Not when I joined, a 37 Pat belt was worn sometimes, minus the rear strap buckles, all brass ware stripped off other than the trim at the end of the belt.
Old foibles could die hard - prior to passing off / out parades at the Depot all cap badges and collar dogs were handed in for "cleaning" by one man detailed to make sure that they were clean and shiny- despite all the badges being of anodised aluminium.
Presumably just a habit of some training NCOs who had joined back when they were "needed, not feeded".
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