Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Poem ~ Kitting Out The Officer - Wednesday 17 November 1915



Source: File: Adverts Military Outfitters, Hazel - Moss Bros & Co Military Tailors - Officer's Field Kit.jpeg, [online] Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11994327/Daily-Telegraph-November-17-1915.html> [Accessed: 17 November 2015].

Differences of rank extended
To fact of uniform quality -
While general infantry were
Provided with issued war kit,
The officers, usually the gentry,
Were expected to buy their own.

In these ways of hierarchy,
Having money and a tailor
Was the way to go to the front.
If new to the game or unsure,
Advertisements in the press
Could guide a gentleman officer.

Established businesses could
Provide all that was needed -
As from Hazel bring founded
A hundred years before, 1815 -
Having just spent a century
Building reputation of quality.

Based in Glasgow, Leeds and
London an established officer,
Of newly commissioned could
Find amid 300 retail agents,
That would supply Hazel kits;
At £25 to get a complete outfit.

While reputation already built
On dependable goods, another
Competitor made an appeal,
To those wishing to save time
For leave, from Moss Bros -
Advertised as Military Tailors.

While younger in tailoring,
Since only 1851, Moss Bros.,
Could have offered every item
Under a single roof; a London
Based uniform maker  - even
Before the hostilities of 1914.

Their strength was stated as
Suppliers of good equipment
More than any other firm -
To provide needs of prismatic
Compasses and binoculars;
Giving towns biggest selection.

With time being of essence,
Any officer new or on leave,
Could be equipped within
30 minutes at Moss Bros -
To offer a different shade
Of khaki in the one basic cut.

Within the same column,
Advert is offered final need,
In an officer's field kit bag,
From S. Goff and Co - within
A 5-buckled holdall, is held
Ground sheet and pillow.

Furthermore is a bucket,
Bath wash-stand, chair
And bed - which pictures
A notable claim - to provide
Such needs for the officer,
To be all ready for the front.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1915. Adverts Military Outfitters, Hazel - Moss Bros & Co Military Tailors - Officer's Field Kit. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 17 November. P.5. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11994327/Daily-Telegraph-November-17-1915.html [Accessed: 17 November 2015].

Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 17 November 2015). 



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Officers

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