This week’s piece of Australian militaria is a little unusual in that it is a pair of army issued boxer shorts. Many militaries issue their own underwear to troops, with varying degrees of take up by the men themselves. Usually these are a plain black or green garment, in the most popular style of the era, so we see woolen drawers in the 1940s, y-fronts in the 1960s and 1970s and a version of the boxer short more recently. Where the modern issue Australian pair differs, however, is that they have the badge of the army embroidered onto them:

The badge is embroidered in yellow, with red and black detailing:

The underwear itself is quite stretchy, with an elasticated waist band. The reason for its stretchiness is revealed when one looks at the label that shows spandex has been used alongside cotton in the fabric blend. As is so often the case these days, the underwear is made in China:

I am not sure if these boxer shorts are still being issued, they are not listed with other underwear items listed in the current Australian Army dress regulations and I am unsure how popular they were with the troops, however the wear on the label of this example certainly suggests they saw some use with at least a number of troops.