British Indian Army Khaki Full Hose: Original Wool Stockings

I'll admit the first thing I noticed about the British Indian Army Khaki Full Hose wasn't the knit or the length. It was the colour. These aren't the pale sandy khaki you see on most hose sold for desert impressions, they're a brownish khaki, a bit deeper and warmer, and once you've seen them next to a pair of standard UK hose you can't really unsee the difference.

And they're original. Not a reproduction, not a "made to the old pattern" job. WPG turned up a warehouse full of unissued khaki wool full hose made for the old Indian Army, and that's what these are. So this is part history, part field notes from someone who's spent too many weekends in khaki drill with cold knees.

What the British Indian Army khaki full hose actually are

Full hose means a full-length wool stocking, foot and all, rather than a footless hose top. The shop's description is short: original, unissued, khaki wool, a very distinctive brown khaki shade, a rare surplus find. That's all I'm going to claim about the item itself, because that's all the paperwork says.

What it doesn't give is a date of manufacture or a contract year, and I'd be wary of anyone who pins one on them without markings to go by. "Old Indian Army" covers a fair stretch of time. If you need a hose that's provably from 1942, this isn't the place to prove it. If you need the right look and the right weight of wool, it's a different story.

Hose, hose tops and why the names matter

This is where people get muddled, me included when I started. The Army's own dress glossary separates the two: hose are stockings of the kind worn in Highland dress, while hose tops are, in effect, footless stockings running between the knee and the ankle. The same glossary notes that a similar system was used by other personnel for tropical wear with shorts.

So when you look at period photos of men in shorts with what looks like a long khaki sock, you're often looking at a hose top pulled over an ordinary sock, not a single full-length stocking. One costume reference for British khaki drill from 1938 to 1947 lists grey wool socks worn with khaki wool hose tops and puttees, which is a good reminder that the combination you see in a photo isn't always one garment.

Does that make full hose wrong for a WW2 impression? Not necessarily. From the knee down, once the puttee's on, the turn-down of a full hose and the top of a hose top look very much alike, and some reenactors run full hose because it's one less thing to slip. But if you're building a strictly correct kit for a specific unit, look at photos of that unit first.

(The glossary also mentions the garter flash, which started as the outer end of the garter tape holding the hose up and grew into regimental styles in the Highland regiments, with simpler versions turning up in tropical dress for most units in the mid 20th century. Anyway.)

Where the khaki full hose fits in the history

Khaki drill shorts were worn widely in tropical areas over roughly half a century, taking in both world wars, according to that same Army glossary. Long wool stockings or hose tops were what made shorts workable in the field, covering the shin from boot or puttee to just below the knee.

India's part in all this is easy to forget. A great deal of khaki drill clothing was made there, and Indian-made items saw wide issue in the Middle East, Far East and Italian campaigns because the supply routes were shorter than shipping everything out from Britain. One dealer notes the stamped steel buttons usually found on Indian-made shorts.

I can't tell you which units drew this particular stock, and I won't guess. What I can say is that a brownish, slightly irregular khaki like this sits comfortably next to Indian-made KD, which itself varies a lot from batch to batch. Anyone who's laid out three "identical" KD shirts on a table knows exactly what I mean.

The habit outlasted the war, too. On one badge collectors' forum, former soldiers recall being issued khaki hose tops in the 1970s for Oman and Gibraltar, though one says they never actually wore them.

Wearing them at events

A few things I've learned wearing wool hose with shorts.

• Fit runs big. Several buyers say so, and I'd believe them. A hot wash shrinks wool, so go carefully and do it in stages.
• Garters. Wool stretches over a day of walking. Without garters (or a garter tape under the turn-down) they'll creep down to the ankle by lunch.
• Wash before wearing. Unissued surplus that's been sitting in a warehouse can smell like it. Soak it, rinse it, rinse it again.
• Itch. It's proper coarse wool. It softens. Mostly.

On a cold morning at a desert or Burma event (yes, those get cold mornings too, ask anyone who's camped out) the thickness is welcome. By two in the afternoon you'll be less fond of it, but then that's true of most wool kit.

They also pair well beyond the obvious British KD impression. Australian and other Commonwealth desert kit, Gurkha shorts, khaki-shirted pipe band dress. I've seen the khaki full hose turn up in all of those, and the deeper shade does a lot of work in photographs, where pale modern khaki tends to wash out to beige.

What bugs me, briefly

The colour is a strength and a limitation. If your unit standardises on the paler UK hose, these will stand out in a line. Some like the variety, others want everyone matching. Decide before you buy six pairs.

And the lack of markings means you can't use them to "prove" anything in a collection. As a wearable original they're hard to beat. As a documented artefact, they're a box of unissued stock with a good story.

What Our Customers Say About It

One buyer described them as "rough-spun" or "coarse" wool that has been neatly knitted into a very nice pair of hose. Another, comparing them with the UK version, liked that they "have a sense of the home-made" and called them "super comfortable."

Not everyone found the fit easy. One reviewer wrote "I think they were made for a giant," and another said they "stretch out and need garters to hold them up." A customer also warned they "came with a very strong chemical smell" that took several rinses to clear.

On the plus side, one buyer said they "Go perfect with my Aussie and British impressions for PTO and North Africa." You can read every review of the British Indian Army Khaki Full Hose on our customer reviews page.

Disclaimer: Historical information provided for educational purposes only. For accurate product specifications and details, please check our product pages, reviews, or contact customer service.

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