New Bd arrived

[bazden]

Well the bd arrived this a.m and so far I am really taken with it. The serge material has lots of wear and tear to the nap of the cloth and where you would want and expect to see it, cuffs, collar, belt, arms and elbows and where pouches would have sat. There are two repairs to the lower right arm, which may or may not be period, not fussed to be honest.
There is a button missing, they are the stamped economy ones, not brass and have Firmin, London stamped on the backs. By the way if anyone has a spare button, I would be happy to buy it from them.
Also one hook and eye is missing and the other has been reattached and needs doing again. Also I am now on the look out for one of these too.
The insignia is correct and by gently lifting a stripe it certainly looks like they have been there some time. None of the stitching for the badges lights up under a uv light so all good there. The stripes I thought are maybe Canadian because of the way the herringbone faces, not sure.
The pictures here do not do it justice, it really has a nice feel to it. I think I shall add a couple of R.A slip on titles and webbing set with cartridge carriers and it should look the part.
As for where I got it from, a really very nice chap to deal with.
I should have posted this in my previous post, move this post by all means, sorry, to eager, and that don't happen much these days.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Glad you got it.

Looks a nice original blouse.

I will check my bits box for a button.

Cheers, Ade.

[Jerry B]

Hi,

It looks really good and appears all original and it must be one of the last pre austerity 40 patterns produced -an update on that as I noticed a sept 42 austerity since your original post which is the earliest I have seen so far- and I see it has an O above the broad arrow mark which is correct for 42.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Checked my bits box: only have a brass stamped one marked Firmin.

Cheers, Ade.

[bazden]

Thanks for having a look Ade, sure one will turn up, not fussed about Firmin just after a economy metal button will do.
Jerry, if your interested, I have got a 1942 dated and stamped with an 'o' date code , serge battledress (37 ptn), it also has an ink stamp of August 1942 on the label, it is an unissued one and a biggish size (13) with a much fuller cut than the pre austerity one. Late I thought for that pattern.

[Jerry B]

It is your thread starter I was referring to with the O above the broad arrow, and your august 42 serge pattern is not the latest serge pattern that I have seen on a label, and the one I show below looks like an austerity 40 pattern, though it still has battledress serge on the label and is dated 1944.

The BD types, serge and 40 pattern overlap and different makers did not always use the "official" labels and I have on a very few occasions seen a 42 pattern label which was on an austerity 40 pattern. I think officially the austerity was introduced in autumn 42, but some makers obviously ignored that, whilst foreign makers mostly never made 40 patterns of any type, keeping covered buttons and pleated pockets, whilst Indian made examples have exposed buttons but retained the pleated pockets.

There is more to BD blouses than many people realise and they are a field of study in their own right IMO and I am still discovering new variations on a regular basis.