Officer's shirt and tunic?

[bestmsdt]

Both these items have no markings at all. The shirt is beautifully made, with 3/4 sleeves, and seems unused. Could this be WW2 era officer's wear?

The tunic is a puzzle, exhibiting different periods of use! The rank badges, I guess, are 'collector' added. But what was the tunic originally? An officer's tropical garment? Someone, presumably post-war, has taken a lot of trouble to patch over the bottom side slits, and the side ventilation flaps that I read are found on tropical wear.

Cheers,
Tony

[Nick Komiya]

See below for the info you need to judge what they are.
To the right of the first illustration is the tropical shirt. Note that shirts have long open slits on the side that button down.

Second illustration is the tropical jacket with flapped side openings.

Third is the Type 3 summer tunic w/o any tropical slits. Note that both A & B markings are on the left chest inner pocket. If pocket got replaced markings would be gone. The jacket also appears shortened.

[bestmsdt]

Thanks for the drawings, Nick. I'll get the items out and compare them. I see that the tunics both have the bayonet belt support, so can see if there are any signs of its removal.
Cheers,
Tony

[bestmsdt]

Right, have compared the 2 garments to the design sketches.

The shirt seems an exact match for the summer shirt (assuming that those are 3/4 length sleeves). There are 15 cm side slits, with a single central button. All buttons are made of wood. There seems to be a strange 'pocket' in the right shoulder patch, with a 4cm opening on the outside. As stated, absolutely no markings, but very nice quality, so I assume an officer's shirt.

The tunic matches the middle picture, with the caveat that I do not see obvious signs of the removal of the bayonet loop. I don't think it is shortened, the picture has it draped over the end of a bed (actually, I now see that maybe the last 1 cm has been turned in). There is no inner lower pocket as per the lower picture. The buttons are all wood. It has obviously been modified somewhat for, I assume, post war use. However, the overall quality and stitching is very poor, but that could be because it has been reworked to suit the last guy who wore it after the war.

Cheers,
Tony

[SHEMP H]

It appears that the ventilation flaps on the tunic have been sewn closed

[bestmsdt]

Hi Bill, yes they have been cut off and patched over for post war use.
Cheers,
Tony