REVIVAL OF OLD UNIFORMS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22245, 9 November 1937, Page 12

REVIVAL OF OLD UNIFORMS

GENERAL’S SUGGESTION TO WAR OFFICE ” (raou otm own correspondent.) LONDON, October 16. Speaking at a meeting called by the Old Uniforms Committee at the Royal United Service Institution, General Sir Robert Whigham expressed the hope that .the War Office would consider the adoption ,of a walking-out and ceremonial dress based on the old uniforms of the various regiments. The object Of the committee, he said, was to register in convenient form where all the details of old uniforms and equipment could be found .and checked. They- had been encouraged by the growth of interest in regimental museums, and their aim was, by research’into air available sources, documentary and pictorial, to compile not an encyclopaedia, but a summary of this information, with a different book for each regiment. The justification of such research was its historical interest, and that alone was a reason, but the results of the work would also be invaluable to organisers of tattoos and pageants, not to speak of film producers, whose frequent inaccuracies were so noticeable. Research should aim at chronological order and accuracy, and in consulting pictures it must be remembered that, although some artists had been meticulous in their reproduction of detail, others did not care. The work should not be confined to ancient history. Between 1914 and 1919 uniforms and equipment passed through many different phases in different theatres of war, and all these were of interest. It was agreed that the committee should meet periodically for the exchange of ideas and information.