Wool and War 

From ancient times, in many civilizations, woollen fabrics have clothed merchants and seamen, diplomats and soldiers, peasants and royalty. Depending on quality and cost they served as everyday garb and courtly attire, gifts and bribes, rewards and punishments. They marked status – everything from the penal servitude of Australia’s transported convict settlers to the power and privilege of a Maori chief. And wool has often served as the fiber of choice in clothing armies and preparing for war.

 Beginning in the 1830s, the Industrial Revolution caught up with the woolen textile industries; new machines turned out yarns and fabrics more quickly and cheaply than ever before. At the same time, new territories suited to sheep raising opened up via imperial and colonial action; settlers and colonists searching for a source of income spread sheep around the globe. Commercial and Colonial activity sharpened disputes, both over boundaries and resources, and the need for wool-clad soldiers grew.

 Between the Crimean War of the 1850s, and the Korean War of the 1950s, wool was vital to the war efforts of many nations. During that period, Australia and New Zealand together supplied more wool to world markets than any other country or region. In turn, their sheep and woolen industries were central to their cultural and economic development. Arguably, Australasian wool underpinned the very existence of a century of mass cold climate warfare. So not all about the history of wool is warm and fuzzy . . .