dirks with non-ceremonial uniforms

[OC Richard]

It strikes me as odd sometimes how soldiers (especially pipers) will be seen wearing dirks with decidedly non-ceremonial uniforms.

For example soldiers of The Black Watch off to fight the Boer War. They're wearing the dirk belt, crossbelt, and dirk from their Full Dress uniform



This persisted even with the prosaic Battle Dress uniforms of WWII. Here nothing about these pipers' kits is ceremonial (khaki hose and puttees, no sporrans) yet the dirks remain, in 1939



Here are pipers on active campaign, Italy 1944, wearing dirks



This is perhaps the most odd, the wearing of a dirk with khaki shorts, The Black Watch in Palestine 1938