Sign writing

[Ed Storey]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

It pays to keep in mind that sign painting was a skill taught to many painters until at least the 1950s/60s or so, since pretty much every sign on a shop, including on the windows, would have been hand-painted. It would not have been especially rare to find a trained sign painter in any given military unit in the Second World War, I would think, and I would bet that anyone with that skill would be quickly given the job of applying markings to vehicles.

According to the 2005 book "Skill at Arms" by Thomas Bennett ISBN 1-894255-52-6 there were both Painter and Decorator trades which were categorized as Group B Trades. These were merged in 1943 into one trade spaced over the Group B and C Trades. Both were skilled at lettering and sign painting. Painters and Decorators could be found in several Corps during the war so I would not be surprised if there was not at least one assigned to an Infantry Battalion.