| Unlike most of his fellow soldiers the standard piece of kit which marked him out was the wearing of the standard Service Dress cap which by the outbreak of war was only mainly issued to the Brigade of Guards. When employed within the Provost Wing, and when on duty this was embellished by the wearing of a red cotton cap cover, similarly when employed in the Vulnerable Points wing an ‘Oxford’ blue cover was worn. In common with most of his contemporaries the British MP wore standard battledress uniform and where he wasn’t employed on traffic control duties, his webbing was usually blancoed the standard green. When employed on traffic control the MP was invariably seen sporting ‘white’ blancoed web equipment and white traffic armlets which may have given rise to another nickname given to MPâ €™s, that of ‘Snowdrop’. Although standard service revolvers were issued, they were found to be an unsuitable battlefield weapon and the more effective STEN gun was widely seen as weapon of choice for MP’s in North West Europe, with this in mind his webbing would have reflected this and pistol holsters and cross straps are only occasionally seen on contemporary photographs. As the war progressed it was found that the most efficient way for MP’s to get around was by motorcycle, particularly those in divisions, and this is reflected in the MP’s kit as it was more and more common to see Provost staff wearing the 1942 pattern Dispatch Riders kit consisting of pantaloons, high buckled leather boots and motorcyclists rain coat. This kit is commonly seen topped off by having the standard MK1 steel motorcyclists helmet painted with a blue square with Red ‘MP’ on it and a red band level with the centre of this badge painted all the way around the helmet. Sometimes the badge of rank held by the particular MP would also be painted in white on this band on the side of the helmet. There were many motorcycles purchased by the War Office during hostilities but by far the most common was the Birmingham Small Arms (BSA M20) followed by closely by the Norton 16H and it is these machines which are widely seen on photographs of MP’s from the war years. Other vehicles were also widely employed by the Corps where needed, (after all you can’t realistically carry signposts on a bike!) and none more so than the ubiquitous American Jeep. |
