Australian Tropical Airforce Jacket.

[Jos L C]

Hi ,

A collector once gave me this jacket for free ..

I like to make it complete ,but I don't know anything about these jackets.
So,shoulderstraps ,a wing...etc.

Is this stuff easy to find ?


Or...,there must be any evidence these jackets were confiscated by the German Luftwaffe sometimes ,so I can easily change buttons and without adding something use the jacket under a swimmingvest or something ??

Jos.

[Jos L C]

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[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Jos, wings and brevets (the half wings worn by Air Gunners, etc) can be found, but like everything else, beware of copies. The shoulder straps were "Khaki Drill" material and are not rare, but you will need to find some that are a good match to the jacket. You will also need some rank lace to put around the shoulder straps if you are doing a Commissioned rank.


I have never seen or heard of these jackets being worn by the Luftwaffe, but in North Africa it might have been possible, butas your jacket is 1944 dated a captured scenario is far less likely?

Cheers, Ade.

[Jean-Loup]

A collector once gave me a no decal german helmet.

I like to make it complete ,but I don't know anything about these helmets.
Is this stuff easy to find ?

Or...,there must be any evidence these helmets were worn by the SS sometimes ,so I can easily change the decal and use the helmet on my SS mankin??


My point is that your particular jacket was not used by the germans; and in my opinion, changing the buttons isnt the type of thing a collector interested in the history of his items should do. But, you are free to do whatever you want.
JL

[Jeremy Chan]

Jean-Loup, that's a nice tunic. You were lucky to get it for free. I'm surprised the shoulderstraps aren't on it. OK, pretty much the only insignia you would need to add are rank insignia, medal ribbons, unit insignia (probably not) and pilot's wings. As a WW2 tunic officer's rank isn't indicated by pips and/or crown. But by the RAAF rings on the cuffs/shoulder strap (in this case the latter). If an observer, the trade patch would be a single wing on a circle.
Cheers,
Jeremy