It is 1938 and the 2nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment is involved in peacekeeping in the British Mandate in Palestine which had been entrusted to Britain in the wake of the First World War. The mandate had been peaceful up until the mid-1930s when Jewish immigration began to rise in response to growing anti-semitism in Europe. This led to tension between the new settlers and the local arab population with the British stuck in the middle trying to keep the peace.
Dusk is falling and this private is dressed in the mix of cotton khaki drill and woollen service dress that would often be seen on active service in tropical climes as the cooler nights fell. He wears a woollen service dress tunic, with brass East Yorkshire Regiment shoulder titles and collar dogs. His headdress is the Wolseley helmet, worn with his cap badge attached to the centre at the top of the pugaree. He wears cotton shorts, long socks and nine foot long woollen puttees together with leather ammunition boots. He has a simple set of 08 pattern webbing consisting of belt, shoulder braces, ammunition pouches, water bottle and carrier and bayonet frog. His rifle is the ubiquitous Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE)
- Wolseley Helmet
- Shorts
- Ammunition Boots
- Puttees
- 22 Pattern Service Dress Tunic
- Long socks
- SMLE
- 08 Webbing
So how exactly was the 22 dress tunic different than the one worn during WW1?
The 22 pattern is closer cut than the wartime version and has a different number of pleats under the collar- the differences are subtle