US Army soldiers wearing the new Army Combat Uniform, Desert Camouflage Uniform, and a World War II-era uniform (L to R)

Canadian Battle Dress Blouse circa 1939. Courtesy canadiansoldiers.com.

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Battledress is a general term for the military uniform worn into combat, as opposed to 'display' dress and formal uniforms worn at parades and functions. It may be either monochrome (often a shade of green or brown) or in camouflage colours. more...

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The first purpose-made and widely issued camouflage garments were used by the Italian army after the First World War; most nations developed camouflage uniforms during the Second World War though in many cases they were issued widely only among "elite" units. In the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries, Battle Dress was also the official name for the style of uniform worn from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Australia

Currently, Australian troops wear a multicolour camouflage called AUSCAM, similar to the U.S. BDU, but a browner shade to better suit Australia's terrain. It was developed by entering the colours of the Australian landscape into a computer program and the present battle dress was the result

Canada

Canada's battledress developed parallel to that of the British from 1900 to 1950, though always with significant differences, and then increasingly followed the US pattern of separate uniforms for separate functions, becoming distinctively "Canadian" in the process.

Service Dress 1907-1940

The first true battledress adopted by Canada for standard issue across the board was the khaki field uniform known as Service Dress, adopted in 1907. This was of a separate pattern from the British Service Dress adopted after the Boer War, and marked a departure in Canadian uniforms in that it was distinct from the scarlet/blue/rifle green uniforms traditionally worn to that point, the latter of which became "ceremonial" dress for parades and other functions apart from field training.

Other Ranks

Canadian pattern Service Dress worn by Other Ranks did not stand up to the rigours of campaigning, however, and was widely replaced by British uniforms in France; some samples of Canadian pattern SD were retained in Canada, and after the war, surviving to be issued briefly in 1939.

Officers

Officers wore a distinctive pattern of Service Dress (as did Warrant Officers I Class), which was identical to that worn by British officers; they were privately purchased, and of better quality than Other Ranks uniform. In combat in France and Flanders, they were often replaced on an individual basis by Other Ranks' Service Dress, to make them less visible to enemy snipers and soldiers.

Khaki Drill 1900-1949

Khaki Drill was a series of different uniform patterns of light khaki cloth, generally cotton, first worn by Canadian soldiers in the Boer War and reserved for summer training in Canada, or for employment in tropical climates. Canada developed its own pattern after the First World War, and the uniform was commonly worn in Canada, with officers again having the option of finer garments privately purchased. In the Second World War, Canadians serving in Jamaica and Hong Kong wore Canadian pattern KD; the I Canadian Corps troops in Italy wore foreign made KD supplied in theatre by the British, generally of British, Indian or US (War Aid) manufacture.