Polish First Armoured Div Battledress blouse

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, I was lucky to add this blouse to my collection 18 months ago now.

The BD was saved from destruction in a rag factory some years ago where a friend of mine worked.

The blue and yellow collar pennons identify the blouse has belonging to a member of the Podhalanian Rifle Battalion.

The single black shoulderstrap is the distinctive insignia for the division. Note the material used; it appears to be German "Trikot" wool. The alteration to the collar etc are typical for Free Polish Forces.

Original, untouched, badged battledress blouses are hard to find today in the UK.

Cheers, Ade.

[Dimas]

Nice one, Ade! I've never seen before. It's very interesting to see the items belonged to the national units...

[Americanheadcharge]

Nice battledres blous. When i've more money, I want to expand my Polish militaira collection. And a battledress like that is on the top of my wish list.

The only thing you need to do now, is to search for the other parts to complete the battledress.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I have the 1940 pattern battledress trousers which actually came from the same rag factory. My friend saved a lot of items from there. I would very much like a Polish Armoured Corps black beret, but that will be hard to find. (I do have a couple of wartime black berets, but not Polish badged)

BD trousers have always been hard to find. Most got worn to destruction after the war for work or gardening wear.

Cheers, Ade.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi Ade,

It’s nice to see this sweet BD again. I’m still finding my way around this forum and just came upon this thread now. Love this BD, and almost equally as much the account of how it was saved from near destruction. Thanks for posting. I’ll strive to get around to posting some of my Polish Armed Forces in the West exile items.

Regards,
Tony

[Loupie1961]

terrific BD, ADE! I've posted a couple of mine, but it could be a good idea to put all this BDs in a single thread....

[Jerry B]

Stunning BD and a great tale on how it was saved.

[António Fragoeiro]

Outstanding Ade.
Im always amazed to see the items that are saved from destruction, every day.
Thanks for showing.
Cheers.
Nuno

[ze-pole]

Hello,
Interesting battledress from a unit difficult to find.
ZP

[Pieter1942]

Fantastic BD Adrian!!
Also the trouser is in great shape; trousers of this quality become hard to find these days and above expensive!



Kind regards, Pieter.