Despatches July 2025

Well, its been a rip roaring time over here at GoArmy HQ. We've had so much new stock coming through the door we've all suffered some sort of surplus flavoured whiplash. Between dutch naval coats, Dutch officers coats, 2000 watches and our upcoming range of cold war german kit we've been hard at work prepping for the upcoming drops. With the business going from strength to strength in terms of the vintage kit it begs the question: when does surplus become a military antique?

Back in the '70s and '80s one could easily walk into the numerous amounts of army navy stores and pick up WW2 and post war woollen battledress by the bale for pennies, though these days the face of the game has changed and original WW2 dated battledress tunics extend into the hundreds of pounds and Denison paratrooper smocks into the thousands. Even today-only around a decade and a half since the advent and introduction of the British army's Multi Terrain Pattern camouflage-we are now seeing stocks of original pre '95 DPM dry up. '68 and '85 Pattern DPM can still be found though with it being decades old the stocks are beginning to wain somewhat. So, when exactly does something become an antique?

The popular consensus among antiquarians is that something must be around a hundred years old to be considered and antique, though this would mostly apply to furniture, art and home wear. For military antiques I certainly would bring that date forward by a little to around 70 years. There is a saying that goes "be wary of an old men in a profession where men die young" and the same principle will more than certainly apply to military clothing. In a profession like soldiering that carries a high risk of death and a high attrition rate for kit and equipment these uniforms and items are the "old men" men where as the items that were degraded, denigrated, disposed and fell with the wearer are the young men that never returned. And while there is some merit in the pontification and 'anthropomorphisation' of the innately inanimate workwear of war it does create a sense of melancholy to know that one day the current service equipment that I deal with only a daily basis and that a number of our readers have used in active service will soon be a museum piece to be found in dusty lofts and in glass cabinets. Regarded by curious eyes gazing upon the cutting edge technology of today the same way we look at musket, and Spitfire alike, but until that day comes, it will be looked after by us, and passed to yourselves with great aplomb as our warehouse continues to serve as the waiting room for the museum of tomorrow

Enjoy what little of the good weather we have left

Ciao