Question about british uniforms in Africa and Italy

[Bormanico]

Hello everyone.

This is my first post, so be gentle...

My friends and I are adventuring in the Bolt Action. We have germans, russians and US paratroopers, all for the latter years of the war in Europe.
But then another friend came along, and bought minis for the british 8th Army (Africa)without asking. Not a big deal, but we wanted to match then as fair as possible.
So here comes the question: Can we use this minis for early stages of the Italian campaing?
I think the british used the same uniform as in Africa during the invasion of Sicily (more or less), but I don't for how long, or if they brought those uniforms to mainland Italy.

Thanks in advance!

[carlos marighela]

The quick answer is yes. Khaki dril uniforms with shorts or trousers were issued in the warmer summer months.

[Will Bailie]

Very simply, khaki drill for Sicily in July/August 1943 and on to mainland Italy in September.  They shifted to battledress as fall/winter came on.

[Bormanico]

Thank you both, Carlos and Will.

[carlos marighela]

If your chum wants to supplement his chaps in shorts then both Artizan and Perry produce figures in shirt sleeves and long trousers.

[Just a few orcs]

Long trousers were also used in North Africa, The  Sahara can go below freezing at night. Also its not only the actual temperature, but how you feel it. If its been 40C all day and it drops to 20 as soon as the sun goes in it can still seem chilly. 
Also in a sandstorm you want long trousers regardless of the temperature - the blown sand can be very painful.

[Bormanico]

If your chum wants to supplement his chaps in shorts then both Artizan and Perry produce figures in shirt sleeves and long trousers.

Thanks for the advice, I will tell him. He has Warlord minis, so it will be better Artizan.

Long trousers were also used in North Africa, The  Sahara can go below freezing at night. Also its not only the actual temperature, but how you feel it. If its been 40C all day and it drops to 20 as soon as the sun goes in it can still seem chilly. 
Also in a sandstorm you want long trousers regardless of the temperature - the blown sand can be very painful.

Even better, he can use the minis with long trousers in Africa too. Thanks!

[Panzer21]

Battledress (or parts of it) was also worn in North Africa in the winter. Photos of the NZ division in Operation Crusader (November 1941) show them in European khaki battledress.
It was not uncommon to see the battledress blouse paired with khaki drill shorts.
Tunisia saw much use of European clothing.

One of the more ubiquitous items was the greatcoat which was used all year round for the cold nights.

Neil

[Bormanico]

Thanks for pointing it out, Neil.

One more question: will be ok to combine diferents shades of khaki? I mean, light shade shorts with darker shirt, for example.
I suppose shorts would be always light, but shirts and blouses could be darker. Am I right?

[Will Bailie]

One more question: will be ok to combine diferents shades of khaki? I mean, light shade shorts with darker shirt, for example.

Definitely yes!  The soldiers were living in their clothes for weeks at a time, and the clothes would weather at different rates, or they might get a new item that had yet to fade.  The 'new guy' might have darker shades in his uniform, until the sun bleaches the colour from his uniform.  It would be realistic to see many different shades of khaki!

[carlos marighela]

Fine to bleach from a base khaki, that's a natural outcome of wash 'n' wear. Fine to add stains to a uniform, it's all part of the deal of soldiering. What I would advise though is choose yourself a base colour and lighten and/or stain that. The khaki drill aertex shirts (and blouses, there was a four pocketed version occasionally seen) are a lightish cotton cloth both in colour and weight. Vallejo offer a number of suitable sand colours you can play with.

Battle dress khaki is a wholly different thing in terms of both material and colour. In North Africa occasionally the battle dress jacket would be worn with drill shorts or trousers, especially at night. More common would be battle dress trousers worn with a cotton khaki drill shirt. The temperate pattern shirt issued at the time was really a sort of undershirt and was colllarless and usually only seen on working parties or when troops are relaxing in various states of undress.

So as a general rule I wouldn't mix dark shirts with lighter trousers unless you can contrive to carry off a look of the shirt actually being a battledress blouse.

[Bormanico]

Thanks again, Carlos and Neil.

I will pass your advice on to my friend.

[forrester]

Bit of a minefield this Italy thing.  It’s certainly not just a matter of using your Normandy British if the season is wrong for them.  And for the purist you should really have Thompsons not Stens. AB do a nice range of British in long trousers and shirt sleeves in 20mm. I don’t know about 28mm ranges

[carlos marighela]

As noted above, Perry make suitable 28mm figures for Sicily and beyond in shirtsleevs and long trousers. They even come complete with Thompsons vice Stens. The fly in the ointment is that the Perry figures are on the wee side of things compared to other ranges.

Artizan also make a number of long trousered figures in their 8th Army range. Chunkier than many and somewhat scruffier in look being absent gaiters/puttees they are none the less quite nice sculpts and they almost paint themselves.

[Just a few orcs]

Thanks for pointing it out, Neil.

One more question: will be ok to combine diferents shades of khaki? I mean, light shade shorts with darker shirt, for example.
I suppose shorts would be always light, but shirts and blouses could be darker. Am I right?

The sun bleached the colour out of any cloth. The German uniform was a green colour , this faded to an almost sand colour

 All sides would make use of captured clothing . Apparently the Afrika korps liked the British shorts .
DAK veterans field caps were bleached almost white by the sun.

Some parts of the desert are very stony . This would rub the coloured surface off of leather boots leaving them an off white colour.

So any shade of