World War Two
I was wondering if the "ancient dress tartan" was worn during WWII? My Nan remembers the tartan in around 1941-43 around the town of Horsham, W Sussex, Eng. especially around the "aircraft graveyard" during the war.
Answer:
The ancient dress Maclaine of Lochbuie tartan was certainly worn during both WWI and WWII, except not on parade, the six pipe bands who wore Lochbuie tartan at that time excluded.
However off parade, and at both informal and formal occasions, the tartan was frequently worn. I have pictures of both my father and grandfather wearing the kilt – mess kit or battledress on top, and kilt below.
As the red Lochbuie tartan pre-dates the 1800’s – probably came into existence in the late 1700’s – I can imagine my forebears and kinsmen happily wore tartan.
Reply:
You wouldn't know was it worn by a specific regiment? Around that time, the RAF 49th Maintenance Unit was stationed at Faygate. I'm looking for personnel records.
Answer to Reply:
To the best of my knowledge, no regiment in the UK wore Lochbuie tartan. However if you come across any such information, please let me know.
I consciously said UK, as I “think” there was a regiment in either Iraq or Morocco that “may at sometime have worn Lochbuie tartan”. I have never gone on a search to establish whether this might be true, but a couple of close relations were heavily involved with both countries in respect of - firstly resisting the Ottoman empire and subsequently being in the middle of warring tribes in Morocco.
