Help with named wartime(maybe) tunic

[paddywhack]

So I recently picked up locally this named British army uniform and I was wondering if anyone could help me with IDing the owner, it seems to say Captain G R WATSON but as the uniform is completely stripped(with new shiny buttons added) I don't know the regiment he was from, iv tried the London gazette and no luck, I did find a capt G R WATSON on the 1945 army list but I can't access it on forces records without a subscription and while its on fold3 it doesn't seem to to be searchable, could anyone help to see if I could get an ID on this officer?

 Now the other thing that is a bit puzzled since I got it I noticed that on the bottom 2 pockets there doesn't seem to have been any buttons at all!is this normal? again help help on this would be great

Edited February 11, 2022 by paddywhack
Updating

[QSAMIKE]

Found this man on FMP.....

 

First name(s)	G R
Theatre of war	France
Last name	Watson
Archive reference	WO 417/1
Year	1939-40
PIece description	Casualty Lists - Officers and Nurses 1 - 300
Service number	103358
Archive	The National Archives
Rank	2nd Lieutenant / Lieutenant
Record set	British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
Rank as transcribed	2nd Lt / Lt.
Category	Military, armed forces & conflict
Regiment	East Yorkshire Regiment
Subcategory	Second World War
Regiment as transcribed	The East Yorkshire Regiment
Collections from	Great Britain, UK None

[paddywhack]

Thanks for that, was he a captain in the end as nothing on the London gazette I can see says he was a captain (though the LG is a fickle site)

Edited February 11, 2022 by paddywhack

[Farkas]

On 11/02/2022 at 22:52, paddywhack said:

Thanks for that, was he a captain in the end as nothing on the London gazette I can see says he was a captain (though the LG is a fickle site)

Hi paddywhack,

I share your struggle, I almost never find the names I look for.

 

I still find it odd and wonder how can it be that an officer receives his commission and later promotion, I’ve got his name and unit, yet nothing jumps out on Google. 🤷‍♂️. They ‘deserve’ to be found.

 

I’ve a number of named officer tunics mostly from the 50’s & 60’s post war period, when there were still private purchases, they were more frequently retained and have survived.

 

Anyway, to your jacket/tunic…

 

First, my initial opinion, the design looks fine. 👍
Some jackets have buttoned lower pockets, some don’t.  With officers still privately purchasing items, variety was nothing new.

 

Having 4 fastener buttons and just the 2 top pocket buttoned 👍

having scalloped edge top pockets & straight edge lower pockets 👍

& top pockets with no pleats… 

All perfectly good.

 

Here are a couple 👇

 

 

The first thing worth questioning that stood out for me was on the label. That tailor already existed in the 30’s, which is good, it isn’t that…

👉 The unusual thing for me is that a Captain needed a new jacket made at all.

- Usually uniforms are made for & named to a 2nd lieutenant. Officers then kept the same SD through promotions just adding pips, with it worn at least until reaching Major and even until full Colonel.
- In my seriously limited experience, it is when Officers transferred to a different regiment/unit or their reg/unit was merged, that a new uniform was warranted. Of course, loss or damage required one too.

- In 1958, The East Yorkshire Regt merged with The West Yorkshire Regt to form  The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. There’s a possibility he was still serving then.
 

The other issue is of course the buttons.

If they are indeed new… that’s that. 

But then I’d be asking myself why?

If someone repurposed the jacket, they would likely have cut off the epaulettes.

If someone attached the buttons just to help sell it, why wouldn’t they just spend two quid on some ‘real’ buttons?

 

So knowing 👇 is possibly helpful.,.

- Are there buttons on the shoulders too?

- Are there any makers marks / names on the reverse of the buttons? 🤞

 

Then my final input is, if they were to be original to this jacket…

The 3rd/4th County Of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) wore plain buttons. As did the South Notts Hussars.

& I think that’s all that did.

 

Of course much of this is possibly answered if some lovely Gent can check the forces records for you 😊

 

Cheers 

tony 🍻