To properly adjudicate dress, drill and deportment standards (commonly addressed as "authenticity" within the
    WWII reenactment community) the research standards of 6th KOSB Historical Reenactment Unit are based upon the
    multimedia (photos, video, etc.) gleaned from the Imperial War Museum (IWM), the KOSB Regimental Museum and
    photos and wartime newsreels on the internet.

    Introduction
    In researching our wartime namesake, 6th Battalion, King's Own
    Scottish Borderers (KOSB), we used established, standard investigative
    mechanisms from Alan Gutchess' definitive article on the subject entitled,
    Some Thoughts on Authenticity as a guide to researching British infantry
    during the Second World War (1939-45). Our objective was to create a
    conservative, orthodox living history impression while leaving the more
    grandiose interpretations to Hollywood [ 1 ].


    Research Standards
    Uniform, weapon and equipment authenticity for 6th KOSB Historical  
    Reenactment Unit is is based almost exclusively upon five (5) primary
    sources of research:

  • Period photographic documentation.  Consists of wartime
    photos from the Imperial War Museum (IWM), the KOSB Regi-
    mental Museum, family members and relatives of KOSB veterans
    as well as photos on the internet classified as 'domain.'
  • Veterans' published documentation.  Consists of published and
    unpublished accounts, veteran recollections, anecdotes and first-
    person veteran interviews conducted by the website manger.
  • Commonality.  While researching, cataloguing and documenting
    uniform, weapons and equipment of 6th KOSB, the question we
    continually asked was:  what were the common items carried?
    Although our impression is not cookie-cutter [ 2 ], we strove for
    commonality of uniform, equipment and weapon usage while
    allowing some lattitude on personal equipment placement, etc.  
  • Evaluation.  6th KOSB Historical Reenactment Unit is continu-
    ally evaluated for authenticity and commonality by wartime veterans and knowledgeable WWII historians and reen-
    actors.  Insignia, certain items of Pattern 37 webbing and Battledress (BD) color, make and weave are continually
    evaluated to ensure historical accuracy.
  • Misinterpretation.  We strive to steer clear of modern equipment items, uniformity and modern standards of conduct.


    Sources

  1. Some of today's WWII reenactment interpretations are based upon recreated photographs of reenactment units or
    comments made by like minded hobbyists based upon consensus of what is considered acceptable authenticity
    within the reenacting community.  We reject this standard of research, choosing instead to mirror our impression from
    photographs catalogued by the Imperial War Museum (IWM).
  2. Cookie-cutter is a term defining one or more re-enacting participants, units or groups who wear matching uniform,
    weapon and equipment.   
THE KOSB AT WAR 1939-45
A Second World War Historical Reenactment Unit in Texas, commemorating the service and sacrifice of the
6th King's Own Scottish Borderers in Northwest Europe 1944-45
RESEARCH STANDARDS
Our standard:  Imperial War Museum
(IWM) photos.
PHOTO COURTESY IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM (IWM).

A Scottish soldier outside Caen, 15 July 1944.  
Wartime IWM photos provide a wealth of
documentation on the uniform, equipment and
weapons of the Scottish infantryman during the
Normandy campaign.
This page updated 11 November 2011.

(c) Copyright.  2008.  The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) at War (1939-45)
A Second World War Historical Reenactment Unit.
All Rights Reserved.

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