colour of army blankets ?

[Chris Foster]

Can anyone help with this question

What was the colour of army blankets were they Khaki, brown, or Grey ?

Thanks in advance

Chris

[jay dubaya]

Hi Chris,

I never knew you could write so much about blankets

cheers, Jon

[Chris Foster]

Thank you Jon,

Would olive drab apply to British army blankets ?

Regards

Chris

[RobL]

Grey

[jay dubaya]

I'm sure I've read somewhere that they were grey of varying shades. My local paper recently ran an article on army blankets that had been stored in the Red Cross building since the late 30's and had duly been sent to 3rd world. 'The grey blankets were in exeptional condition considering the time thay have spent in storage' Not sure if the availability of khaki and olive drab dyes during the early part of the war affected the colour of blankets, sorry Chris not much help,

cheers, Jon

[Peter Doyle]

I'm going with grey (the British Army version used as the base for my 'kit inspection' - pedants please bear in mind this is a WW2 set up...)

Peter

[Chris Foster]

Thank you , chaps

Thats very helpful!

Regards

Chris

[Simon R]

I am sat looking at 4 grey army blankets - grey even up to 1991 in these examples.

[FROGSMILE]

Can anyone help with this question

What was the colour of army blankets were they Khaki, brown, or Grey ?

Thanks in advance

Chris

The 2 common colours were grey (pre-dominant) and brown, often, but not always, with either 2 or 3 stripes running vertically down the middle. Many were produced in Early's of Witney, Oxon but there were of course a lot of other makers and places too.

[steenie]

Whilst it would seem that the British Army Infantry blanket was grey and there have been lots saying so, the British Army Cavalry blanket has been a chocolate brown colour for all of the C20th. I am sitting looking at one at this very moment

Therefore, it begs the question do you need to know this colour for a reenactment impression? If so, the Unit that you are recreating will have a direct bearing on the colour of the blanket.

[Chris Henschke]

Whilst it would seem that the British Army Infantry blanket was grey and there have been lots saying so, the British Army Cavalry blanket has been a chocolate brown colour for all of the C20th. I am sitting looking at one at this very moment

Steenie,

'British Army Infantry blanket'? What was issued to Royal Engineers? No such thing or term.

'British Army Cavalry blanket'? What was issued for use with riding hacks in infantry battalions? Surely a saddle blanket is a saddle blanket whatever arm or service is involved. (Blanket, saddle, Mark II, etc.,)

Chris CPGW,

I'd go with the grey shown in Peter Doyle's image as being the most common. In fact, as early as the 1880's they were known as Blanket, Grey, GS. Obviously, during the war ther were variations in colour.

Now let me make a wild guess - you are colouring another photograph. Fantastic. You really do a great job. Are there any stripes on the blankets visible?

Chris Henschke

[museumtom]

I have some Irish Army blankets. Keeping in mind that a lot of stuff was left behind by the British when they left in 1922. There are two types that I can see. Both are grey, one type has 3 thin red lines down the middle and the other has three wider blackish stripes running down the middle. Date of each? I hav'nt a clue.

Regards.

Tom.

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

Witney blankets ordered by the War Office during World War I were grey. In 1917, Witney mills were supplying 10,000 grey blankets per week. I believe that Navy blankets were white, while hospital blankets were often red.

[Chris Foster]

Thanks everyone for the input,

I'm going with grey.

Chris ,yes that is correct I'm working on another image no stripes can be seen though .

Regards

Chris

[Guest KevinEndon]

Most were straight grey some were grey with 3 black lines through it, but what you really need to know it the itch level. There were 4 levels of itch.

Itchy

very itchy

very very itchy

beyond use itch.

Going back a few years, everyone used to hate being on guard/stag because you didn't take your duvet with you to the back of the guard room you dismantled the bed pack and made your bed up consisting of 2 sheets white, blankets grey very very itchy 3 and then a counterpain. Pillows 2, pillow cases 2. Once the bed was made with hospital corners you went out on stag only for your mates to make a French Bed. When you came off your stag and tried to get into bed but because the middle sheet had been folded back you could only get in as far as your knees so you had to strip your bed and start again.

I bet this was a practicle joke which has gone on since beds made with sheets instead of straw was invented.

Kevin

[Guest KevinEndon]

Notice the different shades of grey used in these blankets, I found the image on google images.

No doubt blankets from ww1 saw service in ww2 and are still in service today.

Kevin

[centurion]

The 2 common colours were grey (pre-dominant) and brown, often, but not always, with either 2 or 3 stripes running vertically down the middle. Many were produced in Witney, Oxon but there were of course a lot of other places too.

Including Bradford. They were made from shoddy which is the short pieces of wool, left over from making other cloths, bound together to produce a sort of matted material (hence the itch factor). However as the demand grew I understand it was actually necessary to produce shoddy as a material in its own right rather than merely the product of a reclamation process.

[woolly]

Wow, that's some bed block shown in the picture! I remember when I was a recruit in 1989 that on room inspections in the morning the Cpl used to throw a coin onto the bed, if it bounced all was well, if not then the bed got trashed! I used to make my bed as shown in the picture the night before and then used to sleep on the floor next to it in my dossbag! Those were the days. For the record British Army blankets today are either brown, grey, or cream with three lines running the length of the blanket along the centre. When making a bed block the trick is to have the lines in the three blankets aligned exactly, one above the other.

Kind Regards

Matt

[FROGSMILE]

Wow, that's some bed block shown in the picture! I remember when I was a recruit in 1989 that on room inspections in the morning the Cpl used to throw a coin onto the bed, if it bounced all was well, if not then the bed got trashed! I used to make my bed as shown in the picture the night before and then used to sleep on the floor next to it in my dossbag! Those were the days. For the record British Army blankets today are either brown, grey, or cream with three lines running the length of the blanket along the centre. When making a bed block the trick is to have the lines in the three blankets aligned exactly, one above the other.

Kind Regards

Matt

Sadly, the blankets are being/have been withdrawn to store over the last 5-years with the exception of a very few training/transit camps. They have been replaced by a simple MOD issue 'continental' quilt and beds are no longer so strictly made up as before and merely have to be 'tidy'. The end of a very long era stretching from before WW1!

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

It is most unlikely that Witney blankets were made from shoddy during World War I. The local mills were producing mainly grey government blankets - the wool was purchased specially, one contract referred-to in The Blanket Makers (1969) specifying "East India wool for this purpose to be allocated at Liverpool to Brokers valuations". By 1917 Charles Early & Co were no longer accepting civilian orders, the army and navy contracts being so important.

[FROGSMILE]

It is most unlikely that Witney blankets were made from shoddy during World War I. The local mills were producing mainly grey government blankets - the wool was purchased specially, one contract referred-to in The Blanket Makers (1969) specifying "East India wool for this purpose to be allocated at Liverpool to Brokers valuations". By 1917 Charles Early & Co were no longer accepting civilian orders, the army and navy contracts being so important.

I agree Stanley, I have never seen (nor indeed slept under) a less than perfect Witney Blanket. The common single blanket was known as blanket GS. Damaged but usable blankets had the corners clipped and were given the designation U/S (unserviceable) and usually placed in training/transit camps, where parsimonious staffing meant that they were not so well looked after. Cream coloured blankets were used in married quarters and the officers' mess.

[Petegoldy]

It is most unlikely that Witney blankets were made from shoddy during World War I. The local mills were producing mainly grey government blankets - the wool was purchased specially, one contract referred-to in The Blanket Makers (1969) specifying "East India wool for this purpose to be allocated at Liverpool to Brokers valuations". By 1917 Charles Early & Co were no longer accepting civilian orders, the army and navy contracts being so important.

I think you will find that most army balankets were made in the Heavy woollen district of Yorkshire ie. Batley and Dewsbury they were usually a variant colour of grey into blue reason they were not dyed but spun from reclaimed woollens (Shoddy and Mungo) All were woven with red stripes sometimes black to identify them as War Office supply. These blankets left the mills for storage at the Army's main textile storage depot also in Dewsbury. The blankets were still being woven in the late 1950s As a matter of intrest Womolds and Walkers Mill had a plaque on the wall celebrating the millionth blanket woven in WW1. Terry Thomas the comedian was an officer in the RASC stationed at the storage depot in WW2.

The district also produced the worsted Khaki uniform material as well. Later RAF blue too. Both materials were blended which tended to make the Khaki a different shade for eack blend woven. Any one who wore service or battle dress will remember time spent matching jacket to trousers

U/s blankets were normally used as under blankets

Goldy

[centurion]

I got my info on shoddy from Lord Kagan (inventor of the Gannex mac, mate of Harold Wilson and later gaol bird) who I met when a post grad student at Bradford University Business School. He started his business career in Britain making army blankets from shoddy, having purchased some machinery (at scrap value) and set up a factory in a disused mill building (squatting). With this low cost base he was able to undercut some of the regular suppliers. When the bottom dropped out of this market in the early 50s he adapted the design and process so that he could produce blankets with stripes in the clours of various institutions and sold the blankets at a premium rate to schools, hospitals etc. (He also managed to persuade the MoD to finance the development of Gannex as a replacement for the greatcoat).

[steenie]

Steenie,

British Army Infantry blanket? What was issued to Royal Engineers? No such thing or term.

British Army Cavalry blanket? What was issued for use with riding hacks in infantry battalions? Surely a saddle blanket is a saddle blanket whatever arm or service is involved. (Blanket, saddle, Mark II, etc.,)

Chris Henschke,

I am sorry that my terminology offended. You see I was talking about colour and had no idea I needed to be so careful when posting in here with such experts and such pedantry. In the future I will be more sensitive to your sensitivities and be much more careful in my future postings. Sorry! If you know so much why didn't you reveal all earlier. My mum used to say to me, 'you don't make yourself look big by trying to make others look small' I have found this a good maxim in life.

[FROGSMILE]

Steenie,

British Army Infantry blanket? What was issued to Royal Engineers? No such thing or term.

British Army Cavalry blanket? What was issued for use with riding hacks in infantry battalions? Surely a saddle blanket is a saddle blanket whatever arm or service is involved. (Blanket, saddle, Mark II, etc.,)

Chris Henschke,

I am sorry that my terminology offended. You see I was talking about colour and had no idea I needed to be so careful when posting in here with such experts and such pedantry. In the future I will be more sensitive to your sensitivities and be much more careful in my future postings. Sorry! If you know so much why didn't you reveal all earlier. My mum used to say to me, 'you don't make yourself look big by trying to make others look small' I have found this a good maxim in life.

I dont think he deliberately meant to be offensive Steenie, but I agree that there are some self professed experts on here who can be a bit... shall we say... ungentlemanly. I understand what you meant. Horse blankets are different to the 'blankets GS' that the original poster referred to.