By January 1915, the demand for khaki cloth was extremely high because of heavy military losses. Improvements were needed to better manage the output from the London depot at Pimlico. Previously, khaki cloth was sent from the northern mills down to London by train to be checked, tested, and then returned north to be made up into uniforms, which considerably slowed the process. The government therefore created clothing depots outside of London where the cloth could be checked. Leeds was chosen as the Northern depot to speed up the process. The War Office commandeered the Tramways Depot in Swinegate to speed up the rate of production as commented on in The Yorkshire Post Newspaper.
Adaptions to weave were also attempted throughout the War due to limited supplies of wool. Attempts at adding silk and cotton were experimented with in a desperate race to keep up with demand, not necessarily with War Office approval.
Sunny Bank Mills and the many textile mills of Leeds were a very important element to the war effort throughout the First World War.
It can be clearly seen that the efforts on the home front had a great impact on the lives of those on the front line. That the skills of the workers of the textile industry in Leeds and West Yorkshire were fundamental to the war effort.
Various other groups that became involved in the war effort such as the Volunteer Regiments, Red Cross Society and eventually the Women’s units such as VADs and munitions workers all needed uniforms. All were eventually clothed in khaki uniform with various adjustments relating to their activities, incorporating gender and developments in aviation into a vast array of uniform styles. This created a variety of plans and an everchanging adaptation to create a regulation in design.
Images and details of manufacture were regularly published in the Tailor and Cutter journal focused on the tailoring industry. Such as these images from the Tailor and Cutter Journal at the time.
In the production of khaki cloth during the war there was always a substantial difference in the quality of the cloth between the serving Officer and the general soldier. At Sunny Bank Mills, the Guard book clearly reveals two types of quality of khaki cloth destined for vastly different clientele.
As the demand for khaki cloth increased, the quality of the cloth suffered. It was noted in the Tailor and Cutter that even the ordinary soldier, if able, resorted to buying their own uniform as it offered superior quality.
Officers were expected to buy their own uniform and equipment, unlike the standard-issue uniforms provided to lower ranks. Therefore, they purchased their kits from the best retailers and tailors that they could afford.
One example of an Officer’s status and equipment is held in the Morley Community Archive. Among its collection are the diaries of Officer Herman Marsden, of the Prince of Wales West Yorkshire Regiment of Morley. These provide a revealing insight into an Officer’s world including a detailed description of his uniform and receipt of uniform order from Brown, Muff & Co Ltd, a highly respected store in Bradford.
The diary also details the added personal items, such as the usefulness of a good knife, calling cards with case (especially important to pass around the other Officers at functions) and notes that a moustache was essential to make you look older and more distinguished than your soldiers.
Glossary:
British Red Cross – over 90,000 volunteers worked for the British Red Cross during the First World War. They provided humanitarian aid to naval and military forces at home and abroad.
Calling Cards -
Guard Book – a neat tidy reference book of cloth orders of a textile mills to record orders either by year, season, or country the cloth was made for.
Khaki - In the late 1800s it was becoming clear during the Anglo South African Wars, that the traditional red of a soldier’s uniform was becoming impractical in modern warfare. A dust-coloured cloth was experimented with using the materials to hand of dust, dung, and mud to create camouflage.
Volunteer regiment – after the outbreak of war in August 1914, Britain recruited a huge volunteer army. In just over eight weeks, over three-quarters of a million men in Britain had joined up. Each volunteer had to pass a medical and fitness test before becoming a soldier.