From rainy Scotland in the 1820s, to the WWI trenches and later Hollywood (via Burberry and Aquascutum), the trench coat as we know it today has a heritage far beyond the catwalk.

French soldier in a trench during ww1, illustration by Job, 1930

This was the second line of the British forces, i.e. behind the main fighting line some metres ahead. The third was some metres back and catered for the seriously wounded soldiers. It was during the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914 that the British Army used the cover of a large wood south of the Ypres-Menin road near Hooge for tending to their casualties. At that time the wood was to the west of and behind the British fighting line. It is believed to have been given its name on the 1914-1918 British Army battlefield maps, called Trench Maps, for that very reason; it was providing a place of sanctuary to the wounded.