WWI Aviators Clothing and Uniforms

[JonathanS]

AAC Cadet Leader,

this site may be of some interest to you

http://www.kaisersbunker.com/

cheers,
Jonathan

[Romani]

When a German pilots shot down a British pilot, he would claim flying his Sidcot suit, his helmet, goggles and face mask.

Oh my! How gruesome!

Not so quite out of the ordinary, actually. First of all, there's the ancient tradition of to the victor the spoils. Second, in both sides, dead soldiers were stripped of usable items of clothing for recycling, though this usually happened in rearguard hospitals (ie, dead at a medical station, or bodies having been retrieved instead of buried where they fell). The clothing would be then washed, and repaired (including but not limited to sewing entry and exit holes) and then reissued to other troops. I've read about a British infantryman complaining about receiving a coat with the blood stains of the former owner not quite erased! You can imagine how reassuring would that be. If this happened on the Allied side of the trenches, we can imagine recycling was even more thorough in Germany, with the textile shortages.

Dan-San commentary about flying gear taken from captured British pilots makes me think it had more to do with the practical fact that the crash was not so bad to damage the clothing (and incidentally the wearer) than without scruples about stealing from the dead or squeamishness about stripping a corpse. After all, there's nothing salvageable in a charred corpse in a burned wreck. If it was not the case, and granting that fatal wounds to torso or head had ruined the clothing or not making it worth the trouble of recycling it, a pair of googles, gloves, or boots could still be salvaged. After all, looting the dead for footwear is an ancient military tradition as ancient as war itself, and the most common and sought after spoils of war.



Ok, I was just being humorously macabre, but the practice of salvaging the dead men clothing was a common one, and no doubt, some enterprising German airmen obtained some much needed items from corpses of Allied airmen on occasion. Plus corpses can yield other goodies like watches, cigarettes, rings and other personal items. Gee, you would think I have done this befor...

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Eg,
In that vast and detailed aviation photo collection of yours, you must have one of the wired electric WWI flight suits to show us, hmm?

JohnathanS,
Great site and cute little Dachshund. Hey, I've got a pair of those RFC tinted, fur-lined goggles, given to me twenty years ago. Thought they were Lindbergh Era. Turns out they're WWI!

Romani,
You're on a roll with that story. In the spirit of Halloween, keep going...

[EricGoedkoop]

Originally Posted by AAC Cadet Leader

Eg,
In that vast and detailed aviation photo collection of yours, you must have one of the wired electric WWI flight suits to show us, hmm?

I don't have a vast collection, dear - I just have the internet. Don't tell anyone.

I know that the USAFM here in sunny Ohio has a hall of mannequins dressed in pilots' clothing from all periods. I think I might remember there being a post-war American heated flight suit. I'll have to check.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

In about a month from now, I'll be wishing I had one of those wired flight suits to wear around my non-insulated, drafty house. I could hook the auxillary propeller up on the roof.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

In reviewing JohnathanS's weblink, http://www.kaisersbunker.com/ I wonder what the RFC needed with a male "Officer's Maternity Tunic"? Any guesses?

[EricGoedkoop]

Originally Posted by AAC Cadet Leader

I wonder what the RFC needed with a male "Officer's Maternity Tunic"? Any guesses?

Where do you think little pilots come from?

Anyway - it is not an electrically heated suit I was thinking of at the Air Force Museum. They have a "High Altitude or Cold Weather" head-to-toe leather get-up from the 20's, and a very dashing WW1 flyer in long leather coat and Chewbacca mittens:Uniforms.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Hijacked pic of HQ's over the Channel flying togs. See? No long johns underneath. Style is everything!

Originally Posted by mike_baram

Yeah, and she didn't need no towel to prove it.

Today 08:27 AM
EricGoedkoop Quote:

They have a "High Altitude or Cold Weather" head-to-toe leather get-up from the 20's, and a very dashing WW1 flyer in long leather coat

Style was not the concern with that face mask.

...and Chewbacca mittens:Uniforms.

Try setting the throttle and mix in those!

According to the Time Life Book Women Aloft, when Ms. Quimby crossed the English Channel she worn two pairs of silk cominations under her flying suit and over it a long woolen coat, and American raincoat and a sealskin stole. Her friends also gave her a hot water bottle to strap on, and by the time she landed on the other side this had become stone cold. Photos show her also having gauntlet gloves, goggles, and her lined flying suit hood up. It is generally believed that she had more than one plum colored flying suit, as the detailing appears different in various photos. A beautiful example of one was recreated for the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, NY.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Oooh, thank you for that Spad13! The hot water bottle does sound familiar. Guess I better review my books before I...