Editing Slouch hat (section)

==History==
[[File:VCAgansingRai.jpg|thumb|Naik [[Agansing Rai]] VC, [[5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)]]]]

The name "slouch hat" refers to the fact that one side droops down as opposed to the other which is pinned against the side of the crown.<ref name="diggerhistory.info">{{cite web|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/nz-slouch.htm|title=NZ Slouch|publisher=Digger History|access-date=1 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920015848/http://diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/nz-slouch.htm|archive-date=20 September 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This style of hat has been worn for many hundreds of years, especially during the [[English Civil War]] during the 17th century when it became associated with Royalists known as [[Cavaliers]] and became known as the [[Cavalier hat]], but it was also fashionable for the upper and middle classes throughout Europe during that time until it developed into the [[tricorne]] and [[bicorne]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

It was introduced into Australia around 1885, although it traces its military use back to Austrian skirmishers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Austrian_infantry.htm#austrianinfantryuniforms |title=Austrian Infantry|publisher=napolun.com Chinese Napoleonic History|access-date=9 May 2015}}</ref> The modern slouch hat is derived from the black "Corsican hat" (Korsehut) – historically used in the Austrian army during the Napoleonic Wars. The headwear saw primary use by 15 battalions of Austrian Jägers (skirmishers) and it featured an upturned brim, leather chinstrap and feather plume. The regular infantry also saw limited use of the Corsican hat in the periods 1803–06 and 1811–36.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uniform-evolution.0catch.com/austria15c.html |title=The Austrian Infantry |publisher=uniform-evolution |access-date=9 August 2015 |archive-date=18 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518092401/http://uniform-evolution.0catch.com/austria15c.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A shortage of [[Pith helmet|cork helmets]] led to the widespread use of the slouch hat amongst British Empire forces during the [[Second Boer War]],<ref name=Dennis497/> where it was used by units including the [[City Imperial Volunteers]] (CIV), [[Imperial Yeomanry]], and [[King Edward's Horse]].<ref>Wilkinson-Lathan, Christopher (2011) ''The Boer War''. Colour plates A3 and F3. {{ISBN|0 85045 257 0}}</ref> An 1884 painting displayed in the regimental museum of the pipe band of 1st Battalion, [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] shows the unit in service dress, crossing the veldt in Zululand, wearing khaki slouch hats.<ref>McElwee, William (1972) ''Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders''. Osprey Publishing. p. 24. {{ISBN|9780850450859}}</ref> After the war many armies rejected the once-popular headwear (as the [[British Army]] did in 1905), although it came back into fashion briefly during [[World War II]] during the [[Burma campaign]] and amongst troops serving in India and Southeast Asia at this time.<ref>[[#Brayley|Brayley]], pp. 25–32.</ref>

[[File:Platoon_of_German_Reservists_in_German_New_Guinea,_1914.jpg|thumb|left|Platoon of German reservists in [[German New Guinea]], after the outbreak of [[World War I]], shortly before the arrival of the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]] in 1914.]]

The slouch hat in gray felt was worn by the [[Schutztruppe]] (protection force), the colonial armed force of Imperial Germany, as an alternative to the [[pith helmet]], especially in South West Africa. Different coloured [[wikt:puggaree|puggarees]] were worn by the Germans in [[South West Africa]], [[German East Africa]], German West Africa ([[Togo]] and [[Cameroon]]), [[German New Guinea]] and China. The hat had its brim pinned up on the right side with a cockade in the national colors and was worn with the home uniform as well. German colonial police units in South West Africa wore a khaki slouch hat with a small national cockade on the front and the right side pinned up by a metal Imperial crown device.{{Cn|date=May 2018}}

It became associated with the Australian military around the end of the 19th century, and since [[World War I]] it has been manufactured in Australia for the [[Australian Army]] by companies such as [[Akubra]], [[Mountcastle & Sons]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mountcastle.com.au/index.html|title=Welcome to Mountcastle – Mountcastle – Australia's oldest hat manufacturer|author=First Integrated Solutions}}</ref> and Bardsley Hats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strandhatters.com.au/Strand-Hatters-Kaminski.php|title=Strand Hatters}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} The Australian military still wear the slouch hat with a [[Unit Colour Patch]] to identify their unit,<ref name=UCP /> and it has become a national symbol in Australia.<ref name=Aitken/>

[[File:Bhanbhagta Gurung VC.jpg|thumb|[[Bhanbhagta Gurung]] VC of the 3rd battalion, [[2nd Gurkha Rifles]].]]
The slouch hat or [[Terai hat]] is also associated with the [[Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger]] ([[Dutch East Indies Army]]). It is worn by [[Gurkha]] regiments of the British Army and [[Indian Army]] (formerly the [[British Indian Army]]), but no longer worn on active service. The [[2nd Gurkha Rifles]] became the first Gurkha regiment to adopt the slouch hat when they were issued with the Australian variant in 1901. The Gurkha [[terai hat]] is created by fusing two hats into one to make the hat more rigid and is worn at an angle, tilted to the right.<ref>Chappell, Mike (1993). ''The Gurkhas''. Osprey Publishing. pp 54–55. {{ISBN|1-85532-357-5}}</ref> The [[Chindits]] and other units of [[Field Marshal]] [[William Slim]]'s [[British Fourteenth Army]], who fought against the Japanese in the [[Far East]] during World War II, also became associated with the slouch hat (also known as the bush hat in the British Army).<ref>[[#Brayley|Brayley]], pp. 18–22.</ref> The slouch hat was also used by colonial units of the [[British Empire]], including the [[Royal West African Frontier Force]], the Canadian [[Yukon Field Force]], [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] Militia, the [[Kenya Regiment]] and troops from [[Rhodesia]].<ref>Barnes, R.M. (1972) ''Military Uniforms of Britain & the Empire''. Sphere Books, London. pp. 286–287, 321, 326.</ref>