Bladder problems solved

[lnijherald]

Guys, here's my latest arrival, described by the seller as a Home Front lifejacket bladder that cost me a whopping £3.70!
Des bought the sellers' second bladder, his was even cheaper. Ebay can be fun!
Regards, Luc

[DJT]

Mine arrived today as well Luc! but mine was only £3.50

They are slightly different to the usual type I have encountered. No Broad arrow markings except a date 1945 and APA?? markings. Anyone know what APA stands for?

[lnijherald]

Hi Des,

No broad arrow? Mine shows one clearly just above the date.
I have no idea what APA stands for, it is stamped APA no less than 6 times so could it be an inspection stamp for each step of the manufacturing/assembling process?
Regards, Luc

[DJT]

Hi Luc,

Thanks I found the broad arrow where you said, mine was just very faint. I also have the APA markings present half a dozen times.

[Gary Jucha]

Pegasus

Pegasus Militaria are doing very high quality repro's of the life-savers ....

http://www.pegasusmilitaria.com/page10.html

Out of interest has anybody got one of the life-savers with the metal " hook pump arm" rather than the mouth-pipe ??

(The remains of the life-safers found at Driel all had the hook pump arm)

Gary J.

[DJT]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the link. Looks like Steve only has them in the process of being made but not ready yet. Whats the story with them being called Airborne? I had always associated these more with the D-Day landings (worn by Canadian and British infantry troops) and the Commandos (Black versions). I only found out about their use by Gilder troops the other day from Luc. Have you got a photo of the hook pump arm? I dont think I have ever seen one of those.

[Gary Jucha]

Hook Arm

Des,
Here's a couple of shots of the two hook arms I have .... both from DZ "K" Driel.

Please note ... the item under the bladder is NOT a sausage !!!!! it's a CO2 cylinder for inflating the life-saver !!

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the link. Looks like Steve only has them in the process of being made but not ready yet. Whats the story with them being called Airborne? I had always associated these more with the D-Day landings (worn by Canadian and British infantry troops) and the Commandos (Black versions). I only found out about their use by Gilder troops the other day from Luc. Have you got a photo of the hook pump arm? I dont think I have ever seen one of those.

[Gary Jucha]

2nd arm

... and the 2nd

Gary J

[lnijherald]

Hi Gary and Des,

One of the belts with hook-pump (life vest rather than a belt) was sold recently on ebay; these have greater boyancy than the belt shown here. They were used by heavily equipped parachutists and gliderborne infantry and it seems this is the one Steve Kiddle is reproducing now.
The belt was also used by glider pilots, they used the Bergen after landing so they wore little equipment during a flight. Smelly piece of kit, I have it for a few hours now and the entire house smells of old rubber, yuk.

Des, I'll send you a few pictures of the vest. It is the one shown on my website.

According to Brayley and Ingram the blue/black belt "was much in evidence druing the Dieppe raid in 1942, it had a small slide-on pocket on the right side which contained a battery unit and a light to assist in location at night". They show a (modern) picture of a RN petty officer LCA coxwain wearing one.
Regards, Luc