| Imperium et libertas | 18 Aug 2014 2:47 a.m. PST |
I am sure there have been numerous threads before about when was the last time the British infantry wore red coats in action, but does anyone know what was the last battle in which British / imperial infantry wore pith helmets / foreign service helmets / Wolseley pattern helmets? Wiki tells me that the 'tropical helmet' (which was presumably a later version of those made famous in various colonial wars) was only removed from British army service in 1948 – so did any units fight in them in WW2? (Other than 'Lofty' / Don Estelle in 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum', of course) |
 ochoin  | 18 Aug 2014 2:58 a.m. PST |
East Africa, at least: link |
| Bellbottom | 18 Aug 2014 3:10 a.m. PST |
My old man (RAF) was issued a solar topee in WWII en route to the Middle East via the Cape, but he told me they all threw theirs into the Indian Ocean from the troopship in Durban harbour. |
| Chouan | 18 Aug 2014 3:48 a.m. PST |
I have a photo of my father wearing one in the Gulf in the early 50's. Not in action though. |
| Etranger | 18 Aug 2014 5:24 a.m. PST |
They were seen in the 1941-42 Malaya campaign. From memory some of the various local 'Volunteers' had them. link Finding a 'combat' photograph is a little harder! link
(NB – regulars from Ocober 1941, not VF) |
| Martin Rapier | 18 Aug 2014 5:33 a.m. PST |
My grandfathers regiment arrived Java in early 1942 wearing pith helmets, they are all wearing them in the photo of them debarking. They had tin hats to wear in action though as pith helmets don't work very well against shell splinters. |
Lee Brilleaux  | 18 Aug 2014 6:03 a.m. PST |
I am wearing one now. It's August. |
| DeltaBravo | 18 Aug 2014 10:25 a.m. PST |
1 Glosters wore them on the retreat from Rangoon, so March-April 1942. Contemporary footage at the beginning of the retreat shows guys mostly in pith helmets witha few in tin hats. Some pith helmets were replaced with bush hats from Apr 1942 but not all were swapped. (Now you can speculate whether they wore them *in combat* as adversed to having a pith helmet and a tin hat, but on a fighting retreat I suspect two forms of head gear would be unlikely..?) These were 'Bombay bowlers'. |
| FABET01 | 18 Aug 2014 11:09 a.m. PST |
Haven't been able to confirm it, but I think I've seen pics of British troops in pith helmet)in Vietnam (while in garrison?) and they were out of there in 46. |
| wargamer6 | 24 Aug 2014 4:20 a.m. PST |
I have seen photos of British infantry wearing pith helmets in early war actions in Iraq . link |
