Saigon Hell Cat.

SAIGON HELLCAT CAP

They called them retreads — veterans of one war who somehow found themselves called back for another.

By the time they drifted into Saigon, these old hands had little patience for regulation and even less interest in looking like everybody else. Years spent on point had left their mark, and their kit began to reflect the attitude of a different war.

Among the relics brought back into service were their old Hellcat caps — survivors of the late ’40s that had served through the ’50s and were now ready for one more campaign. In the back streets of Saigon they were made over for the times, recut in surplus blurred woodland camouflage and handed across to Mamasan for flamboyant Asiatic-style embroidery.

Old warhorse meets new war.

The resulting Saigon Hellcat was colourful, irreverent and decidedly non-regulation — exactly the sort of personalised field gear that became highly prized amongst those serving with the Atoll Battalions.

Retread. Reworked. Ready for another tour.