With Guy's kind assistance I thought you all may like to see one of the more unusual WW2 Commonwealth tunics. The story that goes with it is as follows :-
It belonged to my Uncle,Pilot Officer W.Eales (Bill),he was from Derby but was working on the Buleweyo railway when war broke out. The only way to get home was to enlist with one of the armed forces and as he had some flying experience he joined the Southern Rhodesian Air Force.
He flew Lancasters (with 60 Squadron I believe) and was somewhat of a rebel,being reported once for flying extremely low over Calver (when my Auntie Dorothy,then his girlfriend,was back home from London where she was a nurse) he was in trouble again for bringing back a full bomb load when his plane lost an engine and he refused to drop the bombs on this country and so landed the Lanc back at Scampton (I think?) Anyway he was shot down on the 20th December 1942 while bombing Duisburg,5 of his crew were accounted for having bailed out and been taken P.O.W. But Bill,the co-pilot,and their plane disappeared.
20 years later,virtually to the day,the Dutch were excavating for a new dyke and found Bill's plane,he and the co-pilot were still there strapped in. The Air Ministry notified Dorothy,who had since re-married (another pilot) on Christmas Eve 1962 and he was buried in Holland the next month.
When clearing out my Gran's house this tunic and his service cap were chucked on the bonfire by my Auntie Dorothy,I pulled them off before they could be damaged,and I've had them ever since.We claimed his medals as well, he won the Aircrew Europe and 1939-45 Stars,the War Medal and the Defense Medal.
The tunic itself is from Moss Bros. and the buttons are by Gaunt.We showed it to one Military 'expert' who asked if my Mum had made the wings
Hope you like it,Ian.
And a big thanks to Guy.
It belonged to my Uncle,Pilot Officer W.Eales (Bill),he was from Derby but was working on the Buleweyo railway when war broke out. The only way to get home was to enlist with one of the armed forces and as he had some flying experience he joined the Southern Rhodesian Air Force.
He flew Lancasters (with 60 Squadron I believe) and was somewhat of a rebel,being reported once for flying extremely low over Calver (when my Auntie Dorothy,then his girlfriend,was back home from London where she was a nurse) he was in trouble again for bringing back a full bomb load when his plane lost an engine and he refused to drop the bombs on this country and so landed the Lanc back at Scampton (I think?) Anyway he was shot down on the 20th December 1942 while bombing Duisburg,5 of his crew were accounted for having bailed out and been taken P.O.W. But Bill,the co-pilot,and their plane disappeared.
20 years later,virtually to the day,the Dutch were excavating for a new dyke and found Bill's plane,he and the co-pilot were still there strapped in. The Air Ministry notified Dorothy,who had since re-married (another pilot) on Christmas Eve 1962 and he was buried in Holland the next month.
When clearing out my Gran's house this tunic and his service cap were chucked on the bonfire by my Auntie Dorothy,I pulled them off before they could be damaged,and I've had them ever since.We claimed his medals as well, he won the Aircrew Europe and 1939-45 Stars,the War Medal and the Defense Medal.
The tunic itself is from Moss Bros. and the buttons are by Gaunt.We showed it to one Military 'expert' who asked if my Mum had made the wings
Hope you like it,Ian.
And a big thanks to Guy.
Wow, fascinating story Ian.
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