RAAF Slouch hat

[Trubia26]

Hello! About postwar RAAF Slouch hats...I have seen with a frontal badge...as well with a lateral patch...what is the difference? Thank you!
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[Trubia26]

I read in a page that the patch is for wear in officers Slouch hats...but do they wear too a frontal badge as OR do?

[David191]

G'day Trubia26,

I am a WW2 RAAF collector but I did find something about RAAF post war slouch hats that I pinched off another page & the information comes from Longwater Jim. It should apply? (I have a feeling the original information was written up by the late & great RAAF collector - John Mc Donald?).

"Have an update from the Deputy Air Force Historian, Office of Air Force History. Re blue slouch hat.

“There is not a lot of information on RAAF uniforms, especially the different hats that were utilised over time. A manuscript on RAAF uniforms, titled ‘Shades of Blue’, was submitted for a previous RAAF Heritage Awards competition, and it briefly mentions the fur-felt hat as follows:”

‘The khaki fur-felt hat continued to be worn as part of tropical dress with the traditional tri-colour flash for officers and warrant officers secured to the left side of the puggaree. Officer Cadets wore a white tape at each end of the tri-colour flash. Other ranks wore the airman’s cap badge at the front.

In the early 1990s, the colour of the hat was changed to blue/grey with a blue puggaree with the appropriate embroidered garrison cap badge attached to the puggaree. The hat could be worn in lieu of service dress cap or garrison cap, subject to local commander’s instructions, with all orders of dress. However, the colour of the puggaree proved unpopular, as did the identification via the cap badge, and a black puggaree with service dress cap badge was introduced. For air rank officers, a please of light blue was inserted in the sixth fold of the puggaree. NCO cadets wore a white background behind the airman’s badge. In the case of apprentices, the background was light-blue.

The blue/grey fur-felt hat was not very popular and was replaced by the traditional khaki hat with the advent of the Air Force Blue uniform in 2000."

(Certainly during WW2 the rules were that there seemed to be no rules when it came to slouch hats being worn by the RAAF personnel. Brim up or brim down. With pugaree or without. OR's badges worn or not worn & by any rank that wished - OR or officer. Officer side cap badges worn to the front of officer's slouch hats. Rising Sun (army) badges worn solo or in conjunction with a RAAF badge also. RAAF (RAF) flash worn or not worn & the list of variances go on...)

I hope this helps.

Best regards,
David

[Trubia26]

Thanks a lot David, for take your time to help me and for this great info! You are right about my sources...So the tricolor flash is for officers/wo and frontal badge for airmans...

Curiously I have seen this slouch in the net (officers one with no flash but frontal badge) but the blue pugaree (blue is for Navy, right?) make me doubt..
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https://victoriancollections.net.au/...751a15e8474798

[Trubia26]

Another image of a RAAF Slouch hat with blue Navy pugaree instead the kakhi one (a cadet one)
and a Warrant officer (the blue versión You told about) with no flash but frontal badge...
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So I think that the rules about WWII Slouch hats are still alive!

[David191]

Hi Trubia,

Yeah, I really don't know much about post war RAAF at all but I reckon the officer & WO badges to the front of the examples shown must be by the book unless they are complete fantasy. I too have seen similar examples in the past. I think somewhere along the line the RAAF must have adopted blue puggarees too, but again I just don't know enough about it unfortunately mate.
If you are on FB, get onto the RAAF collector Lindsay Cheal or his website chealsmuseum.com for examples of war & post war RAAF slouch hats & much, much more.

Best regards,
David

[Trubia26]

Thanks a lot, I Will! Warm regards!

[inverugie]

Prior to the introduction of the blue hat in the 1990s, the RAAF worn the same Hat Khaki Fur Felt as the Australian Army, though I recall seeing some that did not have the clip to allow the brim to be turned up. The puggaree was a pale khaki (again the same as the Australian Army) but with one of the seven folds coloured dark blue. ORs wore an RAAF cap badge on the front of the puggaree, while WOs and Officers wore the tri-colour square patch on the left side of the puggaree.

In the '90s or early 2000s, the Australian Army went from only having their regimental/corps hat badge on the turned-up brim to having the 'Rising Sun' on the brim and the regimental/corps badge on the front of the puggaree. It appears that when the RAAF ditched the blue hat and went back to khaki, now with a solid dark blue puggaree, the officers' embroidered cap badge was introduced on the front of the puggaree in the same way as the ORs badge and, because the puggaree was now very distinct, the original tri-colour flash for officers was dropped.

[atillathenunns]

Heres my KC RAAF badge in it natural habbitat, marked "Fayrefield, made by United Felt Hats Ltd, Melbourne" and dated 1952. (Named Reynolds V. J. 79978)

Interestingly, my hat is typical army issue, and as per the 1943 instructions from the Chief Inspector of Stores and Transport (Melbourne), the brim width has been shortend from 3-7/16" to 3-1/2" but it still retains both army pop studs.
I have seen another 1952 dated RAAF hat made by Northcote Hats Pty Ltd, which only had the top stud.

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[Trubia26]

Thanks a lot to both of you!!! Sorry for reply so long, but I have been "out of order" for a while!
This is mine (1969 dated)...I asked because I want to complete with the apropiate badge or patch...now I have all the info I needed! Thanks again and Happy to post in here again!
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