Researching a small lot of British/Indian KD and Airtex uniforms: 8th Indian Division
Some time ago I acquired a whole lot of mixed Khaki Drill cotton and Airtex uniforms. On closer examination, some items have turned out as belonging to the same person, possibly a Royal Engineer or Royal Artillery Captain name W. H. Hodgson. The most attributable piece of uniform was an Indian made Airtex Bush Shirt embellished with the printed canvas signs of 8th Indian Division an the Eighth Army Crusader Shield: one of the breast pockets turned out to contain the ribbons of the Africa and Italy Stars. Less attributable was another KD cotton Indian made bush shirt, of the pattern with just the two breast pockets and half fly, until I discovered that one of the breast pockets contained a pair of embroidered Airtex epaulettes badged to a captain, and with the owner’s initials W.R.H. written in ink. An odd feature of the epaulettes slip ons is that they were folded so that they would outwardly show only the three Captain pips but not the initials RE, thence the possibility that Captain Hodgson was not enrolled in the Royal Engineers, after all. The lot comprehended a pair of Indian made KD shorts named to the same person. I guess this small lot of uniforms would be worth a little further research.
PS: by mistake I have added pics of an Airtex Battle Dress blouse that came with the same lot, but not attributable to Captain Hodgson
