Camouflage Combat suit-DPM

After 40 years of service the present DPM Combat suit is to be pensioned off. Subject to correction,but I believe that the first issues of DPM was to units in Germany around mid(June /July) 1970. My unit, the 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, shortly to go on tour in Belfast was the first unit to be outfitted, and hence was the first unit to be seen on the streets of Belfast in this new get up. The advance party was subjected to taunts by the locals of being Germans, and some of us on the way to Belfast were branded "Flower Power People," by other servicemen. But an incident that amused me, is when we stopped over at RAF Wildenrath, and went over to the RAF cookhouse for dinner. The RAF bods must have thought that we were Special Forces or Foreign troops.They kept their distances ,'giving way' to us in the queue.

Think it was before the mid 70's, I left in 1975 and remember wearing it?

One thing I think is the army never got into context was the DPM Combat Suit.

Normal issue was 2 sets per person. What happened was the average squaddie would keep one for 'best' dress ie. Guard Duty.

Thus a person would take both suits on exercise, but would never use the 2nd set, for fear of having a greasy, stained suit on guard.
Another short coming was the DPM was never water proofed on cleaning via the QMs. Infact the average squaddie washed it in the washing machine.
So the DPM Suit, a decent bit of kit worn in wet/cold BAOR or Uk could never meet its intended level of protection. What a pity!

I think I got my first set of DPM in late 1972. Broke the RSM's heart, not allowed to starch it like the old "greens". I seem to recall that the first issue was not as good as the old kit.

I remember being issued with the new DPM kit in early 70s in Munster when I was with the Coldstream Guards LAD. It was for Exercise Battle Royal in Long Valley Aldershot. It was the formation parade of the Houshold Division if I remember correctly. I was also issued with the brown beret at the same time! We had to drive from Munster to UK with our LHD Landrovers. We then stayed at Church crookham in a deserted barracks soon to be used for the Gurkas. One weekend we went on a visit to Portsmouth to call in at the Tiffys family and got stopped by the shore patrol who could not work out what a LHD cam painted BAOR badged rover was doing in UK. Was even more puzzled that the work ticket was opened for EX Battle Royal...they had never heard of it! Security was tight as the Queen was to attend.
I remember that we had new FV432s issued and spare power packs etc. also we had use of almost instant spares issue at war status level!
Happy days...we managed to spirit away a few useful items back to Munster when we returned.

reme ece wrote:

........ We then stayed at Church crookham in a deserted barracks soon to be used for the Gurkas. .......we managed to spirit away a few useful items back to Munster when we returned.

Remember those Barracks quite well - Queen Elizabeth Barracks, with the Wyvern pub around the corner. I spent a short time there with 2/2 Gurkha Rifles before being posted to 7 GR in Brunei.

How did you cam up the packs in the back of the Land Rovers

Paul.

reme ece wrote:

I remember being issued with the new DPM kit in early 70s in Munster when I was with the Coldstream Guards LAD. It was for Exercise Battle Royal in Long Valley Aldershot. It was the formation parade of the Houshold Division if I remember correctly. I was also issued with the brown beret at the same time! We had to drive from Munster to UK with our LHD Landrovers. We then stayed at Church crookham in a deserted barracks soon to be used for the Gurkas. One weekend we went on a visit to Portsmouth to call in at the Tiffys family and got stopped by the shore patrol who could not work out what a LHD cam painted BAOR badged rover was doing in UK. Was even more puzzled that the work ticket was opened for EX Battle Royal...they had never heard of it! Security was tight as the Queen was to attend.
I remember that we had new FV432s issued and spare power packs etc. also we had use of almost instant spares issue at war status level!
Happy days...we managed to spirit away a few useful items back to Munster when we returned.

Looks as if we were together in Muenster.Recalled when we were issued with the Guards brown beret. One of our metalsmiths/welders was so ticked off of being Guardinised that he superimposed a REME cap badge on the Coldstream Cap Star . The Coldstream's CO noticed it and had thoughts of making it standard for the LAD lads.

We never did guard duty apart from once at a nuclear site because the regular guys were doing a tour in Ireland. I don't see how you could only wear one on exercise as it must have been minging by the end. I know we were anyway, but at least half way through or if it got wet you could change.

I remember coming back from Scotland in 1972 and they were still quite a novelty. We stopped at a pub somewhere by Carlisle and wildfowlers wanted to buy them off us because they would have been ideal for going hunting in.

Being in basic training at the time we declined. A case of wish I knew then what I know now!

On a tangent. I reckon that Green Denim Trousers with map pocket were possibly the best piece of clothing ever issued to the Army. Not sure which version is now on issue?

Worst ever trousers, were the green plastic things and that horrible plastic thing of a belt, that were usually worn by Clerks etc.

I remember leaving Aldershot in 1986 and having to hand in one set of my DPMs, since they never had enough for the new recruits, was informed that I would receive another set when I got to my unit.
Arrived at 62 Tpt & Mov Sqn Berlin to be informed that they did not have any spare clothing, Lucky for me being ex TA that I had my own gear. I remember how cold it was in the winter and most of our vehicle bays did not have any heating in them, we also used to have to leave the roller shutters up, since they would freeze if left down, and we couldn’t get in. Due to the weather we wasn’t allowed out for more then 15 minutes in an hour, in the end our unit got just 2 Artic Parkers for the 18 of us, so we had to share them. I remember we had a few Ordinance Corp lads on our camp, they worked in the armoury nice a warm for them, they had the full set of artic kit, parker, hat, gloves, those nice warm over trousers, which they used to wear with great pride, to walk the 15 feet from the accommodation block to the armoury.
When I got posted to 3 ADTR Duisburg. They same issue there, was informed that they had no spare uniforms, Being in A troop which was Fuel Tankers, you can guess how bad our kit got.
The set up should have been 2 sets of DPMs etc. We had to have 1x set packed at all times, for active edge - going to war set, which we were not allowed to use, one set for best Guard Duty etc, 1 set to wear for normal works. Well I think that makes 3 sets, I only was issued with one set, the whole time I was in the army. I remember our Mad SM would have locker inspections and would confiscate, any extra clothing you had, so you used to have to hide every thing. Same with our boots, only issued with 2 sets, 1 set for best, 1 set packed for war, 1 set for work. Hmmm, I sure that makes 3 sets required.
As you may expect, after you get soaked in diesel, your cloths turned black, and you could never get a shine on your boots.
Me a 3 other lads were going to be charged by a REME RSM for stealing, what we used to do is go to the REME inspection bays and in very large boxes they had tons of rags, well most was army uniforms, which had been cut up, we used to see if we could find any DPM jackets, trousers, lightweight Trousers, shirts etc, which had not been too badly cut up were we could sew them up and wear them. If they were a bit bad we would put the kit in our Active Edge Kit, since all had to be sealed in a waterproof bag, you folded, so as not to show how bad the clothing was, dreading the day someone asked you to get the kit out of their bags.

Been there done it!

I was a S/Sgt in charge of a Sqn Reme Fitter Section. We often needed rags for cleaning. I regulary went to the QM's store to scrounge old stuff.

Anyway, the QM's storeman was a friendly guy who gave me a sharp knife to mutilate the stuff I was taking away. Of course the ripping sound came from me destroying the grotty/tatty stuff. I ripped the same shirt lots of times, whilst at the same time stashing the 'real' good stuff at the bottum of the bag.

I left the military 22 years ago, and still have DPM jackets etc to wear.

In an after note!! Does anyone remember the bails of 'Cotton Waste?' This stuff was ideal for cleaning kit down with. There was always ample of the stuff around.

I was glad to see the demise of the stuff, as squaddies would dip the cotton waste into petrol tanks to to facilitate the cleaning of old oil etc from engine compartments. Enevitably, some cotton bits fell into the fuel tank with disasterous results in the future.

Maybe our RAOC Chemist can refresh my mind on the disaster of Diesel Jerry cans (mid sixties) suffering from Red Lead paint peeling off the inside of the cans, which resulted in many AFVs suffering with blocked fuel filters, thus causing many hours labour for Reme, usually in the middle of a German town.

alan8376, did you go overboard and get them taken in by the taylor? We Skins did. After all we had to look smart on guard and keep the duty "ossifer" happy. Those chaps were at their happiest with riding crop in hand and having us parade outside the guard room. Les.

alan8376 wrote:

Been there done it!


In an after note!! Does anyone remember the bails of 'Cotton Waste?' This stuff was ideal for cleaning kit down with. There was always ample of the stuff around.

I was glad to see the demise of the stuff, as squaddies would dip the cotton waste into petrol tanks to to facilitate the cleaning of old oil etc from engine compartments. Enevitably, some cotton bits fell into the fuel tank with disasterous results in the future.

.

Reminds me of when they took a fuel tank off a 2 1/2 ton and found a paint brush in it. Ended up lot of these fuel tanks had rags, paint brushes,etc in them. That was just our unit. Wonder how many more were like that?

alan8376 wrote:

Been there done it!


In an after note!! Does anyone remember the bails of 'Cotton Waste?' This stuff was ideal for cleaning kit down with. There was always ample of the stuff around.

When my first kid came home from BMH Tidworth, I was carrying put a service job on her when I repeatedly kept asking my wife to pass me the cotton waste,instead of the diaper....... Spent too much time around Bedfords and 432's.

gallahad wrote:

alan8376 wrote:

Been there done it!


In an after note!! Does anyone remember the bails of 'Cotton Waste?' This stuff was ideal for cleaning kit down with. There was always ample of the stuff around.

When my first kid came home from BMH Tidworth, I was carrying put a service job on her when I repeatedly kept asking my wife to pass me the cotton waste,instead of the diaper....... Spent too much time around Bedfords and 432's.

Ehehehehe... but of course being a good Army Wife, she understood exactly what you meant!

Hardrations, you jogged my memory with your reminiscence about the paintbrush in the fuel tank.
I was called to examine the fuel filter bowl on a Land Rover one day. It was an unusual red colour and on removal it was found to be full to the brim with a powdery form of red lead paint.
Some design genius at Rover had decided it would be a good idea to put a fuel tank under both the driver and the commander's seat. Each tank had a nice big 4 inch wide fuel cap. The driver of this particular veh. had found the ideal place to wash his paint brush out.
He looked quite hurt when I pointed out what a silly boy he was.

How did we manage without the old cotton waste eh Alan ?
Before vehs. were painted Drab we had the shiny Bronze Green stuff which used to flash so invitingly through the camouflage nets. Who remembers obtaining a suitable container and knocking up a mixture of petrol and oil, vehicle cleaning, for the use of ? Ah "Derv.".....bullshit in a can !
Baz.

bazza wrote:

How did we manage without the old cotton waste eh Alan ?
Before vehs. were painted Drab we had the shiny Bronze Green stuff which used to flash so invitingly through the camouflage nets. Who remembers obtaining a suitable container and knocking up a mixture of petrol and oil, vehicle cleaning, for the use of ? Ah "Derv.".....bullshit in a can !
Baz.

How did we get from DPM to vehicle cleaning

But, as we are already there, the thought of some of today's "jobsworth's" having a total breakdown when coming across the preparation for an inspection, using the said compound

SSSTTTTOOOOPPPP Where is your Health and Safety equipment as per Regulation blah blah - gloves, goggles, full face mask, body suit, protective footwear, fire extinguisher (eco-friendly of course), clearly marked disposal bags, decontamination procedures... need I go on

Paul.

Keep up Paul, there's a good chap.
Two words to encapsulate it all.........RSM HOOD !
Baz

bazza wrote:

Keep up Paul, there's a good chap.
Two words to encapsulate it all.........RSM HOOD !
Baz

Now there is a name I have not seen or heard in a long time

Paul.

Bazza I see you were Artillery. It must be an Artillery thing, that cleaning of the paint brush in the fuel tank opening. The out fit I was attached to at the time of my incident was RCA..

Well, Hardrations, I expect they'd have said they were "using their initiative", no matter how stupid they were !
Baz.

I'll have to own up and admit that it couldn't have been all Artillery Baz. There were hundreds of 2 1/2 ton trucks in the Cdn. Bde. and I'm sure that was an old trick of many of the troops. I mean after all that huge filler cap, with the filter tube being accessible to remove would be just to tempting. Though I have to admit when I first heard about it, I still couldn't see doing it my self. Mainly what I remember was the fuel line filter just befor the carburator would clog up. And of course at the worst time. It was simple to remedy, just remove the filter and let the RCEME fella's know when you got back.

Back to DPM!

Even in the late 70s, some of the 'old sweats' referred to DPM as "Flower Power". An allusion, I think, to the swirly psychedelic artwork beloved of happy hippies in the late 60s.

Peace & Love.

I can remember as a very young soldier, back in the early 60's of a once a year inspection of all vehicles. I at that time had a FV432 to look after and polish. I am going back to before we painted our vehicles in cam-paint, all British army vehicles where 'Drab-Olive-Green'. I shall never forget the 3 to 1 petrol-Kerosene mix to clean the vehicles and a big bail of coloured cotton wast. On this test all our white signs, markings and the union flag where renewed. It was a nightmare trying to paint with a small paint brush and some white painting, the stuff used to paint the stones and kerbing stones on the entrance to the barracks, onto an oily vehicle. And as for sticking on the union flag transfer, was impossible. Someone told us that we should see the MSO blokes, as they had a brew that would clean off oil. It was also found that this stuff would clean weapons free from carbon deposit and webbing. I hate to think what it would if you drank it, but they did. We never got around to trying it out on the weapons or webbing, as we had about 25 from the Royal Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to stay for a couple of weeks for 432 training, a great bunch of guys. We lost the MSO brew, and we had to pack away the AL3 as well. Great times, and great memories. By the way, we back in the early 60's where issued with Combat Kit, but by the end of 68 they where playing around with the new cam-look.

Mike