DATE MARK LETTER BRITISH WW2 SIDE HAT

[FMT600]

Hello all,

Would anyone be able to advise please the year of manufacture for a British WW2 other ranks Khaki side hat with the date letter P.

Many thanks,

FMT600

[NEMO]

P = 1941 So a nice year

[FMT600]

Originally Posted by NEMO

P = 1941 So a nice year

Hi Michael,

Many thanks much appreciated.

Would you happen to know if there is a publication available showing the letter/date combinations for these hats?

Kind regards,

FMT600

[NEMO]

Here's my list:
R 1939
Q 1940
O, P 1941
O, N 1942
N, M 1943
M, Z 1944
Z, L 1945
L 1946
E 1947
R 1948
? 1949
A 1950
B 1951
C 1952
L 1953
M, O 1954
T 1955
T 1956
S 1957
X 1959

many thanks to Luc from Holland who compiled the list

[FMT600]

Michael,

Many thanks again.

Cheers,

FMT600

Originally Posted by NEMO

Here's my list:
R 1939
Q 1940
O, P 1941
O, N 1942
N, M 1943
M, Z 1944
Z, L 1945
L 1946
E 1947
R 1948
? 1949
A 1950
B 1951
C 1952
L 1953
M, O 1954
T 1955
T 1956
S 1957
X 1959

many thanks to Luc from Holland who compiled the list

[Luc]

Originally Posted by NEMO

Luc from Holland who compiled the list

Others have a (slightly different) list, however these are the date letters that I have found myself.

[Irv]

My list:-

Beret codes:-
R-1939
Q-1940
P-1941
O-1942
N-1943
M-1944
Z-1945
L-1946
E,P-1947
R-1948
A-1949
A,B-1950
B-1951
C-1952
L-1953
M-1954
D,O,T-1955
T-1956
X-1957

[ASR142]

the list below is my example and I always bear in mind that you can get some slight overlapping ie a beret 1944 made in December may not get inspected till 1945 and carry the 1945 date stamp / inspectors stamp note inspectors stamp which had a year code letter to the top a new one issued out each year which could be traced to a particular inspector to track any problems with the items being inspected by looking into the issue book sadly these I beleave are long gone. During the war in some instances they issued out when times need just a WD stamp with no code letter or inspectors number ( W/I\D ) this is encountered during the years 1939 , 1940 ,1944 , 1945 . regards Steve

1937 = T
1938 = S
1939 = R ALSO A PLAIN W/l\D HAS BEEN NOTED FOR THIS YEAR
1940 = Q
1941 = P
1942 = O
1943 = N
1944 = M OR Z
1945 = L OR Z ALSO A PLAIN W/l\D HAS BEEN NOTED FOR THIS YEAR
1946 = K + SEE BERET INDUSTRIES WITH 1946 & A Z
1947 = J , R MAY BE A LATE 1947
1948 = I , R
1949 = A
1950 = B
1951 = B & C
1952 = C / D
1953 = J
1954 = M & O
1955 = S & T POSS LATE 55 & CHECKED IN 1956
1956 = T
1961 = X Not seen a WD stamp arfter this date this example was in a 1961 dated beret . the army wd stamp went over to a arrow and a 3 or 4 digit number during this year.