Canadian Airborne Find

[Vix Steel]

Found the two together along with some great SS items!

Sadly the wings have been removed on both for some reason.

Interesting on the BD the rank stripes have been like blanco'd in white?? anyone seen this before?

And as always as it seems the M42 jump jacket is missing the belt!

I had a fun day!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Very nice!

Whitening the stripes was a common trick.

Cheers, Ade.

[pete]

I heard the same thing from a guy whose father was in the RCA until the 70s, that they had done this while the we were wearing BD. I'm not sure why though exactly, if only for spit and polish I am not sure of the practical reason if there was one.

Pete

[GCG1964]

Lucky fella!

Definatly worth restoring and displaying.

GCG.

[kammo man]

Fantastic pair !


owen

[force136]

Odd very odd

Hi

I have to say I am very intrigued over this set. I hope you have a name because if you dont it would be a travesty. They did not wear the insignia you have on your "jacket parachute jumper" ( not M-42, that designation never existed, and yes I know it is easier for collectors blaa blaa blaa , but regardless, it did not exist as a des and in using it they are perpetuating the myth. The garment was actually designed and manufactured begining in 1941 and had no M designator because it was never made into a model.) during the war. Some instructors put that on at the end of the war. It may have been for a specific parade.

The battledress is even more intriguing because it looks good, but it is in an almost impossble configuration. If it is real, it is probably the only one that exists. That is, if it is a UK worn BD. However I wonder about the two things coming together. They only wore the British formation badge with AIRBORNE CANADA for a couple months before their jump on 6 June. That is when they got their printed titles.

So I am wondering if this might even be a Shilo / Rivers set up? There are a few scenarios...

1. Instructor Canada then overseas with Battalion and for some reason he only kept this tunic?????

2. Battalion overseas, leaves UK prior to D-Day and returns to Canada to instruct. He retains his old Battalion BD.

3. Instructor Canada, goes to the UK, finishes war, returns to Canada and coverts his Battalion BD to JAS BD replacing printed titles with AIRBORNE CANADA and retaining British formation badges. This was done. Actually some just wore their old Battalion BD at Rivers.

In short, this is a very odd set and very hard to understand. If it has provenance then it has to be one of the above. You also have to remember that instructors were not permitted to go overseas. They would have to pull a lot of strings etc. to break that rule. It was a long expensive process to train instructors and many were not told that they could not fight. The Army knew no one would volunteer to be an instrutor if they told them.

The pictures make them look good, although the medal ribbon is odd. They were permitted to wear ribbons on the jump jacket but France Germany and CVSM is odd. It is usually either just CVSM or 39-45 and CVSM because the F&G ribbon did not come out until much later. The missing wings all appear to be Canadian made.
The blanco'ing of the stripes was ordered in Canada and the UK. It was done for easier recognition as at a distance, corporals stripes and sergeant stripes tend to blend. It was only to be done on BEST DRESS and NOT combat clothing.

Anyway if you have a provenance I would love to hear it because if this set is 100%, I would say one of the rarest sets of uniforms relating to Canadian airborne history ( if the AIRBORNE CANADA was worn in the UK.) I have never seen one in a museum OR private collection. Too bad about the wings. You can tell the Canadian Parachute Badge on the BD was a Canadian made "padded" example typical, but def not exclusive, to the parachute school/center.

Ken

Fantastic pair !


owen

[force136]

Ah-ha !

I just noted that the BD is dated 1945. Now that is REALLY ODD. That makes NO sense at all. I would then go more with the scenario that this is something he wore AFTER the war. I would say end of war Shilo/Rivers. I am really curious. Is there any evidence of their being any other shoulder titles on that BD ie. the printed types? If so, then I would say NOT a UK era Airborne Canada BD, but likely the vets overseas best dress, with printed titles removed and Airborne Canada replaced in Canada at end of the war. It is really odd and I would love to know the story behind these.

Ken

Hi

I have to say I am very intrigued over this set. I hope you have a name because if you dont it would be a travesty. They did not wear the insignia you have on your "jacket parachute jumper" ( not M-42, that designation never existed, and yes I know it is easier for collectors blaa blaa blaa , but regardless, it did not exist as a des and in using it they are perpetuating the myth. The garment was actually designed and manufactured begining in 1941 and had no M designator because it was never made into a model.) during the war. Some instructors put that on at the end of the war. It may have been for a specific parade.

The battledress is even more intriguing because it looks good, but it is in an almost impossble configuration. If it is real, it is probably the only one that exists. That is, if it is a UK worn BD. However I wonder about the two things coming together. They only wore the British formation badge with AIRBORNE CANADA for a couple months before their jump on 6 June. That is when they got their printed titles.

So I am wondering if this might even be a Shilo / Rivers set up? There are a few scenarios...

1. Instructor Canada then overseas with Battalion and for some reason he only kept this tunic?????

2. Battalion overseas, leaves UK prior to D-Day and returns to Canada to instruct. He retains his old Battalion BD.

3. Instructor Canada, goes to the UK, finishes war, returns to Canada and coverts his Battalion BD to JAS BD replacing printed titles with AIRBORNE CANADA and retaining British formation badges. This was done. Actually some just wore their old Battalion BD at Rivers.

In short, this is a very odd set and very hard to understand. If it has provenance then it has to be one of the above. You also have to remember that instructors were not permitted to go overseas. They would have to pull a lot of strings etc. to break that rule. It was a long expensive process to train instructors and many were not told that they could not fight. The Army knew no one would volunteer to be an instrutor if they told them.

The pictures make them look good, although the medal ribbon is odd. They were permitted to wear ribbons on the jump jacket but France Germany and CVSM is odd. It is usually either just CVSM or 39-45 and CVSM because the F&G ribbon did not come out until much later. The missing wings all appear to be Canadian made.
The blanco'ing of the stripes was ordered in Canada and the UK. It was done for easier recognition as at a distance, corporals stripes and sergeant stripes tend to blend. It was only to be done on BEST DRESS and NOT combat clothing.

Anyway if you have a provenance I would love to hear it because if this set is 100%, I would say one of the rarest sets of uniforms relating to Canadian airborne history ( if the AIRBORNE CANADA was worn in the UK.) I have never seen one in a museum OR private collection. Too bad about the wings. You can tell the Canadian Parachute Badge on the BD was a Canadian made "padded" example typical, but def not exclusive, to the parachute school/center.

Ken

[NickG]

Fantastic find Vix Steel. Congrats! Here some period images showing similar gear at Camp Shilo (A/B school) Manitoba!
First an officer wearing a US M42 jumpjacket at Shilo with Captain's pips added to the shoulder straps.
Next image another Canadian paratrooper armed with a Stengun, wearing US M42 jump suit, US A/B helmet + US parachute and no doubt US jumpboots.

[NickG]

The airborne BD insignia mix is indeed interesting...
Compare with this group shot of Canadian Airborne memberw at Shilo wearing Airborne Canada scrolls and no UK Pegasus insignia...
which makes sense, as these are trainees or instructors in 1945 at Camp Shilo, Manitoba (not attached to British Airborne).
(Source: Canadian National Archives).

[Vix Steel]

Hey Nick,

Awesome, thanx for posting the pics!

Im going to look over the BD again and hope to find a name!!!!

Searched the US jacket, sadly there is no id.

I will be in contact with the seller I got these from at the next antiques show, I hope she might have some information.

[kammo man]

cool pictures !


owen

[gmac1986]

I have a set of whited out chevrons.

[Grizzly]

Re the photo of the four Canadian Airborne Sgts. Note that the two sergeants in the back are both wearing CAPF (Canadian Army Pacific Force) patches. That would date the photo to the summer of 1945, and no later than the fall of 1945.

[Seaforth72]

Airborne Canada tunics now in Colin MacGregor Stevens' Collection

The two AIRBORNE CANADA jackets that Vic Steel found in New Westminster in 2012 are now in my collection in Richmond, B.C. They join other original uniforms I have of 1 Can Para Bn, FSSF, CANLOAN with 2 S Staffs at Arnhem, etc.

I have shown photos of these two jackets to many of the Canadian airborne veterans in BC, including several who served as instructors at Shilo just post-WWII, but so far (2012-11-06) I have not been able to identify the man (assuming they were worn by the same man).

Research is on-going. I now have the names from veterans of three S/Sgts who were airborne at Shilo post-WWII and one of those three was with 1 Can Para Bn.

[cw2311]

Colin,

I don’t like those tunics one bit!!!....this being said, I would be more than happy to give you your money back!!

Cheers

The two AIRBORNE CANADA jackets that Vic Steel found in New Westminster in 2012 are now in my collection in Richmond, B.C. They join other original uniforms I have of 1 Can Para Bn, FSSF, CANLOAN with 2 S Staffs at Arnhem, etc.

I have shown photos of these two jackets to many of the Canadian airborne veterans in BC, including several who served as instructors at Shilo just post-WWII, but so far (2012-11-06) I have not been able to identify the man (assuming they were worn by the same man).

Research is on-going. I now have the names from veterans of three S/Sgts who were airborne at Shilo post-WWII and one of those three was with 1 Can Para Bn.