16th/5th Lancers Battledress

[Ciaran Byrne]

Can anyone tell me what a battledress for this regiment would have looked like. I have not come across any cloth shoulder titles for this regiment, nor the division they belonged to. Any help greatly appreciated.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ciaran, the BD would have been the 1937 or 1940 "Austerity" pattern. I suspect the shoulder title would have been "16/5 Lancers" in dark blue with white lettering. (This is speculation on my part, so I am open to correction here But their sister unit 17/21st Lancers wore one in this style) Beneath which would have been the formation sign for the 6th Armoured Div; a black square with a white mailed gauntlet. Under this would have been the arm of service strip in red/yellow for armoured units.

Here is a website with a little background info on the unit:

http://www.qrl.uk.com/h_16_5.html


Hope this helps?

Cheers, Ade.

[Ciaran Byrne]

Thanks Adrian. I guessed the divisional patch would be as you've said and have seen shoulder titles for 17th.21st Lancers but not 16th/5th Lancers. Not sure if they are very rare or not.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ciaran, the unit would also have worn in the early war period the shoulder strap "slip -on" titles in worsted wool with black lettering.


Cheers, Ade.

[Ciaran Byrne]

What is the score with the slip on shoulder titles. I have seen a few for sale but they appear to be going for quite high prices. Were these replaced by the shoulder titles that were seen during the latterstages of the war?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ciaran, I quite like the slip on titles, although rather dull and drab, they were a good idea; cheap to make and good for security as they were easy to remove. They were introduced in 1939. They can be found in printed versions too.


By Sept 1941 they were on the decline and many units were ordered not to wear them while serving in the UK in order to save on materials. By 1943 with the widespread introduction of shoulder titles, their use declinded rapidly.

Like everything else British WW2, prices are rising, these used to be cheap. Repros have been around a few years now too. Fantasy ones such as "ATS" on KD material are now on the market as well.

Cheers, Ade.

[Marc Sherriff]

16TH/5TH LANCERS

Green on red shoulder designation, both TH are superscript.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Thanks Marc I was hoping you would see this thread and post the answer


Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Marc has kindly sent a pic of an original title for me to post here


Cheers, Ade.

[Ciaran Byrne]

Ahhhh...they do exist..

Never seen one before but will keep an eye out for a pair. Thanks for the pic.