Any ideas on the uniform??

[supermumsmith]

Hi Guys.

I know people at Rootsweb like a challenge so here goes.

A long shot I know but this is the only photo my husband has of his father who died when he was small. (He is the one on the left).

His name was Victor George Smith and he was born approx 1913 possibly in Burma and served in WWII but we have no idea with which regiment.

I hope that someone out there can help.

[Romilly]

It definately looks like a 'Tropical' Uniform to me, - bit I'm sure that somene on here will have more idea about it than I do!

Best Wishes, Romilly.

[millymcb]

They both appear to be Privates and the cap badge of his friend looks like a Sherwood Forrester (Notts and Derbyshire Regiment) badge. Can anyone more expert confirm that?  Possibly he was in the same regiment.

[Wendi]

Hi supermumsmith

The hat of the guy on the left indicates to me that he was in the Royal Air Force.  Perhaps one of the chaps would be good enough to confirm that for you.

His service record would be available to his next of kin via this link.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,154824.0.html

Wendi 

[Rossolad]

Hello,

These three badges are Sherwood Foresters of varying ages.   There are also similar cap badges for other regiments, like Wiltshires etc.

Ray

[Jebber]

This looks closer.

THE SHERWOOD FORESTERS (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE & DERBYSHIRE) REGIMENT (1902 - 1953)

Jebber

[themonsstar]

Hi
The (Hat) is the Universal pattern Khaki Field Service Cap if it was RAF it would to Blue . The two of them are wearing Khaki Drill Uniform, the drill shorts are called 'Bombay Bloomers', I will also go for the badge being the Notts & Derby Regt, is Army number should be between 4,960,001-5,038,000,

[Wendi]

So themonsstar,

Teach me well, these are two men from the same regiment?

Wendi 

[scrimnet]

I agree with Millymcb and Jebber that the badge is Notts and Derby, but I dont think they are wearing Bombay Bloomers!! They had buttons at the side to hold up the long turn ups! These are Shorts KD, well starched on the left, not so much on the chap on the right. I also note that the toecaps are well bulled....

The picture can be dated within a short time frame....The FS cap (left) was specified in 1937, and worn until replaced by the GS cap in 1943. The chap on the right wears the Other Ranks (ORs) pattern of Service Dress Cap. This disappeared around 1940 after Dunkirk, but was worn by the Corps of Military Police throughout the war.

Just to muddy the waters further, all Regiments were allowed to wear coloured FS caps from 1937 with the Regt Colours being shown. These were at the discretion of the battalion commanding officers and were private purchase. This not withstanding, some Regts had worn coloured FS caps since the 1880s! The  colours for the Notts and Derbys would have have been a dark blue main with yellow piping, and a dark green top and peak. So I can see where Wendi was coming from with her thoughts on RAF.

The 1st bn was in Palestine, the Middle East and North Africa from 1939-1942 and the 2nd bn was in Tunisia and Italy from 1943-45 so that should help pin down the picture a little.

It is also more than likely that two chaps from he same unit would wear different hats. It is possible that with the evidence of the highly polished (bulled) boots, whitened web belt and starched shorts that they are members of the bn Regt Police, although I would expect "RP" wrist bands....