Late War IJN Flight Suit Named

[FightenIrish35]

Just snagged this guy off ebay. Very excited for its arrival. Late war IJN Flight suit. The one piece silk material type with the belt.

Name tag is filled out with what I assume is the name of wearer.The naval depot tag im still trying to figure out the depot but im positive its not Yokosuka Depot. Size is a large. The date was never filled in which is not usual for very late in the war but I have seen issued items with the white depot tag not filled in and dated.

I usually miss out on the named pilot items so very excited about this one. Will be posting better images once it arrives.


<a href="http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish35/media/navypatch11.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm169/fightenirish35/navypatch11.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo navypatch11.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish35/media/navypatch1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm169/fightenirish35/navypatch1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo navypatch1.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish35/media/navypatch.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm169/fightenirish35/navypatch.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo navypatch.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish35/media/navypatch111.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm169/fightenirish35/navypatch111.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo navypatch111.jpg"/></a>

[Jareth]

Unusual not to have interior tag filled out as well! Also the fragile rice paper label coming off interior cloth label usually won't survive if suit is worn but a few times. Look forward to the exterior tag translation. I hope it checks out

[FightenIrish35]

Uniform was brought back by a USN Submarine veteran so there's always the chance of him having a Seabee do there infamous kanji . I got a good deal on it so not the end of the world if it turns out to be done by a non Japanese hand.your right It doesn't seem to have been worn at all. Fingers crossed it's ok.

[GHP]

砲術長
Hōjutsu-chō

Not a name, a position: Chief Gunnery Officer

Purely for reasons of comparison, I cite this Japanese Wiki article about Sakakibara Shigematsu that states he was chief gunnery officer on the IJN Takao in 1934.

1934年（昭和9年）10月、「高雄」砲術長となり

--Guy

Found that Wiki article in English HERE

[FightenIrish35]

Thank you Guy San!!! I appreciate the help on the tag. Thanks

That is very interesting. After looking into the position of a Chief Gunnery Officer it looks like there is a Chief Gunnery Officer assigned to Battleships or ships that have Armament.

I know that Air Craft carriers would have armament aboard so they would need a Chief Gunnery Officer aboard (I assume).

Any thoughts gentleman on why this rank would be on an aviation flight uniform?

Pretty interesting.

[GHP]

Just a Wild Guess ....

...Any thoughts gentleman on why this rank would be on an aviation flight uniform?

[EDIT -- I misread your question; I thought you said "what would be the rank on this uniform. Sorry.]

The company grade officers are 少尉 [sho-i/ensign], 中尉[chu-i/LT(JG)], and 大尉[tai-i/LT]; field grade (Major/Lt. Commander) is 少佐 [sho-sa].

Based on the information regarding Sakaibara, I would guess a Chief Gunnery Officer would be either 中尉 Navy Lieutenant (JG) or 大尉 Navy Lieutenant.

Again, using Sakaibara as our exemplar, he was 少尉 Ensign in 1918, attended Gunnery School for one year in 1924, and was made Chief Gunnery Officer in 1925; in 1930 he was promoted to 少佐 Lt. Commander/Major.

--Guy

[GHP]

Thoughts ....

Why is "Chief Gunnery Officer" written on an aviation suit?

Is it an aviation suit? If it certainly is, then perhaps these types of jumpsuits were worn in the confines of gun turrets throughout the IJN?

If it is not an aviation suit, then perhaps it is a suit worn by IJN gun crews.

[Ryukyutunnelrat]

I have to agree with Jareth, I saw this when it was posted and after looking at all the photos, the lack of written Kanji on the interior label and the rice paper threw a red flag for me. Regardless you got a nice flight suit for a great price with a little mystery thrown in

Best, David

[Jareth]

Not looking good. Rank or title wouldn't go there. Name would. I strongly doubt flight suits would be used inside torrents much less for anything other than aviation

[FightenIrish35]

Such a head scratcher .

Upsetting that the writing isn't aviation related. Still a nice example flight suit made from the light weight silk material.


Guy-San does the writing appear to be in Japanese hand or are there any signs it was written by a non Japanese ?

[GHP]

...Guy-San does the writing appear to be in Japanese hand or are there any signs it was written by a non Japanese ?

It looks written by a native-Japanese.

--Guy

[FightenIrish35]

Thanks Guy-San . That's a positive note .

What is interesting is the bring back tag reads Japanese Coveralls. So who knows maybe they were used as coveralls by a chief gunnery officer at the end of the war and just never wore this pair . Probably a mystery that will never be solved with the lack of information on the flight suit .

<a href="http://s296.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish35/media/image.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm169/fightenirish35/image.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image.jpg"/></a>

[cbuehler]

While that title on the name tag is not "right" in the normal sense, it somehow seems to me that it may be period done. Why would someone fake this when it is wrong?
This will probably be an enigma forever.

CB

[Jareth]

This is a great mystery! I have seen capture tags & bring back papers where item description weren't accurate or matched the object. I have an unissued navy paratrooper jacket that has a capture tag which says it's navy landing force & has Japan listed as location. I once owned a cavalry pouch covered in kanji that when it was finally translated was a US GIs name & rank info which must of been done by a Japanese. My feeling based on flight suits condition was that it was a depot pick up & perhaps the GI had a native write his rank on tag? I wonder what the 7 pins were?

[FightenIrish35]

Very good point Jareth. That could likely be the case here.

Flight suit arrived today and I must say the sellers pictures did not do it justice.

Its a nice Once piece late war silk material flight suit . There are signs that it has been worn a few times. Neck area shows discoloration from most likely sweat.

Does anybody recognize the naval depot that is on the inside white tag?


Here are some better photos of the flight suit.


<a href="http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish3535/media/037_zpsda946a27.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/w669/fightenirish3535/037_zpsda946a27.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 037_zpsda946a27.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish3535/media/041_zps19951481.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/w669/fightenirish3535/041_zps19951481.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 041_zps19951481.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish3535/media/038_zps8321aa86.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/w669/fightenirish3535/038_zps8321aa86.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 038_zps8321aa86.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/fightenirish3535/media/040_zpsac4deda9.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/w669/fightenirish3535/040_zpsac4deda9.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 040_zpsac4deda9.jpg"/></a>