USN officer's khaki working uniform

[Pruney]

I'd like to attend a local WWII event next month (http://www.dennisondepot.org/soldier.html) dressed as my step-grandfather, a USN Ensign co-pilot/navigator on a PBM-5 Martin Mariner. I'm thinking the khaki working uniform would be perfect but I'm having trouble finding a source. I've been watching e-bay for a while now with no luck and the only repro place I've found is Warhorse Trading (http://www.warhorsetradingpost.com/cat12.htm) and I'd rather not get burned by the exchange rate and shipping fee. Can any of you help me out?

 

[TraderRic]

Current issue khakis don't have the correct pocket flaps. However, Dickie's shirts do. The down side is that they don't have a full placket front (which can be hidden by a tie) and the poly-cotton material. Also, the trousers have those wide belt loops (Dickie's khakis don't match current issue. They're lighter). But, they'll do in a pinch. In fact I have a few sets that I wear on the ship because they are a bit heavier (and cheaper) than issue.

I posted pics of me in the Dickie's in the "Show us your sailor uniforms" thread on page 4. New khakis are in my avitar. You can see the difference.

Hope that helps.

Eric

 

[Fletch]

Try JCPenney's Big Mac Klondike twill shirts and matching trou.
Poly-cotton, but even that beats the all-poly current issue twills.
The pockets look ok (what say you Ric?) and it's placketed too.

 

[TraderRic]

Looks good to me. I'll have to chek them out.

 

[Estevan]

You can pick them up at any Navy Exchange....Where were you 2 years ago? I threw out about 10 sets of working khakis when I retired. I mean after 4 years of daily carrier use they were pretty worn out and almost white (very salty looking I might add).

 

[priestyboy]

I'm one of those poor souls that has decided to do the Navy pilot impression and am hopelessly enamoured by it. There's not too many of us. I've only seen a few photos of guys at Reading doing a Navy Impression. You are right, original khakis are impossible to find and E-bay has some Navy Officer uniforms but not a super selection. And definitely not much in sizes bigger than 40 or 42.

I went with What Price Glory's enlisted khaki cotton summer uniform.

http://www.whatpriceglory.com/usunif2.htm

The enlisted version does not have the epaulets and as far as I can tell does a pretty good job at passing off as the Navy version. They do have the squared off pocket flaps though.

The early war navy shirts had pointed pocket flaps. These are impossible to find but WWII Impressions has,under USMC uniforms, these shirts.

http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/usmckhakis.html

Here you will notice the pants and the shirt are two different colors of khaki. I'm not by any stretch a USMC know-it-all but was told that it is correct to have different shades in USMC khakis though I've seen very very limited photos of such (but I've seen some). The square tie is a kicker too!

As the war progressed, you will find many Navy Officers in photos with squared off pockets on their khakis (even Nimitz himself in quite a few). I figure if it's good enough for old Chester, I'd be fine doing it as an impression myself!

Overseas caps are a little hard to find and you'll pay mucho bucks for a service cap in khaki, when you find one that the visor is trashed.

Then the mondo bummer is finding the correct style shoes. Navy pilots liked to wear brown shoes. This seperated them from the "black shoe Navy". These are not the same as the USAAF russet colored ones as far as I can tell but more brown and I haven't found a supplier of a repro Navy brown shoe. I also have found no info on just what the right color of brown is. The current day USN did use a brown Bates shoe up until a few years ago. These are a little hard to find and when you do, they have rubber soles. The alternative is to wear the boondockers as your footwear as many of the island based pilots like a work boot. WWII Impressions has a USMC boondocker. The USN/USMC boondocker is different than the easier to find Army ones as it has a more pointed toe and does not have the rivit on the side.

http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/images/boondocker.JPG

I own a pair of these also and am very happy with them after I put a cheap insole in them.

Nonetheless, the black tie and belt with brass slide bucklet are easy to find to complete your uniform.

Hope this helps. Any additions or subtractions to this info is appreciated as well. I am always on the lookout for ways and places to upgrade my USN uniforms.

 

[Fletch]

About the brown shoes: Army fliers had some latitude - there was no one color brown or one style, tho dark seal brown was pretty much out and a plain toe was much preferred due to the one piece upper. Navy fliers had some choice too - I've seen a 1943 photo of a USS Ranger officer wearing monkstrap oxfords in the wardroom.

You also have to wonder whether rubber soles weren't actually pretty common around planes, oil, etc. Especially so aboard carriers.

A plain, unengraved, brass/goldtone tie bar or chain was often worn with the khakis and black tie to keep it squared away. I found a plain thin bar at Penneys that does nicely.

The service cap can still be had in white, but the trickiest part of the uniform may be the khaki cap cover, which the Navy hasn't used for some time. You might try writing to ColBubbies.com, who have all kinds of strange stuff, or try your luck with Rit on the stove top.

Then again, there are plain khaki cutter (fore-n-aft) caps available thru What Price Glory or WWII Impressions. These you would wear with a miniature Navy crest (early wartime) or mini wings (later). While you're ordering up your insignia, remember it's the smaller size Marine-type rank bars that were worn on the shirt collar.