Like many collectors I am always looking out for ‘groupings’. Groupings are a set of items all attributable to one man and can range from a couple of pieces to a full set of uniform and paperwork. As can be imagined, these are not easy to come by as many sets are broken up over the years and scattered into the winds. I have just one grouping in my collection, a set of rating’s clothing and attaché case named to a Peter Mahler. As can be seen it is a nice selection:

1. Attaché Case
2. Collar, Blue Jean x2
3. Leading Hand’s rank tape
4. Leading Hand’s Badge
5. Housewife
6. HMS Daedalus Cap Tally
7. Waistbelt, Blue
8. Jumper Serge, with Cuffs
9. Flannel, Cotton

We will now take a closer look at these items, I will confess now that a lot of the information below is drawn from the new Brayley book, Royal Navy Uniforms 1930-1945.

Attaché Case

The attaché case is a brown compressed fibre case measuring 14”x10”x5”, secured by a metal lockable clasp:

This case is marked with the owner’s initials P.A.M and inside is marked his full name, Peter Mahler:

The interior of the case is covered with a white fabric liner:

The attaché case was introduced in 1935 as an alternative to the old wooden ‘Ditty Box’ used to store a sailor’s personal possessions on board ship, by 1939 it had replaced it completely. It was very useful to sailor’s going ashore who could use it as a small suitcase.

Collar Blue Jean

This set of clothing came with two seaman’s collars. The front of the collar is made of Blue Jean fabric, whilst the rear face is of blue and white shirting:

The collar is secured by tapes so that the square part sits below the back of the neck, with the front disappearing inside the jumper. As can be see the edge of the collar is marked with three parallel white lines. Originally these were individual tapes, but by the end of the Second World War these had been replaced with a one piece printed tape, speeding up manufacture. As can be seen the collars faded at different rates so there can be different shades of blue:

Inside the collars are the owner’s name, P Mahler, also visible are other names:

It was common for clothing to be reissued, however if it was then a ‘DC’ stamp was supposed to be applied, indicating it was ‘Declared Clothing’ and had been swapped legally. This stamp can just be made out faintly on one of the collars:

Insignia

Included in the case are two rate badges and a cap tally:

The fouled anchor is the rate of ‘Leading hand and has been in use since 1853. The printed blue badge was for use on tropical uniforms. The small badge on a cloth tape was for wear around the wrist when it was not possible to wear it in the usual place on the sleeve.

The cap tally is for HMS Daedalus. HMS Daedalus was a major shore airfield for the Fleet Air Arm and the main training base for the FAA after WW1. It was located near Lee-on-the-Solent, about four miles from Portsmouth. The base closed in the 1990s.

Housewife

The Housewife, or sewing kit, issued to sailors was a more substantial affair than that issued to those in the army or the RAF. This example is a wartime made austerity version, with a single tape to secure it. Inside are places for needles and safety pins, cotton, spare buttons and needles:

The housewife folds up to a neat little packet with a place for the sailor’s name uppermost:

As can be seen dark blue items were marked in white paint, each sailor being issued with a name stamp on enlistment to use on their kit. The tape was then wound round the housewife to secure it:

Waistbelt, blue

Again this sailor was issued with the austerity version of the waistbelt:

This belt was introduced in 1945 and had a simplified buckle and money pocket compared to its earlier equivalent. The belt is 2 ¼” wide and secured with a metal buckle:

At the opposite end is a money pouch secured by two press studs and a metal grommet for the belt buckle:

Again we see two names and the DC stamp indicating it has been legally transferred:

On the inner face of the belt is sewn a St Christopher:

The reverse of which says ‘I am a Catholic, In the case of accident please notify a priest’:

Jumper, Serge, with Cuffs

The Serge Jumper was a tight fitting dark blue woollen top, pulled on over the head:

This example has button cuffs:

The combination of the button cuffs with a single inside pocket dates the manufacture of this top to between 1932 and 1941. With the rest of this sailor’s kit dating to the early fifties it suggest he was issued his jumper form old stocks. On the rear of the jumper, under the collar is a name and address label for the sailor:

Whilst on the sleeve is the embroidered badge indicating he was an aircraft handler:

This again ties in with the HMS Daedalus cap tally. Inside the pocket is half a third class rail ticket from Portsmouth to Brighton:

The reverse of the ticket is dated 16^th July 1954, presumably the last time he wore his uniform:

Flannel, Cotton

The traditional sailor’s shirt, or correctly ‘Flannel, Cotton’, is a simple cotton pull over shirt with a square cut collar edged in blue jean material:

The use of cotton rather than wool for the shirt dates to 1938 and, apart from changing to a cotton poly blend, the shirt is still in use today for ceremonial wear. Again the shirt is marked with the owner’s name, this time in black to show up on the white fabric:

As can be seen this is a lovely grouping to one man, and is one of my favourite pieces in the collection. These sort of finds do not come up very often, and indeed this is the only one I have come across in the last eight years of serious collecting.