Durham L.I. shoulder titles

[daverpol]

I'm hoping that someone here may be able to help as I cannot find this information anywhere.

As my father served in the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, I'm hoping to put together a display of D.L.I. insignia with the hope of passing it to my Grandson.

The D.L.I. wore a number of cloth shoulder titles "Durham L.I." & "Durham Light Infantry".

So far I've seen white on red, yellow on green & red on green.

Does anyone know the different colour combinations & which ones were worn by which Battalion?

Thank you,
Dave.

[lnijherald]

According to Brian L. Davis "British uniforms and insignia of WWII" the DLI in full in red on green titles are semi-official. Also Durham L.I. in white on red are the official titles as per ACI 905 dated 12 June 1943.
I think the yellow on green are post-war.

Luc

[daverpol]

Hi Luc,

Thanks for your reply.

I have two photos of my Father in uniform.
The first one, taken in 1943 clearly shows the white on red "Durham L.I." title.
The second photo taken in 1945 seems to show a darker colour title, I was wondering which colour it could have been.



Thanks,
Dave.

[Paul B]

DLI Insignia

Hi Dave

My suggestion for an insignia group would be the following;

King's Crown DLI cap badge.

Shoulder titles -white on scarlet Durham L.I.

Divisional flashes -"Double TT" as worn by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, 6/DLI -together with 8 and 9/DLI, formed 151 Brigade of this division.

It looks like your Dad is wearing the ribbons of the 1939-45 Star and France and Germany Star in the second photo, so these -together with the 1939-45 War Medal, would complete the grouping very nicely.

Good luck in sourcing this stuff -it's always nice to see someone form my local regiment being remembered.

All the best

Paul.

[daverpol]

Hi Paul.

Thank you for your comments.

I already have my Dad's photo, cap badge (black) & medals mounted in a frame.

What I'm looking to do now is to collect an example of each of the different colour combinations of cloth shoulder title.

The only trouble is I cannot find any reference works to tell me which colours were used & which Battalions wore them.

For example, I have the white on scarlet, yellow on green & red on green.
In the past I've seen red on black & red on blue.

I've even tried the DLI Museum & DLI Association & they are unable to help.

Dave.

[Old Smelly]

Hi.
In WW2 most battalions should wear the white on red, at least in the field, I have seen pics of this pattern being worn in Normandy. 9th Btn wore the yellow on dark green title, other battalions may have worn the red on green, certainly 16th did in Italy
Lee

[daverpol]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for your help.
When I came up with the idea of collecting D.L.I. shoulder titles I never thought it would be so difficult to gather info on them!

I found this website which shows the title worn by the 16th Bn.
http://16dli.awardspace.com/

As there are some titles which are "Durham L.I." & others which are "Durham Light Infantry", I'm wondering if the Territorial Battalions each had their own design & colour scheme. Short title, full title, colour variation, rounded ends, squared ends etc.

[lnijherald]

Just out of interest, your father is wearing a US war aid battle dress blouse in the picture in post #3.

Luc

[daverpol]

Hi Luc,

Thanks very much for the information!
The photo was taken in hospital in November 1945.
I'd be very interested to know how you can tell the difference in battledress!

In this photo taken in April 1944 he is actually still wearing his home guard issue uniform that he had to wear to report for recruit training at Brancepeth Camp in 1943. (Still had it when he was released from Stalag VIIA).

Could anyone with good eyesight let me know if that is a single arm of service stripe just visible under the shoulder title?

Thanks,
Dave.

[lnijherald]

Dave,

In the last picture you see all hidden buttons: P'37. On P'40 there are exposed buttons to the front, cuffs and pockets. On war aid BD only pocket buttons are exposed, all others are hidden.

Commonly a single scarlet arms of service strip was worn by (non-Rifle battalion) infantry regiments. Two or even three would further specify the seniority of a battalion in the particular brigade.

Luc