of the outer ones have got to be for the crossed baton/sword badge of a general class officer, although, of course, the lower two outer holes could be for a curved 'AUSTRALIA' shoulder title.

If so, it is possible that it represents an officer who was a Lieutenant-Colonel (crown & pip), and was promoted to Brigadier-General (sword/baton over AUSTRALIA), which would tend to suggest it is a WW1/1920s period jacket, not WW2. The brown lining looks WW1 to me, but i don't really have much experience of Australian uniforms.

[

One thing I noticed, if you look at the picture of the back of the jacket, you can clearly see the ghost outline of the Sam Browne belt and strap

What do you think?

Rob

[reneblacky]

Hmmm.... interesting, not what I was expecting.

So it seems there are two sets of two 'inner holes', which you have shown will hold a pip or crown, and it looks like three sets of two 'outer holes'. Four of the outer ones have got to be for the crossed baton/sword badge of a general class officer, although, of course, the lower two outer holes could be for a curved 'AUSTRALIA' shoulder title.

If so, it is possible that it represents an officer who was a Lieutenant-Colonel (crown & pip), and was promoted to Brigadier-General (sword/baton over AUSTRALIA), which would tend to suggest it is a WW1/1920s period jacket, not WW2. The brown lining looks WW1 to me, but i don't really have much experience of Australian uniforms.

[

One thing I noticed, if you look at the picture of the back of the jacket, you can clearly see the ghost outline of the Sam Browne belt and strap

What do you think?

Rob

Cheers Rob
now that I look at it again I do see the out line of the belt
Definitely would have had the Australia titles.
It could be pre WW2 but I'm not sure if it would be WW1 as the cuffs would be more ornate like the British counterparts

[Battery Command Post]

Cheers Rob
now that I look at it again I do see the out line of the belt
Definitely would have had the Australia titles.
It could be pre WW2 but I'm not sure if it would be WW1 as the cuffs would be more ornate like the British counterparts

Ornate in what way? As far as I know, the cuffs on WW1 British jackets are just the same as that. The rank of Brigadier-General only existed until 1922, when it was replaced by Brigadier (to be accurate Colonel-Commandant originally) with the new insignia of three pips under a crown.

So if my interpretation of the insignia is correct, the jacket would have to pre-date 1922.

Rob

[reneblacky]

Ornate in what way? As far as I know, the cuffs on WW1 British jackets are just the same as that. The rank of Brigadier-General only existed until 1922, when it was replaced by Brigadier (to be accurate Colonel-Commandant originally) with the new insignia of three pips under a crown.

So if my interpretation of the insignia is correct, the jacket would have to pre-date 1922.

Rob

Cheers Rob,
the ornate cuffs, I mean like this one
(not mine) as you know this area is not my expertise

[Battery Command Post]

Cheers Rob,
the ornate cuffs, I mean like this one
(not mine) as you know this area is not my expertise

Oh yes cuff ranking, I see what you meant. The answer is not necessarily, for two main reasons. First off, although cuff rank jackets were standard for the start of the war, many, if not most, officers began wearing shoulder rank insignia very quickly. In some cases they modified existing cuff rank jackets by either having the cuffs remodelled with a pointed cuff or just removed the pips and braiding. I have examples of both practices in my collection, which i can post if you like. Various reasons are given for this, the most common being that the cuff ranking made officers too obvious for snipers (leading to the horrible terms "wind-up tunic" or "funk tunic" - I personally find these derogatory) but I'm not sure I believe this. By 1917 shoulder rank jackets were made official, and cuff rank was abolished in the early 1920s.

Secondly, cuff rank tunics were never worn by General class officers, who always used metal shoulder insignia on service dress jackets.

Rob