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Wierd Colored Shirt in my Great Uncle's Uniforms


Skysoldier80
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Skysoldier80

So this past weekend, I was going through my Great Uncle's stuff (have another posting on him here) and saw this strange colored Uniform Shirt. It was almost a Pine Green.

 

I am thinking it was custom made, but I took a photo of it next to one of his issue ones. Any thoughts are welcomed.

 

 

 

 

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A lot of GIs dyed shirt and trousers after the war and continued to wear them as civilian attire, not sure if this is CCC or re-purposed post-war.

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Did he serve in Italy and was he USAAF or was this your great uncle who was Airborne? Does the shirt show any stains from where it was dyed? I have one that is a similar color from a 15th Air Force vet and yours is the 3rd one that I have seen in this color.

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Skysoldier80

No He was not with the Civilian Conservation Corps. He was a car loader before the war and sold cars after the war.

 

To answer someone else's question, This is my Great Uncle whom we presume was Airborne.

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Skysoldier80

I did not see any dye stains, but it did feel different than the same issue shirt. I never thought that it could be dyed; that could be the case.

 

With regards to wearing post-war, I don't believe that was the case because this was in a cedar box in the living area where I found four shirts (only one this color), 8x military ties, 4x pairs of military trousers, 2x sweaters, 1x pair of wool inserts, overseas hat, and some dress socks (military issue) . There is another Cedar box in the attic that i think will have more goodies.

 

Overall the color of the shirt was quite interesting.

Did he serve in Italy and was he USAAF or was this your great uncle who was Airborne? Does the shirt show any stains from where it was dyed? I have one that is a similar color from a 15th Air Force vet and yours is the 3rd one that I have seen in this color.

 

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Immediately after WWII regular clothing was hard to find. Many GI’s and their wives modified uniforms for everyday wear. Many “ Pinks” trousers were cut up for womens skirts, had one 30 some years ago from 29th ID officers widow. IIRC there was a thread about these clothes?

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Immediately after WWII regular clothing was hard to find. Many GI’s and their wives modified uniforms for everyday wear. Many “ Pinks” trousers were cut up for womens skirts, had one 30 some years ago from 29th ID officers widow. IIRC there was a thread about these clothes?

 

I believe most textile manufacturing was producing for the war effort hence the shortage of civilian clothing when millions of GIs returned from overseas. From what I've heard, GI clothes were put into a large vat so the whole thing got dyed at once. Easiest way to tell, if there are labels that are the same color as the shirt, it's been dyed.

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Skysoldier80

I will not be able to relook this shirt until the next time I head to Missouri, however, I will look for dyed tags.

 

At the end, this has been a very informative topic with everyone's responses.

 

 

I believe most textile manufacturing was producing for the war effort hence the shortage of civilian clothing when millions of GIs returned from overseas. From what I've heard, GI clothes were put into a large vat so the whole thing got dyed at once. Easiest way to tell, if there are labels that are the same color as the shirt, it's been dyed.

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Jamecharles

In my opinion was dyed after war for civilian use, if you check close the wire used to sewn the pockets and details still lighter than the rest of the shir, classic ''sign'' of a dyed uniform.

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Here is my re-dyed example, which is a little darker when seen in-hand. This came from an officer who was a pilot with the 15th Air Force before he was wounded and transferred back to the U.S. One thing that I have noted is how close the colors are of these re-dyed shirts. It makes me think they were either dyed at the same location or instructions were published on what mix to use to re-dye as they seem to have that CCC shade of green.

 

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Is it possible this could have been dyed green for OPFOR use?

 

That was theory put forward in checkit's thread. I just don't understand why a B-24 pilot would be part of an aggressor/opfor group. Also for WWII, I thought it was the normal practice to use colored armbands or something similar to designate red versus blue forces.

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Could it have been a post-war OPFOR thing? I swear I've seen that color green on OPFOR clothing.

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Could it have been a post-war OPFOR thing? I swear I've seen that color green on OPFOR clothing.

I dont know about the others shown here but the vet who wore the one in my collection was discharged in 1945 and did not serve again.

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I have an Ike dyed in the same color. I agree the color is very similar to the OPFOR shirt, but these shirts are often found in the groupings of WW2 vets. I still feel the "dyed for civilian use post-war" is the simplest explanation. I imagine that GI wool shirts and green dye were both plentiful and cheap in 1945.

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I have an Ike dyed in the same color. I agree the color is very similar to the OPFOR shirt, but these shirts are often found in the groupings of WW2 vets. I still feel the "dyed for civilian use post-war" is the simplest explanation. I imagine that GI wool shirts and green dye were both plentiful and cheap in 1945.

I'm glad someone else knows what I'm talking about with the color. LOL!

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