Battledress Surplus Fatigues, also known as "fatigues", is any military uniform worn into combat, as opposed to 'display' dress or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. It may be either monochrome (often a shade of green or brown) or in camouflage colours. The first purpose-made and widely issued camouflage Surplus Fatigues garments were used by the Italian army after the First World War; most nations developed camouflage Surplus Fatigues uniforms during the Second World War though in many cases they were issued widely only among "elite" units. In the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries, Battle Dress Surplus Fatigues was also the official name for the style of uniform worn from the 1930s to the 1960s. Currently, Australian troops wear a multicolour camouflage Surplus Fatigues called Auscam, shades to suit Australia's terrain. It was developed by entering the colours of the Australian landscape into a computer program and the present battle dress Surplus Fatigues was the result. Canada's battledress Surplus Fatigues developed parallel to that of the British from 1900 to 1950, though always with significant differences, and then increasingly followed the US pattern of separate uniforms for separate functions, becoming distinctively "Canadian" in the process and utilizing CADPAT design. The first true battledress Surplus Fatigues adopted by Canada for standard issue across the board was the khaki field uniform known as Service Dress Surplus Fatigues, adopted in 1907. This was of a separate pattern from the British Service Dress Surplus Fatigues adopted after the Boer War, and marked a departure in Canadian uniforms in that it was distinct from the scarlet/blue/rifle green uniforms traditionally worn to that point, the latter of which became "ceremonial" dress for parades and other functions apart from field training. Canadian pattern Service Dress Surplus Fatigues worn by Other Ranks did not stand up to the rigours of campaigning, however, and was widely replaced by British uniforms in France; some samples of Canadian pattern SD were retained in Canada, and after the war, surviving to be issued briefly in 1939. Officers wore a distinctive pattern of Service Dress Surplus Fatigues (as did Warrant Officers I Class), which was identical to that worn by British officers; they were privately purchased, and of better quality than Other Ranks uniform. In combat in France and Flanders, they were often replaced on an individual basis by Other Ranks' Service Dress Surplus Fatigues, to make them less visible to enemy snipers and soldiers. Khaki Drill was a series of different Surplus Fatigues uniform patterns of light khaki cloth, generally cotton, first worn by Canadian soldiers in the Boer War and reserved for summer training in Canada, or for employment in tropical climates. Canada developed its own pattern after the First World War, and the uniform was commonly worn in Canada, with officers again having the option of finer garments privately purchased. In the Second World War, Canadians serving in Jamaica and Hong Kong wore Canadian pattern KD; the I Canadian Corps troops in Italy wore KD supplied in theatre by the British, generally of British, Indian or US (War Aid) manufacture. 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Officers had the option of having BD tailored from better material, but in the field most wore "off the rack" BD, perhaps with a modified open collar. Service Dress Surplus Fatigues was worn in 1939 and into 1940 by soldiers in Canada as field dress Surplus Fatigues, and afterwards was no longer issued except to a select few. While a new pattern of Service Dress Surplus Fatigues was introduced for Other Ranks in this period, it was reserved for dress wear only. Battle Dress Surplus Fatigues completely replaced SD as a field uniform beginning in 1940 as enough of the new uniforms became available. A new pattern of BD was introduced in 1949, with an open collar matching that of British Pattern 1949 BD. The garment was worn as a field dress Surplus Fatigues throughout the Korean War, and into the 1960s until replaced by the Combat Surplus Fatigues uniform. Some Militia units used BD as a dress Surplus Fatigues uniform until the early 1970s, but field use had probably been phased out by then. The US Army produced its own version of the BD Surplus Fatigues blouse for issue to soldiers in Europe. Although most of these were produced in England, they were of a dark green colour, rather than khaki. Called the ETO (European Theatre of Operations) jacket, American soldiers dubbed it the Ike Jacket, after General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bush Dress Surplus Fatigues was a series of dark green cotton uniforms, similar to KD clothing, which replaced those uniforms just prior to the Korean War. Like KD, Bush Dress Surplus Fatigues was worn primarily as a field uniform. It was replaced by the Combat uniform in the 1960s. The green combat Surplus Fatigues uniform became universal battledress in the 1960s, and was designed to be worn in any environment (though a tan coloured "tropical" version was worn during Operation Desert Storm and by the Airborne in Somalia). The Canadian pattern combat Surplus Fatigues uniform had angled pockets, designed to take magazines from the FN C1A1 assault rifle; a truly poor design of infantry load bearing equipment inspired this design - the 1964 Pattern Web Equipment had no ammunition pouches. The angled pockets are repeated on the new CADPAT Surplus Fatigues uniform, though they are enlarged and not intended for ammunition carriage. In Canada, battledress Surplus Fatigues is referred to officially as "No. 5 Operational Dress", and in general parlance as "combat uniform" or "combats". Currently, the Canadian Forces use the four-colour CADPAT Surplus Fatigues design, a computer-generated pixelated pattern issued in TW (temperate woodland) and AR (arid region) colours. Camouflage Surplus Fatigues cloth of CADPAT pattern was created and adopted in 1995, used for issue helmet covers in 1997 and trousers and blouses in CADPAT began to replace the olive green combatn Surplus Fatigues uniform from 2001 when Canadian forces joined the UN peacekeepers in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The AR version was introduced when Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan. Previously, a tan version of the olive Surplus Fatigues combats had been used for tropical wear by soldiers deployed to the Middle East, particularly during Operation Desert Storm and the deployment to Somalia. Until well into the post-World War II era, the Canadian Army had worn battle dress Surplus Fatigues uniforms similar to their British and Commonwealth counterparts, though with different national identifiers and regimental accoutrements (with Khaki Drill Surplus Fatigues uniforms being worn in the summer or in tropical regions). In the early 1950s, battle dress Surplus Fatigues began to be replaced with lightweight uniforms, at first Bush Dress Surplus Fatigues for summer wear, and in the 1960s with Combat Dress Surplus Fatigues, a set of olive drab garments more similar to the American style of combat wear (ie made up of layers and solely for wear in the field as opposed to all-purpose wool Battle Dress Surplus Fatigues). Specialist battledress Surplus Fatigues was developed primarily during the Second World War, including the Denison smock - originally for parachutists but also adopted by snipers. Specialized jump clothing was perpetuated by the Canadian Airborne Regiment who wore distinctive disruptive-pattern jump smocks from 1975 until disbandment in 1995. Special patterns of AFV Surplus Fatigues uniform were also worn beginning in the Second World War, initially black coveralls, later khaki coveralls as well as the padded "Pixie suit". Olive drab tanker's Surplus Fatigues uniforms were adopted with the Combat uniform Surplus Fatigues in the 1960s, including a distinctive padded jacket with angled front zip. |