# Berets worn with the CF dress uniform?



## Veteran`s son (8 Apr 2003)

Do members of the CF(Army) wear berets with the CF dress uniform?

I believe members of the Canadian Navy have a different type of cap which has a white top (I don‘t know the correct name for it)and it seems like it might be worn with a dress uniform.

I don‘t know if this is worn by NCM or Officers(or both)!

Does the Army have a similar cap for their dress uniform? If not, when did they change to the beret?

Your opinions on this subject would be great!


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## DnA (8 Apr 2003)

for the Army

When I‘ve seen members wear their CF Green‘s(DEU‘s) I‘v only seen them wear their beret‘s


I could be wrong, so just wait for somone with more time in to comment on this

i‘m an FNG to the army


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## Illucigen (8 Apr 2003)

A very simple question:

In general practice:

Navy wear‘s forge caps. (The bus-driver esque things)
Air force wear wedge‘s.
Army wears berets.

For various reasons, some Army wear green forge caps, usually do to their regiment or for senior flag officers who were allowed to keep the cap after it was removed from general issue back some years ago.


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## Veteran`s son (8 Apr 2003)

Thanks for the replies and for letting me know that the correct name for the Canadian Navy cap is a forge cap, Illucigen!   

So would both retired and serving Army members on this board prefer to wear the forge cap as opposed to a beret with the CF dress uniform?


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## DnA (8 Apr 2003)

dont some Highlander Reg‘s wear a "tak-o-shantern" or somthin

would that be worn with their DEU‘s ?


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## Marti (8 Apr 2003)

Highlanders usually wear balmorals or glengaries with their DEUs. i think the Governor General‘s Foot Guards still wear forage caps with their DEUs, maybe someone else could confirm/deny that. some Air Force personel wear the light blue berets with their DEUs.


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## Michael Dorosh (8 Apr 2003)

The Irish Regiment are supposed to wear the caubeen with CFs, but I understand that their Van Doo adjutant has withdrawn any "Irish" distinctions - is this true?  I was on course with an Irish Regiment piper two summers ago, and he was wearing a beret.  Sad sight that was.

Highlanders and Scottish regiments wear the glengarry.  I do think one or two units wear the balmoral in CFs, but this is not the norm as far as I can tell.  

The Army seems to have shied away from forage caps, especially out west.  We had an RCR RSS who wore his while posted to his, I was under the impression his entire battalion wore them for dress.  I think the regs have changed Army wide in the interim, though?


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## RoyalHighlander (14 Apr 2003)

Highlanders and Scottish regiments wear the glengarry. I do think one or two units wear the balmoral in CFs, but this is not the norm as far as I can tell. 
Black watch wore Balmorals, khaki, or Blue


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## Art Johnson (14 Apr 2003)

Glengarys are not standard issue for Highland Regiments they are Regimental issue and are paid for out of Regimental funds. The last time I heard they were $32.00 a crack.


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## portcullisguy (14 Apr 2003)

I just recently came back from Meaford where I spent a weekend shooting the C6/C9 as part of my SQ (reserve) course.

In the dining hall/mess entrance area, there are pictures of the senior base officers/RSM and a Brigadier General (32CBG CO?).  All were wearing DEUs with berets, in their portraits.


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## combat_medic (14 Apr 2003)

Art: I don‘t know about other Highland units, but for us the Glengarry is standard issue (not paid for) and is worn with all orders of dress above combats (DEUs, #1s etc.). The only exception to this is the drummers in the band who wear a Kilmarnoc with their dress uniform, and a feather bonnet with #1s.


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## Michael Dorosh (14 Apr 2003)

Check again, combat_medic - Art is saying the government didn‘t buy those glengarries for you.  I believe Highland Regiments do get a kilt grant from which some government (public) funds are used, and some units buy glengarries with them, but AFAIK the regiments are mainly responsible for buying the glens themselves - and then issuing them to the troops.  The troops would naturally have no idea or interest in who exactly paid for them, as in the end all they know is that it is issued to them.


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## Zoomie (14 Apr 2003)

The Forge Cap is gone from all branches of service except for the Navy and the Cadets.

Airforce personnel wear their Wedge Caps with DEUs, hardly ever the Beret. (I wear mine to P iss off the die-hards)

Army head-dress is Bush Cap (Floppy brim), Helmet, Beret and regimental dress (ie Glengarry).


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## klumanth (14 Apr 2003)

The forge cap is still used in some reserve units.  well at least one anyways.  Like mentioned before, the GGFG‘s  still wear the forge cap.  I seen them on Parliament Hill last summer and a couple of them on the side were wearing forge caps.


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## Gunnar (15 Apr 2003)

Not that it‘s gonna wreck the discussion, but I believe the hats are called "forage caps".

Forge caps makes me think they‘d be wearing them in a smithy.

Now return you to the regularly scheduled talk.  What‘s a glengarry anyway, and how is that different from a balmoral or tam o shanter?

Gunnar


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## Michael Dorosh (15 Apr 2003)

Gunnar - apples and oranges.  Try a google search, or check my website for Highland headdress - www.canadiansoldiers.com


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## GGHG_Cadet (21 Apr 2003)

Please forgive my ignorance but what is a kilmarnock and what does it look like? Whats the diference between a tam o shantern and a balmoral?


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## combat_medic (22 Apr 2003)

Yo the best of my knowledge, there is no difference between a TOS (Tam-o-Shanter) and a Balmoral. A Kilmarnoc looks similar to a Balmoral but is black in colour, with a red and white diced stripe around it, and a red touree in the center.


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## GGHG_Cadet (22 Apr 2003)

Thanks for ur reply. I didnt think there was a difference between the tam o shanter and the balmoral.


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## trackratte (30 Apr 2003)

I don‘t know about others but the Canadian Scottish Regiment wears balmorals and never berrets.


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## Veteran`s son (3 May 2003)

What is the design/style of the bush cap worn by CF members please?


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## Michael Dorosh (3 May 2003)

There is a huge difference between a balmoral and a tam o‘shanter, actually.

Balmorals are made of fine quality wool, usually grey or tan in colour, small in construction and with the excess material pulled to the wearer‘s right, like a beret.

Tam O‘Shanters are made of rough wool, khaki in colour, generally larger than a balmoral though today this is much less true than in World War Two, with the excess pulled to the front of the head rather than the right side.  (In WW II, they pulled the excess to the right like a balmoral or beret - but the hats were MUCH bigger then; the SDG Highlanders called them "cow flops" due to their size).


WW II Lorne Scots Other Ranks - wearing the tam o‘shanter:







WW II Essex Scottish Officers - wearing the balmoral






British Black Watch - the modern Tam O‘Shanter, worn with the material pulled straight forward.


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## bossi (3 May 2003)

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

There are a number of different styles for each of these headdresses (i.e. midnight blue, navy blue, khaki, faun, some without checquered pattern, different coloured checquered pattern ... it‘s complicated).

However, the forage cap is the "peaked cap" similar to the one worn by police officers when they‘re wearing a shirt and tie.

The wedge cap favoured by the Air Force is somewhat similar in design to something once called an "overseas" hat (often seen tucked under the epaulette in WWII movies), and the glengarry is marginally similar except that the glen has tails that hang down in back.

The balmoral and tam‘o‘shanter (TOS) are roughly the same thing (to outsiders), and there‘s also the Kilmarnock bonnet - a confusing mixture of tails and no tail, checquers and not!

So, with no further ado, here are a few pix:

First, a balmoral (okay - it‘s a little crooked, but heck ... the model is just so darned cute).

Then, one version of the glengarry.

I don‘t have a forage cap, therefore no pix!


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