Danish Uniforms

A couple of excellent illustrations of Danish infantry uniforms

http://i42.servimg.com/u/f42/12/22/09/10/15_18810.jpg


http://i42.servimg.com/u/f42/12/22/09/10/15_19210.jpg

Of course when the Germans invaded in 1940, pretty much only officers and regular NCO's had gotten the khaki uniforms, while the enlisted men were still wearing the earlier grey or even blue uniforms.

Agreed but there was also enough of the khaki uniform around to make an impact.
It was issued to regular troops, and reserve officers and SNCOs bought their own.
There was also, I believe, a measure of mixing of uniforms.

The Danish infantry's experience is an interesting example of conflicting uniform policies in the early 1900s. Starting with the double breasted blue tunics and light blue trousers shown to the left of the first plate (with shakos for full dress) they adopted a grey-green uniform for all occasions in 1903. Only a small plume on the kepi-like headdress distinguished parade from field wear. This was (possibly) too drab a style for public taste and in 1910-11 a slightly modified version of the historic dark and light blue was readopted - the second figure shown in plate 1. This completely replaced the grey-green and from 1910-15 was worn for occasions as diverse as Royal funerals and field manouvers. Then in 1915, with WWI raging beyond the borders, the lesson that bright colours were unsuitable for modern warfare became impossible to ignore. A third uniform - the pale grey with coloured facings shown as figure 3 was then adopted. This was still too visible and the khaki shown in the second plate was adopted in 1923. Confusion was heightened by the economical Danish practice of storing new uniforms and issuing them in limited quantities as the old ones needed replacement. When mobilisation was ordered in August 1914 (even neutral countries had to be reinforce their frontiers) a splendid mix of 1889, 1903 and 1910 uniforms was to to be seen. One consistent touch throught out all this was the Danish habit of simply turning up trouser bottoms (rather than wearing puttees, leggings or high boots). This was still to be seen in 1940 - oddly for a rather soggy countryside.