Australian Vietnam war JG shirts and trousers

Heres some examples of the different types of uniforms worn by Aussies in Vietnam, sorry about the picture quality Im a militaria collector not a proffesional photographer

1968 dated JG shirt...



1967 dated first patt bush shirt (pixie), the first type have a thin one piece collar and brown buttons...



1970 dated 2nd patt pixie shirt unissued



1966 dated crossover trousers...



1968 dated pixie trousers...



1970 dated 'lightweight' pixie trousers, note the zip fly, internal top button, reinforced knees and elastic ties at the bottom. These were made from a slightly thinner cotton than the shirts and were intended to be cooler to wear than the standard trousers but being so thin they ripped too easy and were withdrawn.

I have some early pixie pants with brown buttons - the bottom cuffs of the legs are self-elasticated (not elasticated ties). A mate of mine had some experimental greens issued to him during 5 RAR's first tour - must get him to take a pic of it one day.

Here is an experimental shirt I obtained - post-Vietnam but pre-Auscam. Looks like they were trying to take that 'pixie' design a step further (you can see similar details in the trial issue of Auscams as well)

Nice uniforms,

NZ forces first wore british or NZ JG brought over from Malaya and NZ but were tied in with the Aussie Q once in country including boots and web gear etc.

@Filupe thats one crazy looking shirt, Looks like a cross between a pixie and an early American poplin jacket, the tag is pretty neat too!
I have a pair of crossover trousers with elastic in the bottom too, It seems to be a common modification done by the soldiers so they didnt have to use shitty elastic bands around the boots to blouse their trousers.

2/1RNZIR wrote:Nice uniforms,

NZ forces first wore british or NZ JG brought over from Malaya and NZ but were tied in with the Aussie Q once in country including boots and web gear etc.

We were the same the early shirts and cross over type trousers were just Australian made versions of the British greens we wore in Malaya, The web gear we wore at the start was either Australian stamped American 56 or ex ww2 patt 37 or more commonly combinations of the two

Yes or Brit 44 patt webbing.

brilliant set there lucas! have a thing for anzac vietnam stuff, especially the bush hats.
Ive recently read that some aussies attached to the AATTV had been known to use US type jungle uniforms-they claimed it to be far superior to any known equivalent in australian service.
Same went to the SASR and NZSAS- almost their entire kit was made up of US made items.

Cheers Henry, Yeah my uncle only just told me the other day he had a couple of pairs of American jungle greens himself when he was in Vietnam, and he really liked them compared to the Australian uniforms.
Nearly all the guys in the AATTV wore either JG polins or tiger stripes out in the field, SASR wore a lot or ERDLs and tigers too, SAS got some cool kit too like the bergens, I have an unissued one kicking around here somewhere and a few other SASR bits.

2/1RNZIR wrote:Yes or Brit 44 patt webbing.

SASR used bits and pieces of 44 through out the war, The army just mixed and matched with whatever they could get with the 37 american 56 and Aussie 56, The Australian army actually ordered a couple of thousand sets of American 56 that was all stamped up with D/|\D instead of US, that stuff is pretty hard to find now, I have a pair of the ammo pouches and a compass pouch but I dont think I will ever get a complete set been looking for bits for the past 3 years now, I know a couple of guys who have full sets but the bastards wont part with their spares.

Hiya Mate,very cool VN kit,not seen any like this before, thanks for sharing

Hey Gary, cheers mate. Its a wonder you havent seen Aussie VN greens before, the Poms have been buying it up for the past few years like its going out of fashion
Once I finish sorting these 50+ boxes of gear I will post up all my Aussie VN webbing, equipment and kit

2ndAIF wrote:Hey Gary, cheers mate. Its a wonder you havent seen Aussie VN greens before, the Poms have been buying it up for the past few years like its going out of fashion
Once I finish sorting these 50+ boxes of gear I will post up all my Aussie VN webbing, equipment and kit

Hi luke, Bloody Pom's and their luck,it is'nt me Mate I can assure you,I've never seen anything like this over here

Defo looking forward to seeing all your webbing,etc...sounds well cool Mate