Throughout much of the War on Terror British soldiers wore desert DPM uniforms, the two tone sand camouflage coming to represent the standard appearance of soldiers in the press and on television screens. This pattern was to have shortcomings in Afghanistan when troops moved into the ‘green zone’ but in desert conditions it was an excellent choice of colour, especially in Iraq where the majority of the landscape was sand. The cut of the uniforms issued mirrored the CS95 uniforms produced in standard temperate DPM, but in the correct colour palette for the terrain.
Tonight we turn to another of those items that I should really have covered on the blog before, but haven’t for one reason another; the DDPM CS95 trousers:
These trousers are made of the standard desert camouflage with a dark brown pattern printed over a lighter coloured sand background. The trousers are generously cut for comfort and sport two large buttoned patch pockets on the thighs:
A further pair of slash pockets are available at the waist:
And a single buttoned rear pocket over the right buttock:
The fly is secured with a zip, whilst the waist is secured with both a drawstring and a button:
Waist adjustment can also be made through a pair of button tabs on each hip:
Note also the belt loops to pass a trouser belt through. The bottom of each trouser leg has a drawstring to allow them to be drawn in and bloused over the boot:
As is usual a white stores and sizing label is sewn to the trousers:
This design and pattern of trouser was ubiquitous for many years and can be seen in numerous photographs of troops deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. The introduction of MTP made them obsolete, but they survive in huge quantities and e collector should have no difficulty in finding a pair for the collection.
