1917 British Contract Service Coat

Due to the initial supply chain shocks that had plagued the U.S. manufacturing systems during the early days following the U.S. Declaration of war. The U.S. Army needed a lot of uniforms quickly so they reached out overseas to their Allies in Britain and France whose wartime manufacturing had been pumping out material since 1914 non-stop. There is no known date for when these coats began production however, AEF Quartermaster Documents indicated that in April of 1917, the United States had ordered roughly  1,440,000 coats on contract from Britain as the US Manufacturing base was being re-tooled for wartime.   

These coats were comprised of English Tartan Drab No. 5  wool which was a far coarser material than the standard 1917 American Wool. This was the same material they were fitting their own Tommies with. On the surface in terms of make and look they don’t seem too different from their American-made counterparts. However, most of the differences lie on the inside of the coat. The lining of these coats features small strips of cotton twill wool lining the pockets much like Rough Cut Coats. However, unlike the Rough Cut coats, the collar is not lined with a strip of wool. The lining of these coats resembles the standard British Pattern 1907 lining that was used on the inside of most British Infantry Jackets. To the right side of the coat, there is an exposed flap of cotton twill wool. This is actually the inside pocket, no known other American Service coat model utilizes this exposed inside pocket as most are obstructed by liner or more cloth. The other major indicator of these British Contract Coats is their stamping. On one of the cotton twill strips, you will find a stamping featuring a Broad Arrow with a “W’ and a “D” on them which translates to War Department as well as a number above them to signify a contract. The arrow is an iconic symbol among British items and their manufacturing. Most of the manufacturer tags that were stamped usually disintegrated after multiple times washed so very few survive to the modern day.