I have a photo I would like to identify from WWII. Firstly i need to verify if the chap is RAAF or Army - I'm told the forage cap indicates RAAF, the rest of the uniform Army. Thanks! JennyM

I can't be certain, but my guess would be RAAF. I have my grandfather's forage cap from his WW2 service with he RAAF and it looks the same. As for the rest of the uniform, I imagine that there was a fair bit of commonality with shirts and greatcoats in those days...pity its a black and white pic!

Thanks for that - am happy to hear all opinions! Do you happen to know if RAAF wore the rising sun badges on the collars? I think that was one of the sticking points....

Jenny

I can’t say for certain but going by the rising sun collar badge and the picture being marked as being taken in Adelaide it’s still possible that the bloke was Army. There were South Australian CMF Infantry Battalions (along with other CMF units in Australia) who wore the forage cap. It’s possible that he came from a South Australian raised 2nd AIF Battalion who drew its roots back to one of these CMF units where the forage cap was worn for the sake of tradition.

That’s a total stab in the dark though! If you have the blokes name you can put in a search on the WW2 nominal roll and it will tell you for certain whether he served in the 2nd AIF or RAAF.

Thanks - that's really helpful to know that some of the army wore the forage cap. Yes, i have been hunting through the National Archives, and Nominal roll, for appropriate Greys and Grays, and contacting their descendants - so far no luck but surely one will hit home eventually. This pic was taken in Oct 1940 so that eliminates a lot of the military who joined after that date.
Jenny

I was of the understanding that the RAAF had a open neck tunic as opposed to the army which had a closed neck with rising suns on the lapels

Yes, that makes sense - i have another photo here of an AIF chap with slouch hat, clearly showing the army uniform with rising suns on each collar tip, . And that does match the uniform in this photo of Curly Grey/Gray.
JennyM

Almost certainly Army. As olks and surftoturf have pointed out the rising sun collar badge is Army and not used by the other services. Googling for "RAAF forage cap" shows images with RAAF badges at the front (wearer's) left of the cap in a position that should be visible in the photo if it's a raafie cap.

For a definitive answer ask the Australian War Memorial Research Centre:

info@awm.gov.au
ph (02) 6243 4315
fax (02) 6243 4545

Thanks for that - your comments have all been incredibly valuable. Well on the way to finding this chap now.

JennyM

I have compared the photo with a similar photo of my Dad (he was RAAF) and this man is definitely Army. Not only from the rising sun collar tabs but even in a black and white photo the RAAF uniform looks much darker, and the RAAF badge is visible on the forage cap.