Blouse Sniper ETO dated 1944

Thing of myth in the flesh.
Dated 1944 and used in what seems for the job, dirt on the elbows and lower stomach area.

Dear Sir, We have both jacket and trousers in the collection of similar designand the jacket can be seen in the attached image: When I received ours, I catalogued it thus: UNI 12188 Jacket, sniper's (camouflaged, reversible): US Army 1944 Description:Single-breasted double-sided camouflage printed jacket. The jacketfeatures a pair of deep chest pockets, secured by straight flaps withbuttons. The cuffs can be adjusted to be tightened over the wearer'swrists by means of buttons.Inside, the pockets are repeated exactly, including all front fasteningbuttons, ensuring the jacket is fully reversible. All buttons are thestandard vegetable fibre style as used on British army clothing.The pattern of camouflage is of the same design as that used on theM1942 herringbone twill (HBT) suit, consisting of brown, light and darkgreen 'leaf' patterns on a mid-green field. One side of the garmentdisplays light summer green colours colours, while the reverse showsdarker tan autumnal shades all in the 'Duck Hunter' leaf pattern. Markings:Printed in black ink on white linen label. The label is sewn to theunderside of the flap of the right chest pocket: BLOUSE SUIT, SNIPERS U.S.A. E.T.O. Spec No. U/1440 SIZE 40R Denham (1333) Ltd. 1944 (broad arrow mark) Historical/Contextual Notes:Second World War period US Army sniper's jacket. The Americans firstexperimented with camouflage clothing with the introduction of aone-piece coverall issued to Marines in the Pacific. This garment provedunpopular as the men had virtually to undress when attending to personalablutions. Later a two-piece jacket and trousers were issued but theseitems were criticised as being impractical in jungle conditions, beinghighly visible during movement and therefore only useful to snipers whomaintained a more stationary post.In a limited issue, jacket and trouser combinations were issued to someUS troops during the Normandy campaign, but these stocks were withdrawnfollowing numerous instances of casualties through 'friendly fire' as USinfantry mistook their own 'camouflaged' men for Waffen-SS.The uniform is unusual in that it was made by a British contractor forissue to US personnel. For interest, the matching trousers are as follows: UNI 12189 Trousers, snipers (camouflage/reversible) US army 1944 Description:Pair of double-sided camouflage print trousers, featuring large deeppockets, one each thigh, secured by straight flaps and single buttons.The trousers have seven belt loops and are secured by a concealed fly.The pockets are repeated internally, permitting them to be fullyreversible. The pattern of camouflage is of the same pattern of thematching jacket, UNI 12188. Markings:Printed in black ink onto white linen label. Label is sewn to theunderside of the flap of the right inner pocket: TROUSERSSUIT, SNIPERSU.S.A., E.T.O. Spec No. U/1440SIZE 38x 33Denham (1933) Ltd.1944(broad arrow mark) As regards operational use, I cannot confirm anything other than suchuniforms DID exist. I hope that reply answers some of your questions. Yours sincerely Martin BoswellCurator Uniforms, Personal Equipment and Flags Imperial War MuseumCollections Enquiry Service

Very Nice !

Awesome.



Cheers,
Ben.

Very nice piece. Great pattern.

Is there a "definitive" source which identifies this uniform being worn by US forces? I'd be really intersted to see something like that.

The few photos I've seen of US forces in Normandy wearing spot camo are credited being part of 2nd Armored Division. The pics often don't show uniform details clearly enough to say one way or another, though some clearly do *not* this pattern and is standard US Army type used in the PTO. At any rate, the pics it is clearly evident that camo was not issued to "snipers" only. One of the most famous shots is of a 57mm AT Gun crew all in camo, for example.

Steve

Compare with my USA army jacket
http://vonstuckcamouflage.free.fr/usa.php

CollectinSteve wrote:Is there a "definitive" source which identifies this uniform being worn by US forces? I'd be really intersted to see something like that.

The few photos I've seen of US forces in Normandy wearing spot camo are credited being part of 2nd Armored Division. The pics often don't show uniform details clearly enough to say one way or another, though some clearly do *not* this pattern and is standard US Army type used in the PTO. At any rate, the pics it is clearly evident that camo was not issued to "snipers" only. One of the most famous shots is of a 57mm AT Gun crew all in camo, for example.

Steve

The outer camo green side was the same across the board but it's the snipers inside the fall camo that makes it different. The sniper set were made in England and not in America like the HBT camo suits. The cloth is made from a soft twill and has bleed from the reverse print in the camo.

Very interesting stuff! I thought the broad arrow was a reliable mark for identifying British issued kit. Guess not!

I'm still quite puzzled by the nomenclature of the label. Were these labels possibly intended for a genuine British bit of kit, then repurposed for the American contract? Either way, the uniforms in practice were not for snipers. In fact, within a few weeks of Normandy they weren't for anybody! Which explains the stocks of them left over and sold off for Indochina use.

I'd love to see some pics/evidence that these were actually used by US soldiers. Produced for them is one thing, worn by them is a different thing

Steve

It's interesting to see how closely the Dutch spot camo jacket matches the British made one. Specifically the method for covering the chest pocket buttons. Here's a picture of Gilles' set:



Steve