Comfier battle clothes

sir – Like other former Combined Cadet Force members (Letters, May 23), we endured itchy serge battledress until, in 1969, our very sensible cadet commanding officer, Lt Col H J Cox, acceded to our request for the rifle team to wear lightweight olive drab denims at Bisley and elsewhere.

Many wartime officers, such as Sydney Jary MC, also ditched battledress trousers and wore civilian corduroy slacks instead, while stylish commanders (such as Field Marshal Harold Alexander) favoured breeches and field boots, the disparity between top and bottom exaggerated by woollen pullover hems pulled over the hips and abdomen for warmth.

In 1940, Major Angus Mccorquodale thought battledress so awful that he was killed defending Dunkirk’s canal perimeter wearing Coldstream Guards service dress, much as his forebears would have done in the Great War.

Conversely, denim battledress overalls proved so useful that captured supplies were worn by U-boat aces such as Otto Kretschmer, Erich Topp and their crews, complete with German insignia and decorations.

HS Blagg

Colston, Nottinghamshire