My estranged uncle recently passed. Apparently he served in the military while in the UK, some time between 1974 and 1988.
I have literally zero info on his military service. I don't even know which branch of whatever country he served in.
Anyways, my mother gave me two of his old uniforms. They look to be British DPM? I was hoping someone could help me indentify the following about the uniform:
>what country
>what branch
>name of camo
>why's the other uniform is the same only darker
All I know is that it appears to have a corporal's insignia on the shoulder of the lighter uniform.
I know it's a long shot, seeing as though a lot of countries appear to have worn this camo pattern, but I have no other options, all tags are either too worn to read or completely missing.
Check out the camo thread, they know everything
>>30072557
More pics of darker uniform
>>30072557
And the lighter one.
>>30072557
http://camopedia.org/index.php?title=United_Kingdom
Dark uniforms fade noticeably and the dyes used may have varied.
>>30072557
The one on the right may be jungle issue, the colours are a little lighter.
>>30072591
Those corporals stripes do not look British to me.
>>30072739
That's what leads me to believe it isn't British.
I know he spent 14 years in the UK, but my mom and Grandmother said they have no clue where he served or what he did.
My brother mentioned something about African Soldiers wearing uniforms like those but I can't find any info to back this up.
>>30072739
Forgot to add, the insignia isn't on the shoulder as much as it's on the strap.
>>30073146
New Zealand?
>>30073146
They are. They are RAF stripes in Green, very much 80's vintage. He may well have been RAF Regiment as the lighter set look like older pattern British Jungle uniforms which weren't common issue.
If he was Army he would either have them sewn as a patch on his sleeve or have worn a brassard with embroidered stripes sewn in.
I don't believe the wearing of anything else on uniform (TRFs, Brigade or Divisional insignia) became common until the very late 80's/early 90's so there will be little else to ID his unit.
Nah, it's a British uniform.
Rank patches were generally sewn on the right arm for ORs and as epaulettes for officers, but later on OR sleeve insignia started to be worn on the epaulette too
When everything was replaced with the CS95 uniform they came with specially designed rank insignia to be worn on a tab on the chest
The lighter coloured set is a tropical uniform, or at least the trousers are trops.
>>30072739
Those rank slides are very much new - introduced when CS95 became common issue, and this stuff is from the 80's.
Back then only officer had epaulettes - it was an excellent way to see from ahead or behind if someone was to be saluted or not. That became much harder when CS95 was introduced as all rank was on the centre of the breast.
>>30073221
Thanks anon. Anyway for a non-British citizen to get access to and search through RAF servicemen records? I've tried but got nowhere besides WWII related things.
>>30072557
>>30072568
>>30072591
That's CS66\69 DPM.
Considering it's not worn out and the colours aren't as faded as they should be, he was probably a non-combat role. Possibly signals. Also, it's army. RAF and RN didn't use camouflage patterns as SI.
The "Lighter" DPM pattern is CS66. The darker is CS68\69. The earlier DPM patterns have a red-ish tint to the brown of the DPMs. All patterns past 69-70 have the commonly known DPM patterns.
He was a Corporal, judging from his rank slide. The reason it's a "Dark" chevron rather than the lighter like on >>30072739 is because it's a field rank slide. The Gold chevron is for parade and general battalion duty.
>>30073287
Best bet is to Google it and then write off to something like the RAF Association or the MoD.
There must be some kind of paperwork somewhere that would have his service number.
>>30073347
As I said, could have been RAF Regiment. That would explain RAF Stripes and DPM. That or a Snowdrop, or part of a forward air unit operating Harriers in BAOR.
>>30073221
>>30073347
>>30073706
OP here.
You were right.
He belonged to the 51st squadron of the RAF Regiment. Spent all his time in Northern Ireland.
Anyways, thanks for the help anons, my grandmother's going to be tickled to death to find this out.
