Commonwealth Uniforms 1966-73

25. Service Dress, Sergeant, Royal Australian Army Service Corps, 1968

Khaki service dress progressively displaced battle dress as winter general duty dress. It used the summer dress shirt and tie and it also had few embellishments. As for the summer dress, it could include a variety of headgear and be used as ceremonial wear, though without the trousers in boots.

26. Service Dress Summer Ceremonial, Lieutenant, Royal Australian Army Service Corps, 1969

Although in World War 2 and afterwards service dress summer and winter were optional orders of dress for officers to purchase at their own expense, it was not until 1964 that both came into general use. Summer service dress was the same material as the summer dress trousers, with khaki shirt and knitted khaki tie. The ceremonial version was simply addition of medals and sam browne belt. RAASC wore the standard infantry sword.

27. Blue Ceremonial Dress, Warrant Officer Class 1, Regimental Sergeant Major Royal Australian Army Service Corps, 1970

Blues were restricted to sergeants and above after the introduction of winter service dress provided a dress uniform for junior ranks. The open neck blues were replaced with a patrol collar in 1970 and two white stripes replaced the red on the trousers. The RSM wore a sam browne and carried a pace stick as visible badge of office.

28. Lieutenant Colonel, Australian Staff Corps (Royal Australian Army Service Corps), 1973

White mess jackets were common in the tropics instead of blues jackets, and in 1970 the mess jacket was reintroduced as a standard rather than optional item. It differed from the pre-war one, having a midnight blue waistcoat and similar facings on the jacket and epaulettes, making it, with the Staff Corps and Engineers jackets, by far the pick of the bunch. RACT’s adoption of a far less distinguished jacket was uninspired, passing over both the early ASC/AASC and post war RAASC/RAE jackets which provided alternatives of character or plain good looks. Change for change’s sake or to copy others often brings anaemic or inappropriate results.