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ALL ORIGINAL Irvin RAF type Jackets - Loving that Wolf in sheeps' clothing!
- Thread starter PADDY
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aswatland
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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.
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.
aswatland
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Otter
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A name as well, managed to dig up any information on him?
aswatland
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Only his promotions in the London Gazette.
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?
Do you have any other wartime sheepskins in that good of shape?
aswatland
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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....
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aswatland
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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.
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
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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.
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.
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aswatland
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aswatland
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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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