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WWII RAF Sqn Ldr Uniform-Pilot & DSO, DFC recipient, need help ID'ing


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Hello all! First time poster here! I've had this uniform in my collection for awhile now and I've just recently started to try and ID who it might have belonged too. As you can see the Sqn Ldr received the DSO and DFC and served in Europe, North Africa, and Burma. They were MiD and having the Air Efficiency Medal also means they were in the Volunteer Reserve if I'm not mistaken. I figured a DSO and DFC recipient who served in all of those theaters shouldn't be terribly difficult to pin down an ID For but I've had no luck. I've searched on the Traces of War and World War II Unit Histories & Officers sites and found a few possible matches but nothing 100%. If anyone here could assist with pinning down an ID it would be greatly appreciated!

brit_raf uniform1.JPG

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very nice jacket I would suspect that he served in Palestine either before the war or shortly after for him to get the General service medal.

Best bet to find a potential name is to go through the London gazette for all recipients of the DSO in the RAF

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-military-gallantry-medals/

 

Edit - forgot to ask under the belt is it another brass button or is it a flat plastic one just helps with aging the jacket

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1 hour ago, 46IR said:

very nice jacket I would suspect that he served in Palestine either before the war or shortly after for him to get the General service medal.

Best bet to find a potential name is to go through the London gazette for all recipients of the DSO in the RAF

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-military-gallantry-medals/

 

Edit - forgot to ask under the belt is it another brass button or is it a flat plastic one just helps with aging the jacket

Thanks for the info! I did download from the National Archives the list of all DSO recipients from WWII. I've gone through some of it but not all. I don't have the jacket with me now (I live in Northern VA and it's with my wife and the rest of my collection in Norfolk VA) so I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what type of button is under the belt. For my reference what does each type of button mean as far as the age of the jacket goes?

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If its got a 4th brass button then your looking at wartime production if it has a flat plastic then its post war, the other thing to check is what crown is on the buttons looks like the Brevet has the kings crown, the buttons should have the same

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/16/2020 at 6:11 AM, 46IR said:

If its got a 4th brass button then your looking at wartime production if it has a flat plastic then its post war, the other thing to check is what crown is on the buttons looks like the Brevet has the kings crown, the buttons should have the same

Here's a picture of the button that sits under the waist belt as well as the button above it.  I'm assuming then it's a post-war jacket.  The button appears to be made of metal, but then again it's hard to tell.  Either way it's the flat type.

20200505_145421.jpg

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The button here is what we call a "Queen's Crown" so it dates to after 1952, making this a post-war tunic. The flat brass button looks like a WWII vintage button. It is possible that the airman wore his WWII vintage uniform after WWII and just changed out the buttons.

 

Allan

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Hi mndoss,

 

Nice jacket but is almost certainly post 1952.  If you notice the flat button is spaced closer to the 3rd button than #1 is to 2 and #2 is to #3.  This is designed so the the flat button lies directly under the belt.  Not 100% sure, I'd have to check, but I believe the RAF changed the button layout with the Pattern 1947 uniform design.

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as the others have said the buttons make it a post 52 jacket, Its a strange combination queens crown buttons but kings crown brevet

 

@scarecrow you're most correct the 47pattern is when the 4th button became flat

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