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

[Gee]

Great pictures, and great to see the thread buzzing again. It got me thinking, seeing the latest photos, just what an amazing design the Irvin jacket is. To my eye it looks effortlessly cool whether teamed up with other WW2 items as per Paddy and Mark, or with modern day kit as worn by Windsock. I can't think of anything else that comes close in terms of versatility. A Mae West looks superb worn in context by a re enactor, but you'd look a right muppet wearing it with tee shirt and jeans down the pub.
Very moving story from Paddy, and as sad as it is to read of the terrible waste of a brave young man, I think it is very fitting that the jacket is now cherished by someone who cares about its history and that the story of the jacket's original owner will remain with the jacket.
Best regards,
Peter

 

[Windsock]

Soren, i'll take you out for a spin when you visit!

Tim, we're booked to fly into Christchurch mid Aug with plans to drive to Queenstown and loop back via the glaciers over 9 days. I'll need some wheels so where can I find this guy? Incidentally i'll be taking Kiwi Irvin with me.... I'll give you a call shortly as I need to get the skinny..

Mark, the event was an annual historic meet at Fort Lytton in Brisbane. I can post a shot or two if you're interested, but to comply with Irvin bylaws it'll have have to contain at least one sheepskin shot. WRT the tank, it's not ridgy-didge. I missed the details but I understand that it's a reconstruction based on the hull of some kind of troop or bren carrier, though i'm probably way off. If they don't have wings i'm not all that fascinated. It did drive and look the part though...

 

[B-24J]

What a roadster..............and what a jacket!! The cops might catch up with you, but they would NEVER stop you. Want one!!
Where was the event, and what type of tank is it, please?

Hi Mark,

The number on the turret is a bit of a give-away. It looks to be a reproduction of a Czech 35t as used by the Germans in WWII. Probably built on a troop carrier such as the FV432 - judging by the wheels. The important thing is that the Irvin is an original!

John

 

[Spitfire]

Hi Mark,

thanks for posting the photos of your fab looking Irvin. Your comments about hooded Irvins appearing across the RAF are true because I have numerous photos of hooded Irvins being worn by heavy bomber crews, they are evident in fighter squadrons and fighter bomber squadrons and were even worn by WAAF nursing orderlies on flight duties. I have a major milestone birthday coming next year and I've hunted long and hard for an original hooded Irvin in my size but alas to no avail, therefore needs must in order to achieve a life's ambition and I'll probably have a repro made especially. I'll update the Repro Irvin thread as soon as I get the ball rolling with this.

Thanks

Send you a PM. Cheers!

 

[Gee]

Just seen an original "centrally heated" irvin jacket advertised on the Aero website, fitted with their own version of an A.M. zip. I am no expert on zips or engineering, but does anyone know why a repro manufacturer cannot simply take a cast of an original zip and make a perfect copy? I can't see Dot, Lightning, or The Air Ministry having a problem with copyright, Aero's zip even has A.M. stamped into it.
Oh, sorry for the delay in posting pictures of Mr Marrison's jacket. I have spoken to R.A.F. records today regarding my request for his service records and been told that the relevant information should arrive by early next week. When I have the full story of the owner of the jacket I will take some pictures, promise!

 

[aswatland]

Just seen an original "centrally heated" irvin jacket advertised on the Aero website, fitted with their own version of an A.M. zip. I am no expert on zips or engineering, but does anyone know why a repro manufacturer cannot simply take a cast of an original zip and make a perfect copy? I can't see Dot, Lightning, or The Air Ministry having a problem with copyright, Aero's zip even has A.M. stamped into it.
Oh, sorry for the delay in posting pictures of Mr Marrison's jacket. I have spoken to R.A.F. records today regarding my request for his service records and been told that the relevant information should arrive by early next week. When I have the full story of the owner of the jacket I will take some pictures, promise!

Yes it is possible to do this. Dot and Lightning zips I believe are both still under copy right protection. However, producing Dot or Lightning zips these days will cost many thousands of pounds. The correct tools have to be made and the correct woven tapes made. The Dot stopper box is complicated to make. If it was a simple or cheap process ELC or Aero would have already done it.

 

[Jonnyboy]

Yes it is possible to do this. Dot and Lightning zips I believe are both still under copy right protection. However, producing Dot or Lightning zips these days will cost many thousands of pounds. The correct tools have to be made and the correct woven tapes made. The Dot stopper box is complicated to make. If it was a simple or cheap process ELC or Aero would have already done it.

Certainly true Andrew. I was quoted £20,000 to make accurate Lightning zips! And that was just to make the slider, puller and stop box. I should imagine the tapes would be expensive to produce too. The zips I've had made are modelled on an original Lightning zip, but aren't 100% exact. At the moment, they'll have to do. Maybe one day though...

 

[irvinsuit]

Some additional Irvin Photos from WW2

Folks, I hope that you find these photos interesting...

 

[irvinsuit]

Some additional pics from my collection...

 

[Gee]

Excellent photos, thank you for posting them.

 

[alfyman]

Folks, I hope that you find these photos interesting...

Thank you so very much..

 

[Gee]

Mr Marrison's jacket

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[Gee]

Above you should see some pictures of my most prized jacket, actually my most prized posession! As you can see the main zip has been replaced by Eastmans who also installed two replacement brass eyelets in the belt. Other than that it is original and in very good condition. I have now received Mr Marrison's service record which shows that prior to serving in 644 Squadron he was with 297 and 298 Squadrons. From an Irvin academic's perspective this adds to the argument that this style of jacket was not just issued to those airmen serving in Coastal Command or The Fleet Air Arm. Possibly Mr Marrison selected the jacket so that he could use the hood for extra sound insulation when working as a Wireless Operator, or maybe it was just what the QM issued him with. Either way, finding the name and number written on the label has led me to research the story of 644, Pegasus Bridge, and, obviously the life of Mr Marrison, who I was glad to discover survived the war and returned to his career as a bootmaker/repairer until his death in 1977. It is my dream that, due to the fact that 644 tended to fly at night in all weathers the jacket may have been worn on a good percentage of operations, and may even have been worn on the Coup de Main Op. It was interesting taking the photographs - the handwritten name and number on the label actually look much more defined in the pictures, and the yellow of the hood also appears much brighter than it looks to the naked eye. Anyway, hope you like the pictures, the only problem I now have with this jacket is that I am scared to wear it in case I damage it, and even scared to let the sunlight get to the label - the name is already faded to the point that only MARR is legible, without the number written underneath I doubt that I could have done the research.

 

[Gee]

Just an aside, but if you click on the operations flown you should see that on Op Nico 1C the dropzone was found by Gee. As this is my surname I was excited by the possibility that a distant relation of mine might have had a hand in inventing a navigation system used by the RAF in WW2. Sadly this proved not to be the case, "Gee" was in fact code for the fact that it was a grid based system. The inventor of the system was actually a Mr RJ Dippy. You can understand his modesty, imagine if the thing had problems - "It's that bloody dippy navigation system!"

 

[Gee]

Sorry to keep hogging the thread, but I thought I would just add that post war the jacket has had an eventful life, having been bought from a lady in England by a Canadian dealer before being bought and re imported by Mr Pringle of Oldnautibits and finally bought by myself. Thanks again to Andrew who helped Mr Pringle with my questions about the jacket and identified it from photos as being made by Wareings in 1942/3.

 

[LancasterLM658]

Paddy, have just been informed of this posting and have joined the forum specially, the administrators of the LM 658 Website would be most interested in learning more about the Irvin in your posession, would appreciate it if you got in touch via the "contact us" on the LM 658 website!....cheers!

Alan Lancaster LM658 author.

 

[aswatland]

Here are a few pictures of a named pre-War two panel Irvin made by Irvin Air Chute. It has the typical features associated with this maker: small collar rings, medium-sized belt loops, a square-ended collar and the extra reinforcement eyelet around the belt buckle prong.

The jacket belonged to F/O G. A. Smee who in 1943 was serving with number 104 Operational Training Unit at Nutts Corner, Northern Ireland. Smee was the Wireless Operator/air gunner on board Wellington Z1460 when it crashed on 17th July 1943. Smee survived the crash along with the rest of the crew. Smee wrote his name on the back of the collar.

 

[Spitfire]

Fantastic jacket, Andrew - just like I like them! Pre-war, two panel! And what a great condition it is in. Not much tear on the fleece either. Is this a new one in your collection?

 

[aswatland]

Fantastic jacket, Andrew - just like I like them! Pre-war, two panel! And what a great condition it is in. Not much tear on the fleece either. Is this a new one in your collection?

Thanks Soren. I've had this one for sometime. It is too small for me and is currently for sale.

 

[aswatland]

Here's another one, Soren, but although it is 25" pit to pit it would need to be a couple of inches wider to fit you I suspect. This is a 1941-2 Wareings jacket with interesting mis-matched seam tapes on the front panels.