A very successful morning on the market today, with a lovely grouping of uniforms to a merchant officer from WW2 as well as a few other nice small finds.

Merchant Navy Officer’s Uniform Grouping

I will go into this grouping in much further detail shortly as it really deserves a post of its own, but briefly we have a tunic, battledress blouse (With RN buttons) and trousers and four pairs of shorts:

I am fairly certain one of the pairs of shorts is post war and doesn’t belong, but the others all seem period. The stall holder has said she will try and find me a name and a photograph of the original owner of these, so once she does we will take a close look at the grouping.

Knife, Fork and Spoon Cover

 This little waterproof cover is part of the 44 pattern jungle equipment and was designed to put the knife fork and spoon from this set in to reduce the risk of them rusting in the humid conditions of the jungle. It is a thin bag (now much faded) with a flap top and a string to secure it:

On the rear is a soldier’s name and number ‘2134 Bowden’:

I don’t come across a lot of jungle kit, so this was a nice find. I am still looking out for the KFS set which goes with this, but they are very collectable and go for £35 and upwards on average.

Pistol Lanyard

Another useful little find was this pistol lanyard. This is made from woven cord and is designed to attach to the lanyard ring of a revolver and around the neck, belt or shoulder of a soldier:There are two knots, one at either end. One of these is fixed and the other slides, allowing the lanyard to be adjusted depending on what it is being fastened around. It is nice to see a dark stain at the weapon end of the lanyard showing it has actually been used and is not just ‘new old stock’. The lanyard was designed to prevent troops loosing their sidearm in the heat of battle and to prevent it being grabbed and stolen by a third party.

Civil Defence Insignia

 This nice pair of insignia are the chest badge and district flash for the Civil Defence Corps in the West Riding of Yorkshire:

The badge depicts a crowned royal lion, within a circle bearing the name of the Civil Defence Corps, surmounted by a king’s crown. This was worn sewn to the left breast pocket of Civil Defence battledress, with the flash for the region beneath. I already have a couple of these from after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which have the Queen’s crown, so it is nice to add the earlier variation and the district flash for my own region of the country.