More Recce stuff

[leigh kitchen]

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[leigh kitchen]

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[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Leigh, I like the look of the beret it has that "been there" look.

Interesting that it is a '45 dated example. Same date and maker as mine, just with a different coloured leather sweatband. Recce were absorbed by the Royal Armoured Corps in 1944 and by regulation they were supposed to change over to the black RAC beret, but many units clung on to the khaki beret which for the previous years had been the hallmark of the Recce trooper.

Cheers, Ade.

[leigh kitchen]

My father was a WWII & 45 - 48 palestine era Guardsman, he told me that khaki berets were coveted for wear instead of GS caps, 'tho I don't know if this was unofficially sanctioned within the unit - I suspect that it was just a try on by detached personnel. I noticed that your beret has the khaki coloured band, you see khaki bands on fairly recent foreign issue khaki berets as well, I think Belgian & Serb (I've got an example of both somewhere). It's understandable that squaddies want to hang on to their "old" headgear. I was thoroughly hacked off when I finally had to wear a beret with a plastic rather than leather band, but managed to sidestep the cloth banded things. Apart from a couple of christmas cards & a printed poem by a Recce Corps (Northumberland Fusiliers) sergeant, I think my stock of Recce Corps stuff is now exhausted.