My father owed his life - and therefore I owe mine - to his wearing the kilt in the Gordons at Cambrai in 1917. He was hit by a flammerwerfer (flame thrower) but was able to undo his blazing kilt as he ran off down the trench to safety. He was in a water bath for a year as the burns healed but would have been a gonner had he been in breeks. The kilt definitely was - to use the original poster's word - a "BENEFIT"!