1st Household Cavalry Regiment US WA BD blouse
A recent purchase: a US made War Aid Battle Dress blouse badged to a Trooper of the 1st Household Cavalry Regiment. The fact that the former owner of the blouse belonged to the 1st and not the 2nd Regiment is attested by the Warsaw Maid, or Syrenka, awarded to 1st HCR by general Wladyslaw Anders, commander of the 2nd Polish Corps, as a sign of gratitude for the support given to the Poles during the fightings on the Adriatic Front in 1944. The blouse is complete with Life Guards arc titles (I guess no Household Cavalry Regiment titles were made?), regulation red lanyard and Siren flash. What is quite noticeable is that trooper Hall has sewn his Siren facing the wrong way, so presumably inside out. On the lining the trooper’s name and the last three digits of his service number can be seen handwritten in blue ink. In Gary Connor’s book The 1st Household Cavalry 1943-44 a Lieutenant A. G. Hall is mentioned, but although with faced lapels, the BD looks like an OR one, with apparently no signs left by officers pips on the shoulder straps.
