the early image of the regiment, due to equipment and uniform shortages, was of a rag-tag bunch using world war ii weaponry, old army uniforms and carrying pockets full of loose change in order to make reports from public telephone boxes. many of the soldiers were veterans of earlier campaigns with the british army or had been in the special constabulary and were middle-aged; this earned them the public nickname of "dad's army" - the sobriquet given to the home guard during world war ii.