H.Johnson
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,562
- Location
- Midlands, UK
PADDY said:DGL out in the snow (taken this morning).
Nice to see the old jacket getting an airing, Paddy. I agree with Andrew about the trousers...
PADDY said:DGL out in the snow (taken this morning).
blacklagoon said:The AG lettering on the painted on insignia,may be a squadron code
blacklagoon said:Here are a few more pictures of Arthur Tedder wearing his Irvin Jacket
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Baron Kurtz said:Does anyone have a puller for a Dot sleeve zip i could purchase?
I don't need the track and i don't really need the slider (both are present), just the puller. But of course if you have any of these things, i'll take it off your hands.
bk
Smithy said:Actually Blacklagoon the AG on Andrew's jacket stands for Air Gunner. It'll be very difficult to locate which squadron this jacket was worn on without an attached name, but at least we know it was used by an air gunner.
Spitfire said:Some great pictures - again!:eusa_clap
Wouldn't it be fair to say, that - besides the brass, who for obvious reasons could wear anything they liked - the Irvin was primarily worn by the bomberboys - and not so much by fighterpilots. Due to the small cockpits.
I knew they had them, but from the pictures I have seen, it looks like they (the fighterboys) primarily used them on the ground...driving their MG's, hanging around in deckchairs and in the pub:beer:
H.Johnson said:Is it the single or double trunnion type?
Smithy said:That's pretty much the truth Soren. After the winter of '40/'41 you see far less photos of fighters boys wearing Irvins on sorties. I think this was due to a combination of factors, the introduction of BD certainly led to a decline in the use of Irvins for flying duties, and you tend to see many pilots layering clothing under their BD. Another factor was that there were improvements in cockpit heating with successive marques of fighter aircraft, and although by no means perfect this would have had some affect I would imagine. As we all know Irvins are bulky things and I know of at least one instance just prior to the Kanalkampf where a squadron leader forbade his charges from wearing them due to his theory (for right or wrong) that their wearing seriously impeded a pilot's ability to scan the skies behind himself.
Saying that, Irvins remained popular with fighter boys throughout the war for keeping oneself warm whilst on the ground as witnessed by the many photos existing of their use whilst on the deck. Even as late as the very harsh winter of '44/'45, there are many photos of 2TAF fighter squadrons wearing them on the ground in Belgium and Holland.