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ALL ORIGINAL Irvin RAF type Jackets - Loving that Wolf in sheeps' clothing!

ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
Well in 2013 the price of large jackets seem to have dropped... I picked up a size 8 in mint condition for £775... I will post at some point...
 

ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
I let one slip recently as I didnt think there was a market for it.... It was a bit to pricey to buy for the wife that wouldn't wear it any way...!
 

ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
Im working on the posts... is this forum still alive...? seems to have gone quiet. The IRVIn Nuts forum is a great resource forum for the collector...shame is locked now
 

aswatland

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,338
Location
Kent, England
PRE-WAR IRVIN.

Back in the Winter I picked up this fantastic Pre- War Irvin. It was made by Irvin Air Chute and dates to the mid 1930s. The sleeve zips are the very rare Dot Deco type, with an American Patent number. Dot zips were made under licence in the UK from United Carr. The main zip has "Dot British" marked on the slider bucket rather than more common "Dot Made in England". The jacket is a decent size, most likely a size 6 and there are no issues with it at all. No repairs or wear to the fleece at all.

It belonged to the Australian Wing Commander Christopher Willans Goldthorp (43964) of 225 Squadron who was promoted to Flight Lieutenant (R.A.T.A)
on 1/7/ 1942 and acting Wing Co on 29/12/44.

Here is some information about 225 Squadron:

The squadron was reformed on 11 October 1939 from No 614A Squadron (which had been formed from 'B' Flight of 614 Squadron eight days earlier) at Odiham. Its Lysanders were mainly used in Army exercises except for some coastal patrols conducted from June 1940. Lysanders remained its equipment until January 1942, when Hurricanes began to arrive, although it was July before the last Lysander left. However, by that time, Mustangs had also started to be taken on strength and both types were operated on tactical reconnaissance operations.
In October 1942 the squadron joined the forces for Operation 'Torch', the Allied invasion of North Africa. It provided tactical reconnaissance support to 1st Army until the end of the Tunisia campaign, beginning conversion to Spitfires in January 1943, the Hurricanes leaving in April and the Mustangs in August. By the time the Mustangs left, the squadron was in Sicily and the following month moved to France. In August 1944, the squadron took part in the invasion of Southern France, returning to its Italian operations the following month, where it remained until the end of the war. Retained as part of the occupation forces, the squadron eventually disbanded on 7 January 1947 at Campoformido.









 

devilish

A-List Customer
Messages
473
Location
Devon
Andrew, that jacket is incredible. The condition is almost beyond belief. The original owner must have taken very good care of it. One day I really hope to own one and if it's close to that in condition I'll be a very happy man.
 

Asienizen

One of the Regulars
Messages
223
Location
Vietnam
That jacket is in such good shape it is amazing! It's hard to believe that it is an original. The fact that you have info on the person who wore it adds so much value to it, it makes an ordinary piece of equipment "speak".

Do you have any other wartime sheepskins in that good of shape?
 

aswatland

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,338
Location
Kent, England
That jacket is in such good shape it is amazing! It's hard to believe that it is an original. The fact that you have info on the person who wore it adds so much value to it, it makes an ordinary piece of equipment "speak".

Do you have any other wartime sheepskins in that good of shape?


Thanks. Yes I do. They are pictured earlier in this thread.
 

ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
Hi Guys... This is my first real post, I thought id share a couple of my purchases with you - Having owned a modern Irvin style jacket I decided to purchase the real deal... This was my first Irvin however the shoulders were very weak so not really suitable for daily wear... Especially flying in vintage aircraft which I originally wanted it for....

2 FRONT.jpg
 
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ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
8 belt.jpg 9 Left arm zip.jpg 14 BACK collar up .jpg 5 Collar close up.jpg 7 front bottom panel.jpg 6 Front zip close up.jpg

I didn't really know what I was buying at the time and paid well over the odds for it... I made a loss of about £200 and sold it on ebay...:eusa_doh:
 
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aswatland

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,338
Location
Kent, England
Thanks for posting these pics of your pre-War wired IAC jacket. Apart from the replaced main zip it looks as if this one was refurbished in the War when the diagonal seam tapes were added. A large number of Irvins were refurbished and re-issued from 1943 onwards under the 40288 contract.
 

ALM

New in Town
Messages
34
Location
london
I didn't realise it was Prewar... It was a lovely fit however the leather was wearing very thin and as you can see some of the fleece was showing through on the front... As you can see it looked a bit dry on these pics so I gave it an application of leather dressing and it looked a lot better however it was just to weak to wear properly.... As I leaned forward, the shoulders gave way and tore the leather next to the binding seam tape...:eusa_doh: :eusa_doh: :shocked:
 
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aswatland

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,338
Location
Kent, England
Later War Irvin

Here are some pictures of a later War jacket that I recently bought. I really like the chestnut skin colour. The fleece is very soft and shows little wear. The main zip is a standard Lightning, whilst the sleeve zips were made by Flash Fastener Ltd. All zips have their original triangular pullers. The additional three eyelets on the belt are odd and maybe a theatre job. The buckle is the heavy weight chromed variety seldom seen on Wartime jackets, but is original to the jacket. I have seen them used on later Links jackets.The collar shape is similar to Wareing's collars and is made from a darker fleece than the rest of the jacket, which was often the case with jackets made from recycled flying trousers. It is a very comfortable fit, being a decent size. So many of these late War Irvins were a size 3 or 4 and this one is a little larger than a marked size 5 multi-panel jacket in my collection.









 

Sloan1874

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,425
Location
Glasgow
Fantastic, and in amazing condition. Interesting to see the arrangement of panels. Was there anything approaching a general pattern for the panels on late WWII jackets, Andrew?
 

aswatland

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,338
Location
Kent, England
Thanks Craig. There were many different panel configurations for these later War jackets. You do see many with diagonal seam tapes below the front horizontal seam tape.
 

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