UK WWII Aertex Desert Shirt: Living in the Desert Rats' Shirt

The UK WWII Aertex Desert Shirt is the one bit of British tropical kit I'd tell anyone to buy first, before the shorts, before the hose tops, before you start fretting over which pattern of web anklets you need. It's the thing you'll actually live in at an event. And on a hot afternoon on a showground, with the sun bouncing off the tents, a proper Aertex desert shirt is the difference between enjoying yourself and quietly wilting behind the NAAFI wagon.

Officially these were Shirts, Tropical, Cellular. Everyone calls them Aertex, after the cellular cotton cloth they're made from, and the name stuck so firmly that you'll hear it at every 8th Army display in the country. So that's the word I'll use here too.

What the Aertex Desert Shirt Actually Is

Aertex is a cellular weave. Hold it up to the light and you see a fine grid of open cells rather than a solid sheet of cloth, which is the whole point: air moves through it, sweat dries off it, and it doesn't cling to you the way a tightly woven drill shirt does once you're soaked. It feels slightly crisp when new. Give it a few washes and it goes soft.

The reproduction Aertex shirt we sell is made in the correct Aertex fabric, as a reproduction of the Shirt, Tropical, Cellular worn by the Desert Rats. That's the bit that matters to me. I've owned a "desert shirt" from elsewhere that was really just a khaki cotton shirt with a vaguely right collar, and it photographed wrong and felt wrong, heavier and hotter, and you can see the difference in a group photo from twenty feet away.

(If you're new to this: the wartime shirt was a pullover with a part-buttoned front, not a full button-through. You pull it on over your head. It takes a day or two to stop feeling odd.)

Where the Original Came From

The British Army needed something its soldiers could wear in serious heat, and cellular cotton was the answer for shirts. Surviving originals turn up in khaki Aertex with green rubber buttons, and one wartime example I've seen described carried a 1942 date. Sizing on the originals ran generous on purpose. They were cut loose so the man inside stayed as cool as he could, and that same description notes they were usually worn with the collar open and the sleeves rolled up.

Which matches every photograph of the Western Desert you've ever looked at. Collars undone, sleeves above the elbow, shirt faded nearly white in places.

Now, a small grumble about the name. "Desert Rats" strictly belongs to the 7th Armoured Division, the jerboa men. In common use it's spread to cover pretty much any British soldier in North Africa, and the shirt was certainly not a 7th Armoured exclusive. Plenty of men who never wore the jerboa wore Aertex. So when you're building an impression, the shirt won't pin you to a unit. Your shoulder titles, formation sign and the rest of your kit do that job.

Variants, and What Reenactors Get Wrong

I'm wary of laying down hard rules on variants, because originals differ from maker to maker and contract to contract, and anyone who has handled a few will tell you buttons, pocket details and shoulder straps don't always agree with each other. Collectors argue about this stuff for fun. I'd rather point you at original photos of the specific formation and year you portray than pretend there's one master pattern.

What I do see go wrong at events:

• Shirts worn fully buttoned with the sleeves down in July, looking like a man about to sit an exam. Fine for a parade or a cold desert evening, odd for a midday patrol.
• Khaki drill and Aertex mixed up. Both existed, both were worn, but they are different cloths and they look different on camera.
• Shirts too tight. This is the big one. The originals were cut loose and modern bodies expect a slimmer fit, so people size down and end up looking like they borrowed it from a little brother.

On that last point, read the sizing advice in the reviews below before you order. Several customers sized up and were glad they did.

Wearing the Aertex Shirt at Events

Mine gets worn with KD shorts and hose tops for the hot weekends, and with long trousers when the midges are out at dusk (they're merciless, and no amount of authenticity is worth that). Under 37 pattern webbing it's comfortable, the cellular cloth doesn't trap heat under the straps the way heavier shirts do, though you'll still have a dark wet patch on your back by teatime. Everyone does.

Wash it before you wear it. Twice if you can. The stiffness goes, the colour settles a little and it starts to look like a shirt that's been somewhere. I've also seen people do clever things with sun and repeated washing to get that bleached desert look, but go gently, because overdone fading looks theatrical.

And roll the sleeves properly. Neat, above the elbow, not bunched round the forearm like a gardener. It's a small thing but it changes the whole silhouette.

Anyway. If you only buy one piece of tropical kit this year, make it the Aertex desert shirt. Everything else hangs off it.

What Our Customers Say About It

One buyer, 6ft and normally a 46" chest, went up to a 50 and said it gave "the comfortably loose, period fit I wanted (without it becoming a tent)". He added that after two washes "the aertex material has softened considerably, and there has been little or no shrinkage worth reporting."

Another described it as "very light and very breathable" and said it "becomes soft and very comfortable after a few washes". A third simply advised: "Wash a few times to give it a softer more lived in feel otherwise excellent."

Not every review is a rave, and that's useful too. One customer who ordered a 38 found it "tight across my chest" and wrote "Next one I get will be one size larger than normal." The same reviewer found the epaulettes sat further back on his shoulders than he'd like, which is worth knowing before you order. You can read every review on the 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.

Experience a piece of history for yourself! Check out our authentic reproduction of UK WWII Aertex Desert Shirts here: Get Your UK WWII Aertex Desert Shirts