Battle Dress (A.T.S. Remembered)

Battle Dress (B.D.)

Soon after girls were put on active duty, it was realised that Service Dress was not adequate for some of the jobs that the ATS were being asked to do. For example kinetheodolite operators out in the open air all day, those on gun parks and drivers of large transport vehicles were having great difficulty coping with the weather and the inadequacies of a skirt. It was therefore decided to issue members with Battle Dress (B.D.). The first B.D. issued was the same as the men's in small sizes. The material was rather rough (in fact the men used to shave their B.D. to try and remove the rough ‘hairy’ feel that it had) and eventually the women’s B.D. was made to the same style but using the softer cloth that was usually preserved for Officer’s S.D. Battledress consisted:

Members of 566 (M) Heavy Anti Aircraft battery, Royal Artillery, wearing B.D. (Battle Dress)

• B.D. jacket or blouse - originally with pleated and shaped breast pockets, hidden buttons and faced collar.
• Trousers or slacks, cut to the female shape with two pleats at the front, side button fastening, straight legs with small button tabs on the outside bottom of each leg.
• ATS also sometimes wore a shirt and tie under their battledress - same issue as with the S.D. Some photographs do show ATS in operation without the shirt under the B.D. but in these circumstances, the collar was buttoned up to the top. A work shirt was also issued. This was generally short sleeved and had the texture of airtex material.
• The ATS cap was worn with B.D. but the Field cap was not.
• Brown leather boots were issued. Some of these have 8 laceholes and some have 12. The leather was pebbled and the sole and heel were metal tipped. Studs were sometimes added to the soles. In addition, brown pebbled leather gaiters were also issued to wear over the trousers and boots. The girls were issued with the same grey woollen socks as the men.
• A leather jerkin was issued for warmth. Originally a light brown jerkin with a small centre back belt were given to women. This was the same as that issued to despatch riders. Later in the war the women wore the same dark brown leather jerkin as the men, although as the war continued this fairly long garment got shorter.

A.T.S. boots - note the textured leather over most of the shoe, apart from the toe-cap. The soles were also leather with metal tips added to the toe and heel to aid wear.

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