Just to prove that not all my collection comes from the second hand market, these latest pickups came from EBay and the Car Boot Sale.
Auscam Shorts
These shorts are Australian camouflage shorts as used by the Australian Army in Afghanistan. The camouflage is technically called ‘Disruptive Pattern, Desert Uniform’ (DPDU), but is commonly called ‘Auscam’. This is the third pattern desert camouflage and was introduced in 2002:
The shorts have a label inside showing they were made in Victoria in 2006:
They have Velcro adjusters on either side if the waistband and belt loops. I need to replace the front waist button, but otherwise they are a nice piece of uniform for the collection.
WW1 Boot Brush
This little brush is dated 1918 and has the W /|\ D mark and a makers mark for Vale and Bradhark:
It is a good example of militaria appearing in the unlikeliest places. It was in a pile of brushes on a boot sale stall and I looked through on the off chance and got lucky. 50p for WW1 personal kit is a good deal in anyone’s book!
Swedish Side Cap
And now for something completely different… This is a 1939 pattern Swedish Permissionsmosa cap made of grey wool:
Inside is the three crowns acceptance mark for the Swedish Army and the size 58:
On the front is the yellow and blue cockade of Sweden:
Swedish militaria from World War Two is cheap and in superb condition as it was never used in anger. Makes a very different area of collecting…
[…] Brushes These WW1 dated brushes are for use on shoes. Further photographs of the squarer brush can be seen here. […]
[…] Far harder is the desert pattern and until recently I had a lone pair of shorts, that we covered here. Recently however I have found a shirt in the desert Auscam pattern and quickly snapped it up for […]
If there’s any other Auscam uniform items that you want I’ll happily send them to you for cost of postage from Australia. I have heaps of spares.
Hi Darren, that is most kind. Drop me an email at e.hallett@hud.ac.uk and we can sort something out. Ed