Cameron highlanders ww2

[OC Richard]

Sorry I've not studied the Camerons in WWII, but I have studied every photo I can find of The Black Watch in WWII and as was said above kilts weren't all that common, yet hardly unknown, in the war zone.

The most common soldiers seen wearing kilts are pipers. Officers would sometimes appear in kilts in parades in the war zone. HQ Guards are seen kilted.

The book The 51st Highland Division At War by Roderick Grant has the following post-Dunkirk photos of interest:

Page 77: a Captain of the Cameron Highlanders wearing jumper, kilt, leather sporran in the Western Desert

Page 78: the Cameron Highlanders on parade in Tunisia, all officers are kilted, without sporrans.

Page 78: the massed pipes & drums of the Highland Division on parade in Tunisia; pipers and drummers of the Cameron Highlanders are kilted.

The basic truth is that unless your impression is a piper, officer, or HQ Guard kilts would be pre-Dunkirk.

I've not seen a photo of such a Guard with the QOCH but here's a HQ Guard of The Black Watch, European Theatre 1944



Pipers entertaining a recenty-liberated town, France 1944. Hard to tell, but it looks like the piper to right is wearing Cameron Of Erracht while the others might be Gordon?



Here's a Cameron Highlander in 1945, showing the non-regulation but popular wearing the Battle Dress blouse open with collar and tie



As far as the nuts&bolts of putting together such an outfit, reproductions of the Battle Dress blouse, TOS, 1937 webbing equipment, boots, and puttees are widely available from such places as What Price Glory. In some cases original items are still available.

By far the most expensive item will be the kilt. If you're slender enough, original kilts come up on Ebay regularly and inexpensively.

If you're not slender enough, and not satisfied with the inaccurate Indian/Pakistani reproductions, getting a real Scottish-made MOD spec kilt made is expensive.

First you must decide on whether your impression is Other Ranks or a senior Sergeant or Officer, for their kilts used different fabric.

Senior Sergeants and Officers kilts were made from tartan very much like our modern civilian 16oz kilting cloth, available from a number of weavers.

Other Ranks kilts were made from heavier, fuzzier fabric (akin to a travel rug) which is still being woven by House Of Edgar, in 18oz. Last time I looked they were still offering the OR Cameron Of Erracht 18oz cloth, a dead ringer for the cloth you see on vintage QOCH kilts.

Then there's the fact that QOCH kilts are box-pleated, and you have to hunt for a kiltmaker who does military box pleats. They look like this



Also a WWI or WWII British military kilt is going to have a higher "rise" (distance between the buckles at the binding), lack of fringe, the traditional military herringbone grass-green wool tape binding, and the two-prong stamped steel buckles, all well seen on this Seaforth military kilt:



Here's an overall view of a (Seaforth) military kilt showing the high rise, buckles, binding, etc



This being the "show us your pics" forum, here I am in my WWII Black Watch piper impression (the other guy is WWI).

My pipes are the real thing, made under MOD contract in 1945.





Black Watch piper, Western Desert, WWII

[MenOfTheNorth]

I'll join in, taking advantage of the "show us your pics" sub-forum as well.

Congrats to the OP on finding an original Cameron box pleat kilt, and good luck with the re-enactment. As my grandfather served in the Great War with the 43rd Bn CEF, I wanted a Cameron kilt for my first kilt, and lucked into a used ex-military box pleat example locally. As I'm part of a British Militaria group that does several organized shooting events featuring many in representative uniforms, I built up a uniform to represent what my grandfather would have worn during the Great War, anchored around the kilt and a 1910-dated and C-broad arrow-marked 43rd hair sporran. First outing pictured below, absent the Pattern 1908 web gear. As has been mentioned, What Price Glory is a good source for materials, although their tams are huge. Keep us posted. And OC Richard...nice work there, sir. The pipes are Hendersons?

[OC Richard]

The pipes are by Starck, London, who held an MOD contract during WWII, as I understand. They're great-sounding pipes BTW, not surprising as Starck was known for top quality.

My first Highland re-enacting impression was a WWI Cameron Highlander. It was in the 1970s and I was a very skinny teenager and able to fit into original uniforms. My tunic, my kilt, all my P08 web gear, even my bonnet were originals...as were my WG and SMLE. I don't think I have a single photo of me all kitted out!

Nowadays P08 webbing is worth a fortune, back in the 1970s it was widely available and not expensive.