The very early pattern, 1951 Green Smock, was rushed into production for the Korean War. Mine was made in 1951 by H. Edgard & Sons Ltd., and the tag only says “SMOCK COMBAT”. Some collectors refer to this as the ‘50 Pattern’ or ‘52 Pattern,’ though as far as i’m aware there was no official designation like the later ‘60 Pattern.’

Pictures below: Bill Speakman, known as “Big Bill” when in Korea, he was awarded Britain’s Victoria Cross at this battle for his bravery. 

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Historically, in 1951 and 1952, these were made from olive-green windproof gabardine fabric and fully lined with the same cloth. From 1952 onward, a change was made to heavier satin-backed cotton drill (“Sateen”) for the outer, with windproof gabardine used for the lining. This is a much rarer predecessor to the 1960 pattern uniform.

It features the typical 1950s British uniform buttons, reinforced elbow areas, and — this particular one — replaced zipper head.

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Update 24 September 9:30AM, Copied from @wdbikemad of hmvf.co.uk:

This suit is thought to be a development of the original combat suit shown to the press during 1949. When the production garments began to appear during late-1951 all buttons were now exposed (no doubt to expedite manufacture for Korea).

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