I’m almost ready to accept defeat on this jacket…..almost. 4th modification (1918) tunics tend to cause quite the headache as there is so much mis information out there with little in reference material out there. One of the pillars of my Great war collection has been the kaiser bunker as it’s backed up with legitimate research and proper citation of long out of print books. I would happily reach out to this gentleman but he no longer accepts emails which given the circumstances I can understand.

My issue is that I picked up this tunic a short time ago not really taking the care too look deep into it. It has the hallmarks of a 5th modification (1922) tunic (Single dart on the collar) but there is one thing that still nags me and leaves me to believe it may be a 4th modification.

In his reference material kaiser makes the following claim backed up with pictures;

"A comparison of the underarm area on an original CEF worn 1918 five button SD jacket and a post-war period SD jacket. As mentioned above, Both jackets have the single dart under the collar and similar partial linings. The wartime jacket has the 1902-1918 construction under the arm consisting of one vertical line of stitching for the lining and a sewn seam where fabric is joined. The post war jacket however has an additional day (marked with an arrow) to the left of the vertical line stitching for lining to improve the fit."

What I take from this is that 4th modification tunics (1918) and 5th modification tunics (1922) both had single darts.

What I also take from this is that the only way to effectively distinguish the two is that the 5th modification has an extra dart under the sleeve.

The following photos are of my jackets lining (what I believe is missing this 5th modification dart) and the reference photo used at the following link just above the subheading of Lining ;British Other Ranks five-button Service Dress Jacket

Is it safe to assume that my tunic is a 4th modification as it’s missing this dart?

Click to enlarge the picture