The Highland Regiments wore battledress for the duration of World War 2 and the kilts had to be reserved for rare ceremonial occasions. In hot climates lightweight uniform was worn with shorts and Tam O’Shanter headdress. These men are being inspected at El Alamein by Field Marshal Montgomery in October 1942. They wear webbing belts and have a flash on their upper left arm for the 51st Highland Division. The officer on the right of the photo wears his Tam O’Shanter pulled forward to shade his eyes from the desert sun. His webbing belt has a pouch for a compass, and there is a lanyard round his neck for a revolver kept in a webbing holster on his right hip.
