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Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Discussions about those units who make up the Commando’s.
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sirkent
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Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by sirkent »

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place.

I'm trying to clean up and colourise a photo of my grandfather taken around the time he was serving in Egypt - 1943. I've had a pretty hard time finding out what the uniforms were like back then and, most importantly, what colours they were likely to be! Of course most of the surviving photos are in black and white and on top of that it appears that there were a very large number of beret styles. Is that right?

The picture I'm attempting to colourise is here:
Image

It looks to me that he would have been wearing a Khaki shirt and possibly a light green beret? Really though, it's hard to be sure.

Would anyone be able to tell me anything about this, or even point me in the right direction? What I would love would be some colour photos of any of the clothing, or even of anyone who might have been serving in the same region. I guess that's a long shot though.

Thanks for your time.
Last edited by sirkent on Tue 16 Jul, 2013 7:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Tab
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Tab »

I can't make out the picture, but the desert uniform was a very pale colour. It was not Khaki but almost an of white. Some units wore shorts with knee length socks and short puttees
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by sirkent »

Sorry - I've fixed the link to the image. It does look very pale - no darker than my grandfather's skin.
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Tab »

He has the old forage cap in his lapel. The shirts were only slightly tinge khaki and were nothing like the colour worn in Europe.
The forage cap would have been about the same colour as his shirt. Again in Europe they would have been a lot darker. At this time the people wearing Berets was the Para's and as always every one else followed
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Rover »

Sirkent,

The badge on the forage cap is that of the Royal Marines, badge on a red background. Not an RM Commando.

Believe the Parachute Regiment was formed on the 1st August 1942. Born from No2 Commando!

A number of units did in fact wear berets before the Parachute Regiment. Not least the Royal Tank Corps from 1924.

Rover
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sirkent
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by sirkent »

Thank you, that's been amazingly helpful. Once I've got a decent result, I'll come back and post it!
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Rover »

Sirkent,

You may find contacting these people may help you further.

http://www.royalmarinesmuseum.co.uk/cat ... ne-history

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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Tab »

The Parachute Regiment was formed in 1940 not 1942, still saying that some of the first people in the regiment were RM
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by sirkent »

Thanks everyone for your help so far. Here is what I ended up with, although I admit I needed a lot of help! Is this about right?

Image
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Tab »

I would say that is pretty close to the uniform colours.
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Rover »

Tab,

Check these web sites.

http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regimen ... 24055.aspx

Note No 2 Commando--From which came the Parachute Regiment formed 1st August 1942!
There were a number of different 'units' that qualified as parachute trained, RMBDP and the SOE to name two. But the confirmed date as to the formation of the Parachute Regiment I take as given in the above web site.

Another interesting site,

http://www.paradata.org.uk/


I find it interesting that Hitler lost faith in his airborne forces after Crete. Yet thankfully Churchill could see the bigger picture.

Per Mare. Per Terra. Per Astra. Per Haps. :D

Rover

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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Tab »

You were stating that the Para's were formed in 1942 see the link that you suggested

http://www.paradata.org.uk/timeline/335
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Re: Royal Marines Egypt 1943

Post by Rover »

Tab,

Please read and understand my post.

In post 5 I stated.
"Believe the Parachute Regiment was formed on the 1st August 1942. Born from No2 Commando!"

In post 8 you stated that,
" The Parachute Regiment was formed in 1940 not 1942, still saying that some of the first people in the regiment were RM"

I say again, read my post and look at the links.
No 2 Commando was a parachute trained unit, an Airborne Force. it was not the Parachute Regiment.

As stated in the MOD web site the Parachute Regiment was formed on the 1st August 1942. As I stated in my post of the 19th July! This is also stated in the following link, http://www.paradata.org.uk/timeline/336!!

The clue being the 'Parachute Regiment' not Airborne Forces.

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