Hello all, this is the first time i’ve “crossed the lines” from the “German Uniforms.com” forum and would like to ask members if they could shed some light on a British/Allied WWII Battle Dress.
It’s a standard British made Battle Dress, dated 1942, is to a Czech Major (red piped shouldar straps with two gilt stars),and has an unusual pair of British Parachute qualification wings and the following medal ribbons, all Czech except the last two, I think they’re Soviet Russian -
Czech 1939 War Cross
Czech 1939 War Cross with Linden leaf spray for unit commendation
Czech Medal for Gallantry
Czech Military Medal for Merit in Silver
Czech Commemorative Medal for the Czech Armies Abroad with SSSR Bar
Soviet - Liberation of Prague
Soviet - Order order of Glory
Can anyone work out why a Czech Major would have been serving with the British, qualified to wear British Para wings but have been awarded Soviet Russian medals???
I’ve had the jacket for a while now and am no nearer trying to explain it...any theories would be very much appreciated.
The last ribbon would be Victory Over Germany, not Order of Glory. With only those two Soviet ribbons and nothing else, that would show only last month of the war sort of service with them.
If this man had served with the BRITISH, he should have their WW2 campaign stars etc.
Hi Rick...I guess I still havn’t got the hang of posting pics yet...darn...it shows up ok on my screen?!?
Yes, I think you’re correct, the last ribbon could well be the “Victory Over Germany” one, i’m not really familiar with Soviet militaria and you’re also correct regarding the lack of British ribbons, I would have expected them to be on the blouse...but they’re not. I can’t get my head round the jacket at all, it all looks ok and shows no signs of being a post-war “put together”....hmmm...i’m stumped.
Does anyone know if surplus British BD's were issued to the Czech army post-war, I sort of doubt it, but who knows...
Could very well be that he fled early in the war, was trained as a commando in Britain, parachuted back home (to kill Reinhardt H. ;-)) and saved his butt by hooking up with the Russians late in the war.
Having taken his Ruskie medals and now being in eastern europe he may not have had the chance to apply for his Brit medals, or maybe could not be bothered (hundreds of thousands of Brit soldiers never bothered to pick up their medals).
Hi Chris, good answer - that means my jackets worth a bob or two - woopie!
That sort of scenario did jump to mind but I think it was mere wishful thinking on my part, I’m sure that Czech guys from No. 10 COMMANDO were employed by SOE in the Czech Republic, and that other British trained Czech patriots were parachuted into the Protectorate throughout the war. I also remember reading that there was a small number of Allied Czech soldiers acting as liaison officers with the resistance in Prague when the Der Fuhrer Regiment was sent in to rescue civvies during the final days of the war.
One of my problems is that I cant even verify if the Para wings in the Blouse are British, they resemble British ones but are slightly different in design. I know that Allied Free French and Polish paras had their own Brigades and qualification wings but i’ve never seen photographs of a Czech equivalent or even heard of their existence.
Maybe my best bet would be to contact the British Airborne museum and see if they had any info?
How about a scan of the wings ?
Just as there are many brit variations on US airborne stuff from that period, they may also have tailor variations of those wings...
Weird British/Czech WWII Para Blouse
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