White RAF Roll Neck Sweaters

[Smithy]

I like your new avatar Soren. That wouldn't happen to be you by any chance

 

[H.Johnson]

How I wish you had been on the forum when I was dispersing my humble collection of that very garement...

Yes it is a size 1 and yes you're right, it's still pretty tent like. Must have been some pretty big Sailors! I intend to eat my own body weight over the festive period in an attempt to "grow" into it, especially as all the recent Irvins for sale have been big 'ens.

"And thus it came to pass that he was unable to complete a post on any subject, on any forum, without mentioning his unquenchable, yet increasingly tedious, desire for an Irvin jacket....."

 

[Spitfire]

I like your new avatar Soren. That wouldn't happen to be you by any chance

fftopic: Him very own self

 

[dit dah]

How I wish you had been on the forum when I was dispersing my humble collection of that very garement...

Thanks H, me too, but don't worry about me: I have a kidney currently listed on Ebay and hope to have myself an Irvin in good time.

I hereby promise that, should we in the UK get more than 20 secs of daylight tomorrow, I will try and photograph the above garments. Can't promise a body in them though, there's no way I can compete with Paddy's scowl.

 

[H.Johnson]

The J. Pick & Son's jumper arrived yesterday. Wonderful, and rather a nice companion to the surplus duffle I eventually managed to find in a small size and which arrived today.

I'd read about the difference in quality in the genuine issue duffles but was still amazed at the weight of the coat, hope we get a cold winter.

Very good! But now you have the Royal Navy Jumper, White and the Coat, Duffle combo, you need the 'hype' to go with it. In a world where cream linen cross-belted shorts magically become 'Gh__ka shorts'* and a short leather jacket is invariably a 'Luftwaffe Fliegerjacke' you can't afford to be left behind!

Most people who have the white jumper choose either the 'Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot' hype or the 'Above us the Waves submarine hero' hype. This has all been done before, dahling. Soooo yesterday!

Similarly, the hype of choice to go along with the duffle coat is usually the 'Cruel Sea Battle of the Atlantic corvette captain' hype. Again, sooo predictable!

May I suggest that, since the jumper was the knitwear of choice of the dashing Commando Brigadier Lord 'Shimi' Lovatt, you could formally adopt the 'Normandy Invasion Commando' hype for your jumper?

With regard to the coat, you have a couple of choices of hype that are unlikely to have been used already. David Stirling was often photographed in a first pattern RN duffle and Bernard Montgomery also wore one by habit. So, you could justly hype your duffle as a 'Special Forces raider coat' or 'Desert Rat battle coat'. There are a couple of fresh hypes for you to use - at no charge.

Let me know when you get the stockings...

* Being relatively new to the forum, you may not know that we never formally spell this name out. Anything for a quiet life, as my grannie used to say...

 

[Spitfire]

lol lol :eusa_clap lol

 

[dit dah]

Not sure if you're laughing at me or near me

Can't do the Stirling thing (though I do think of him when looking at my coat, duffle) or I'll have doright abseiling through my bloody window with an F-S Knife, Fighting (1st Pattern)

OK so the coat & jumper are a bit of a cliche together but hey, it's probably so unhip it's ironic.

I'm certainly not taking any photos of them now

 

[GHQ1]

Take the photos, Nuwanda!

"I'm certainly not taking any photos of them now"

Hey you've found your own walk . . . so walk it . . .

Who cares if somebody else claims the walk's been done . . .

Not by you it hasn't . .

 

[Spitfire]

Not sure if you're laughing at me or near me

Can't do the Stirling thing (though I do think of him when looking at my coat, duffle) or I'll have doright abseiling through my bloody window with an F-S Knife, Fighting (1st Pattern)

OK so the coat & jumper are a bit of a cliche together but hey, it's probably so unhip it's ironic.

I'm certainly not taking any photos of them now

I was not laughing at you DitDah - but I did find HJohsons post rather amusing.
I myself walk around in white sweater, Irvin, Duffel or BD whenever I feel like it. (Not all at once though) And I do not really care what other people might think - or if it has been done before. Heck - everything has been done before.
Just do what you feel is right for you....and please post the pictures. We want to see that sweater!

 

[BellyTank]

Yes-
show us the jaunty, stinking sweater.



B
T

 

[H.Johnson]

I believe it was I that started this, and I most certainly was not poking fun at anyone who has posted on this thread so far. If I have caused offence (again!) I apologise, as usual.

This 'hype' theme goes back a long way on this forum and, as they say, some good men are no longer with us as a result of it.

Hype is, in fact, a wonderful and transforming thing. It can change lives. I know a re-enactor who bought a pair of wartime PT pumps (the brown ones with the black vulcanised toecap) on eBay. He didn't know what to do with them, as he didn't have the rest of the PT kit to go with them. He was at a loose end! Then he did some research and found that pumps were worn for stealth by some of 4 Commando in Operation Jubilee. So - hey presto! Our friend was immediately the owner of a pair of Dieppe Raider Commando Pumps! His life was changed completely, by the simple application of one dose of hype.

Now every week-end in the Summer he puts on his cap comforter, smears on the burnt cork, takes up his Thompson and goes and sips cappaccinos outside small country railways stations with his new mates in their Smocks, Denison and Special Forces windproof suits (both with berets to match, of course). Ah, bless! Don't you just love a happy ending?

 

[H.Johnson]

Hype and bad taste

In the spirit of hype and sheer bad taste - I give you, the RAF Dawn Patrol Spitfire cuckoo clock! Hear the Merlin crackle into life! See the Spitfire taxi out of and go back into the hangar! Place your head in your hands in despair!

http://www.bradford.co.uk/product_i....html/XTCsid/650babad32e8c9e56858bf1228821705

I have actually seen (and heard) one of these things and I can say, as a lover and collector of clocks and timepieces, an admirer of this fine aeroplane and the arm of service that operated it - it is even worse in real life than you can imagine...

Sad to say this thing originates from my home town, as did R.J. Mitchell. Sorry, R.J.!

 

[roy]

submarine sweater variant

just a slightly irrelevant yet interesting contribution, I was a South African submariner and we were issued the exact same high neck jumper, except that they were of black wool.
They did a fantastic job of keeping out the atlantic cold, as well as hiding unironed shirts or non reg t-shirts!!
They were only issued to submariners, master divers and recces (special forces).

 

[Creeping Past]

Let's hear it for Eastman's ecru

I remain satisfied with my Eastman ecru (which they creatively rebranded, possibly misheard, as 'aircrew') sweater and wear it often. It's warm, well constructed, hefty and has retained its shape very well throughout almost constant use these past couple of months.

Never mind your fears about falling for heritage marketing hype, let's hear it for low-priced high quality knitwear!

 

[Windsock]

Australian Comforts Fund

Just dug up these great shots at the AWM of ACF Ladies sorting and packing Comforts for the Boys. Fantastic stuff, just look at all those pristine white sweaters!

 

[CowMan]

I'd like to thank all those who posted details and images, particularly Alan, of the roll-neck jumpers. The wife has just begun a sweater, based pretty much exclusively off this thread. Yayy!!

 

[H.Johnson]

Wowsa!!! Wimmins of my own age! Hubba hubba! More of this, please...

Just dug up these great shots at the AWM of ACF Ladies sorting and packing Comforts for the Boys. Fantastic stuff, just look at all those pristine white sweaters!

 

[taggers]

Hello chaps.

Have recieved my WPG jumper.

First impressions are that it's not got the reinforcement and has the cheapest, nastiest label sewn into it. But it seems to fit just right.

So I'm happy. Scratchy as all Hades of course.

Oh, and it's marked "Dry Clean Only". Yeah, as they say, right.

 

[Spitfire]

Hello chaps.

Have recieved my WPG jumper.

First impressions are that it's not got the reinforcement and has the cheapest, nastiest label sewn into it. But it seems to fit just right.

So I'm happy. Scratchy as all Hades of course.

Oh, and it's marked "Dry Clean Only". Yeah, as they say, right.

Got a WPG jumper too.
No cheap, nastie label though.
And I mashinewash mine. (Coldwater wool program) No problem.

 

[Hawk_Eye]

Anyone know the story on the current availability of the Eastman sweater? For the longest time all sizes were listed as sold out, and now they have completely removed the product listing from the website. Is this temporary until they restock or have they stopped selling them permanently?