Need to identify this battle dress blouse

[pluto]

Hi gents,

This morning this battle dress blouse, was offered to me . Im not sure what to make of it , it looks too good for its age.
SO I was wondering if it may be a reproduction . The insignia on it , I believe belongs to the 53rd Welsh fusiliers and it is only on one arm.

Can any of you please tell me if it is an original from 1942 , with the few pictures I've provided.

Also ,are the patches authentic , and what do the ribbons mean and if they too are authentic.

The guy is asking 160 euros for it. If everything's kushty is it worth that?

Thanks in Advance
Joe

[RvL]

Difficult to tell without an in hand inspection. The battle dress looks fine to me. A typical best dress/home coming. The insignia are indeed Welsh division, senior brigade.
Medals are France en Germany star, defence medal and the war medal, correct me if I'm wrong.
The WD stamp is an O, that's indicate 1942

Rick.

[pluto]

Hi Rick
Thank you very much for all the info you provided, yes ,the WD stamp is indeed an O,I have just noticed when enlarging the picture that there is a misprint on the label and instead of BREAST is written BROAST, can anyone comment on that? Also can you please tell me if it is missing any insignia as the patches or only on one arm,and there is no shoulder titles,and what does the red stripe under the W mean? So if it's a home coming dress ,it could explain why it's in such good condition,in other words it was not used in combat, i know it's not customary to give appraisals in this forum but do you think the price of 160 Euros is correct for this item?
Thanking you in advance
Joe

[Jerry B]

I tshould have the same patches on both sleeves and it should have the shoulder title to the regiment or corps. The W is for the 53 rd Welsh divsion, not Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the red stripe is for the first brigade of the division which included;

The first brigade of the 53rd Infantry Division was constituted as follows during the Second World War,

158th Infantry Brigade (1st Brigade).

4th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers (left 3 August 1944)
6th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers (left 3 August 1944)
7th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers (left 27 April 1945, rejoined 14 June 1945)
158th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company (formed 3 July 1940, disbanded 16 February 1941)
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment (from 4 August 1944)
1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (from 4 August 1944)
2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers (from 26 April 1945)

This version of the divisional patch is a type I think of as post WWII and all ion all I think this is a put together. Full pictures of the blouse would be good as you only show parts of it and it might itself be a copy/fake when you look at the incorrect spelling on the label, though it appears OK.

I have said this before, if you show crappy pics you get crappy answers

[pluto]

Hi Jerry
Thanks for the info,I took photos of what I thought was relevant to identify this whether to be fake or not ,ie the markings and insignia it has, anyway ,on the other sleeve doesn't look like there was ever anything like patches stuck there and also no evidence of any shoulder titles ever being there, I also googled the W patch and found none looked like this from ww2,also the fact that they are only on one arm sleeve,well guess I have to pass on this one then

[RvL]

What kind of battledress are you looking for?

[pluto]

Hi Rick
thanks for your interest,i am looking for a reasonably good condition original, ww2 dated one,(preferably not 1945) size from 10 to 14,with original insignia (not airborne troops),if it has stripes it.s even better
Joe

[RvL]

Only British or also Canadian?

[Pauls1970]

Looks as though it's never been worn, the nap of the cloth looks amazing !

[pluto]

Hi Rick
I 'm only looking for a British one,I don't think that this one is a repro,It's probably unissued ,and stored in a good environment,but like Jerry said ,it's definitely made up as there is no signs that other insignia was ever present on it,but having a look at what they are going for on e-bay, and I think that 160 Euros is a bit too much for it
Cheers
Joe