Leather munitions jacket???

[John Lever]

Surely this is a modern design aimed at hunters ?
The leather jerkin or kytel as northeners would say has been around since 1914 and was often worn with a belt. It was issued to all commonwealth land forces and the Belgian army and was in use up to the 1950's.
Aero make a hh version though its not advertised on the website.

 

[Edward]

I can understand the use of wooden clogs when handling explosives, not chance of an electrical charge setting off the detonator with wooden shoes.

Good point, I hadn't thought of them in that regard!

That Aero website is nice, good selection but a tad bit too much that my pocket book would allow.

Unfortunately, yeah, these thnigs cost money... Worth it, but it can take a while to stretch to.

It's the Royal Dutch Airforce in Belgium, 1944/45. Could the clogs have been an esprit de corps thing for Dutch servicemen (who'd been in exile for a few years by then)?

Certainly a possibility.

The leather jerkins are useful but the round collars make them uncomfortable to work in as they tend to dig into the throat. I like Edward's idea of a v-collar. Not sure if today's Sting likes to dress up as a coal man, so I reckon you'd be safe, Edward!

lol Yeah, it's the leather waistcoat / no shirt thing i think she fears... I'm not much for the jerkin look, I'd be wearing it over a shirt - sort of like one might a sleeveless halfbelt, but a bit different, if you follow...

I guess if there was a danger of dropping one of those shells on your foot, I'd take any protection that was going!

Ha, true.... I once dropped a very heavy old drawer on my foot, and I was damn glad of the steel-toecapped boots I was wearing. Saved me a broken foot.

Surely this is a modern design aimed at hunters ?
The leather jerkin or kytel as northeners would say has been around since 1914 and was often worn with a belt. It was issued to all commonwealth land forces and the Belgian army and was in use up to the 1950's.
Aero make a hh version though its not advertised on the website.

Yes, it looks more like an Alan Quartermain equivalent of the Indy jacket to me.

 

[31 Model A]

They were worn in WWI for sure ..............

"The wage for ammunition workers was £1 for a 48-hour week in 1916, and a 3rd class weekly return rail ticket cost 2s 2d (11p in today’s money) from Cheltenham or Stroud. Even working with such dangerous materials as gunpowder, cordite and TNT, there was no difficulty in finding the numbers needed to fill the jobs. These workers could always be easily identified by the clip clop of their wooden clogs as they went to work.
They wore wood to reduce the likelihood of sparks, a good move when you consider the materials they were using, If not heard they could be easily identified by their orange-yellow faces and hands. This coloration was caused by TNT dust used in the shell filling and assembly work, and by today’s health and safety at work laws would be classed as potentially dangerous to one’s health. The possibility of an explosion was always feared and consequently precautions were taken to prevent workers taking matches or any materials connected with smoking into any dangerous areas"

But as Pipvh stated, these guys are with the No. 320 Dutch Squadron in Belgium.

 

[Stand By]

Wow. What an unexpectedly interesting thread this turned out to be …! Some folk around here really know their kung-fu! And therein lies the beauty of the F.L.