Today I read one of those interesting little stories that exemplify the odd linkages between events and their unexpected outcomes.
The Scottish Borders have long been a centre of production for fine fabrics and a hundred years ago were churning out barathea and cavalry twill for the British military. Not just British however, one company had been given an order from the Russian Imperial Army for a very large quantity of blue-grey material to outfit their troops. The looms duly churned out the fabric but before it could be delivered, or paid for, the Bolsheviks walked into the Winter Palace and, as we say up here, the game was a bogey.
Left with a warehouse full of unwanted material and a serious cash flow problem, the company (A. W. Hainsworth) approached the War Office with an offer of bargain fabric. In early 1918 the Royal Flying Corps became the Royal Air Force and were looking for a replacement for the army khaki that they had previously worn and so the new service was duly kitted out in the material previously destined for Nicolas's Imperial troops.