• Pardon the dust while the boys rebuild the site.

    The board will be in a state of disarray as I get things sorted out, for a little while at least.

    The new incarnation is using Xenforo as the system software. It is much like what we are used to, with a few differences. I will see about making a FAQ to help point out the differences for the members.

     

    One IMPORTANT difference for all of us old timers is that the 'mail' system is replaced with what are called 'conversations'/

    There is no 'Inbox' or 'Out box' or 'Sent' folders anymore.

    Think of Conversations as private 'threads' or topics that don't exist in a forum, that you start with another member. NOTE: Conversations can include more than one member if you or someone else in the conversaion, likes.
    Takes a little getting used to but I am sure you all can get a hang of it.

     

    Only a slightly modified default default Xenforo style is available for now. Once the new SAG style is ready it will be available.

    All existing users should be able to login with their usernames and passwords once the site goes up.

     

    If anyone has difficulties logging in please contact me at sixthvanguard@gmail.com.

     

    Thank you for your support and patience. I know it has been a loooong road.

SAS Beret

I used to own a book called "Inside the SAS" that provided that info. I don't remember the answer, but believe it was in the early 1960's. - After Malaya at any rate.
 
Off the top of my head , the sand coloured beret was being worn from early on in the inception of the unit. Exposure to the desert sun would often bleach it white and there were apparently off duty fights with other units who decided to call the guys in the cute white berets names!
As they were an airborne unit they were instructed to wear the maroon beret when conducting ops in NW Europe but there are a number of pictures of the sand beret being worn there - in particular I have some of it being worn for medal investitures 1944-45 era . I guess you can't get much more "official" than that.
 
The beige beret has its beginnings with the early SAS in 1942; they experimented with white berets at first in the style of the Free French Ie CCP (Compagnie de Chaussers Parachutistes), but switched to beige after they discovered the white beret provoked fights among other units in Cairo (apparently the ANZACS in particular).

When the SAS was reorganized in early 1944 into the SAS Brigade, they were ordered to lose the beige beret and adopt the same maroon/berry beret of the airborne forces. As Kev says, though, this was apparently ignored in some circles among the "old salts" ... in particular Paddy Mayne.

The beige beret was officially re-instituted and the maroon beret dropped for SAS in 1957.

HTH,

Scott.
 
If you want to use the beige beret in NW Europe, would suggest to make your guys 1 SAS -- not a hard/fast rule, but that's where most of the real "old" SAS guys from North Africa ended up after the reorganization. Also remember that 3 SAS and 4 SAS were actually Frenchies, so they wore their berets reversed (flash on the right with the beret pulled to the left).

Looking forward to seeing some pics of your guys when you get them finished!

Scott.
 
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