British made D1 Ground Crew Jacket

[dodgydave]

Just won this shearling jacket on ebay. It's in remarkable condition for it's age. I've been told these are Brit made D1 USAAF Ground Crew jackets? The rear of the zip slider has the broad arrow and is the same as on some Denison Smocks I've seen.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nice. The zip's a Lightning, yes?

 

[nightandthecity]

These jackets have been discussed round here before. No definite conclusion seems to have been reached, though its been suggested they were RAF ground crew jackets. They are certainly mid-century and probably WW2, usually have AM marked DOT or lightning zips, sometimes come from RAF veterans' families, and are usually very scruffy and beaten up. For the moment i find the RAF ground crew thesis the most convincing.

 

[aswatland]

I have yet to see a photo of RAF ground crew wearing a jacket like this. They usually wore leather jerkins over their service uniforms. I suspect they were civilian made jackets from the 1940s. They are quite similar to the D-1 and could have been worn by USAAF mechanics, but again I do not know of any photographic evidence to substantiate this.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

There's certainly precedent for WD/AM zips being used in civilian gear. One of mine:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?68515-Pre-1950s-British-European-sportswear-and-leisurewear&p=1766984&viewfull=1#post1766984

 

[aswatland]

I would be interested to know which firm made these D-1 style jackets. I have seen several, but never with labels in them.

 

[nightandthecity]

I first came across these jackets in the 1980s when I started buying and selling old flying jackets. My initial reaction was pretty much the same as Andrew's: I took them to be post-war civilian jackets using old stock AM zips. However, I soon started to have my doubts. Indeed, the very first one I came across belonged to a friend who was insistent that it had come out of a nearby airbase during the war (he still has it and treats it as a family heirloom). At that stage I was sceptical but polite!

However, over the following years I was offered several for sale, and was struck by how many had similar stories attached. Though I soon got used to hearing all sorts of junk described as “WW2” these sellers seemed to genuinely believe their stories (you can usually tell the real bulls**itters!) In fact I have dug out my rather patchy and scrappy notes from my first year of trading and I find I was offered three of these jackets: one was described vaguely as “WW2 RAF” but with no further information; another belonged to the seller's father who claimed to have worn it when serving in Bomber Command; another was said to have been purchased from a surplus store in 1956 where it was described as ex-RAF – this was of course a time when surplus stores dealt almost entirely in genuine (and largely WW2) government surplus, with which the country was still awash.

I also see that I was asked to find one of these jackets for a guy who claimed to be a WW2 Bomber Command veteran – which I had no reason to doubt. He had one which he said he was issued in 1944 - it was now getting tatty and he wanted to replace it.

None of this is proof of anything, but as similar stories accumulated over the years I did begin to wonder if there was more to these jackets than met the eye.

 

[nightandthecity]

Incidentally, I see from my notes that I also sold an Irvin to a guy who claimed to have worked in a large ordnance facility where women made new Irvin jackets out of scrap jackets and trousers - this was late in the war "and for about ten years after". I already knew such facilities were operating during the war, but was very struck by the "ten years after" bit. If we use the term "Irvin" somewhat loosely perhaps that's another possible explanation for where these things came from?

No, never seen one with a label. The only ID are the zips: I've seen DOT, Lightning (RAF pattern) and Swift...IIRC most (but not all) were AM marked.

 

[nightandthecity]

slight change of tack: it seems similar design jackets may have been produced in the US and Australia. Although there are significant differences to the British ones under discussion, at the very least it shows that the basic design with the leather trimmed cuffs/waist and two open pockets is a pretty obvious one. Pics lifted off ebay with minimal seller info unfortunately.

US, though sold from New Zealand. Berlew Mfg had ads in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science in the immediate post-war era

Apparently Australian.....the label seems remarkably early?

 

[havocpaul]

Having studied and been interested in RAF groundcrew particularly in Bomber Command for many, many years (my late father was an 'erk' in BC) I have to say I have never come across any evidence or photos to show such jackets ever being issued/used/worn by ground crew. I remember asking my dad what they would wear and it was only ever service dress with a leather jerkin or overalls, he said they were always trying to get themselves an Irvin but never had a chance to 'bribe' the stores or crew! I too have heard many times the old 'chestnut' about local bases, farmers, etc etc but just like all the tales of French farmers still discovering American airborne jumpsuits in their barns they usually are just tall stories and folklore! I have always thought these jackets were civilian and post-war, but I guess never say never....

 

[aswatland]

Initially I thought these jackets were post War. My guess now is that some were made in the War, not as part of AM contracts, but bought privately by all sorts of people including motorcyclists, airmen and perhaps even American ground crew. As I said earlier until there is photographic evidence of one being worn or with a spec label we will not know definitively.

 

[aswatland]

Incidentally, I see from my notes that I also sold an Irvin to a guy who claimed to have worked in a large ordnance facility where women made new Irvin jackets out of scrap jackets and trousers - this was late in the war "and for about ten years after". I already knew such facilities were operating during the war, but was very struck by the "ten years after" bit. If we use the term "Irvin" somewhat loosely perhaps that's another possible explanation for where these things came from?

No, never seen one with a label. The only ID are the zips: I've seen DOT, Lightning (RAF pattern) and Swift...IIRC most (but not all) were AM marked.

This fits in with what we know about later War jackets being made from recycled flying trousers and damaged jackets. I have seen no evidence that such jackets were made after 1945 for the RAF, but it is quite likely that the same people were involved in making civilian "Irvins" until the mid 1950s. Swift zips were used during the 1950s on flying jackets or as replacements along with Aero and Clix zips on earlier flying jackets.

 

[thor]

This jacket was on Aero's used/vintage page and was listed as a rare civilian copy ("The Berlew" is on the tag) of an ANJ-4 jacket, period-made but not entirely accurate to the mil-spec version. It's possible that other manufacturers (in the UK and the US) made civilian copies of military style jackets during/right after WWII (such as the British-made D-1 jacket in question).

 

[John Lever]

I wonder why these jackets have the very wide strips adjacent to the main zip ? To me it looks slightly clumsy, where would such material have come from to be reused , also if these are British jackets why do they have white fleece ?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Interesting. I can see an AM marked zipper making its way into the civilian market, but not a broad arrow stamped size label. This would tend to suggest that (at least in Australia) these were produced for WD.

I owned one of these jackets (now in the Lewis Leathers collection) in, as seems common to them, a slightly different style and with a Dot zip. I'll dig through and see if there's any pics on my computer.

Apparently Australian.....the label seems remarkably early? View attachment 13110 View attachment 13111

 

[nightandthecity]

Baron, I have to say I am suspicious of that label on the Australian jacket - things about it look later than 1942 and rather civilian to me.....the heavy finish, the thick tapes etc, things vague in themselves (especially from a photo) but it all adds up to an overall look. Of course, it is significantly different to the Brit ones, despite the family resemblance.

Getting back to the Brit jackets, I think John has raised an important point that I've pondered about these from the start - the strange wide strips to the sides of the zip which are one of their most distinctive features. These seem very deliberate...it's wasteful of hide, its rather ugly, it perhaps suggests some specific functional origin?

And yes, the pale fur is very noticeable too - defo nothing to do with scrap Irvin material.

I keep coming back in my mind to the original suggestion in the thread title - the idea that these were British made for the USAAF. I'm sure we've all seen no end of those "rigger" D1s made from scrap B-3s and B-1 trousers.....and some of these i know for definite were of USAAF origin and use. It's often suggested they were made on the bases, which would explain the terrible workmanship on many of them. Indeed, there is a particular pattern (generally a bit better made) that does seem to be associated with the 1st fighter group's stay at kirton in lindsey in 1942. So perhaps these British jackets were a superior "rigger D-1" properly done at one of the repair depots. Given the way kit moved around it wouldn't be surprising that a few ended up in RAF hands.

I wish I had paid more attention to these jackets back in the 80s and 90s. I didn't usually buy them when offered because they were too much of an unknown quantity. Incidentally, now the subject is stirring the memory I have a vague recollection of someone calling one an "ammuntion jacket".

 

[Smithy]

I keep coming back in my mind to the original suggestion in the thread title - the idea that these were British made for the USAAF.

I personally think this is a possibility.

As Andrew said it is extremely unlikely that these were used by RAF ground crew. I have a very large library of books, photographs and original materials of the RAF during WWII, especially Fighter Command during the war, including those units of the allied air forces under RAF administration, and I have never seen a single photo of one of these being worn by an erk.

 

[nightandthecity]

the phrase "Ammunition jacket" was nagging me so i googled it to little avail. I then googled "ammunition boot" to see why the Army boot was called that. Seems it was because they were procured not by the miltary but by the Royal Ordnance dept. So it's interesting that my 1980s informant referred to the factory where he worked, and where Irvins were repaired, as an"Ordnance" facility. Was the Ordnance rather than the RAF responsible for repair and rehab of flight gear? is that where these jackets came from? Not much to go on, but it could be a useful area for further enquiry.

 

[thor]

Reminds me of Navy G-1 jacket labels; early jacket labels had Bureau of Aeronautics (Bu Aero) in the nomenclature tag; later on (1950-1966 I believe) the labels said BuWeps (Bureau of Weapons) and still later on (after switching from black labels to white ones) they printed a DSA code (falling under the Naval supply system).