Hi Guys, this is another BD blouse from my collection.
Finding originally badged BD's to famous units is hard, even in the UK.
This one is for a member of the Royal Tank Regt and part of the famous 79th Armoured Division. They operated the "Funnies" , the special purpose armoured fighting vehicles on D Day and OP "Varsity", the Rhine Crossing.
The blouse is a 1940 Austerity pattern, dated 1943. I bought this together with the same man's 1937 pattern BD trousers. Note the large size. The trousers are also large sized to match. Big sizes are hard to find and it is slightly unusual to find for a man over 6 feet tall and serving in AFV's. The blouse has been tailored to fit, as evidenced by the diagonal pleats to the breast, which can been seen in the ribbon bar pic.
Medal ribbons are for the 1939-1943 Star and the Africa Star. There are red service chevrons and a good conduct chevron on the cuffs.
Divisional insignia is in printed format. The WW1 pattern tank insignia denotes a member of the Royal Tank Regt, while the red/yellow arm of service strips are for the RAC.
Cheers, Ade.
Bookmarks