Army Ordnance Corps Home Service Tunic
When I acquired this dark blue Home Service Dress Tunic it was thought to be related to the Royal Artillery, however my research concluded that the only possible match was the Army Ordnance Corps.
The Army Ordnance Corps came into existence with the merging of various supply Corps in 1894 and was responsible not only for the supply of arms and ammunition, but also clothing and and other supplies.
The AOC underwent a huge expansion during WWI and by 1918 it received the Royal Warrant and was re-named the Royal Army Ordnance Corps - it remained so until it became part of the Royal Logistics Corps in 1993.
This tunic had been stripped of all buttons and insignia, and had some additional trims added to the rear skirt. As Home Service Dress was largely discontinued after WWI it is possible these surplus uniforms could have been re-purposed as band dress, perhaps military or civilian.
Manufactured in 1911 at the Royal Army Clothing Factory in Pimlico, this tunic still has a good proportion of its paper makers label intact.
Confusingly, the paper label clearly has R ARTY printed on it and it has been suggested that the body of the uniform was cut and intended for Royal Artillery, but ended up finished as an ROC tunic. Its thought the paper labels are attached during production and fixed on with horse glue making them extremely difficult to remove.
Given that the only possible match is ROC (see period illustration below) I sourced some General Service brass buttons, AOC shoulder titles and original collar dogs. The AOC only received Royal Warrant after the First World War and it appears Corps buttons for Other Ranks did not exist and uniforms would have been fitted with GS buttons.
To finish the set off I purchased a early 20th Century reproduction Field Service Cap fitted with an original AOC cap badge.
The finished tunic is a lovely example of a pre-WWI Home Service Dress tunic that is now over 115 years old!
