Your New Winter Jacket - Early Pattern WWII Tanker Jacket

I have a confession to make... I own too many jackets. The last thing I needed was another addition to my collection.

However, I'd be searching for a stylish alternative to the  ubiquitous N1 Deck jacket for a while. When I saw this one, I knew it had to be mine. The Tanker Jacket, in terms of look, cut and fit is the perfect option.

The Tanker Jacket, as the name would suggest, was issued to American armoured crews in WWII. Its  short boxy fit suited the tight confines of armoured operations.

The jacket went through some minor changes through its service, with early versions having large patch pockets and later ones (1942 onwards) sporting sash pockets (left). 

Original early versions are extremely rare and most reproductions concentrate on the later jackets, so tracking down first pattern jacket was a bit of a challenge.

Luckily WWII Impressions, an American company that specialise in accurate and high quality reproductions, were able to deliver. Don't just take my word for it - they produced the costumes for Fury.

This jacket will not make you look like Brad Pitt, however, it is very stylish.

For this uniform WWII Impressions had their own 100% wool melton custom woven and heather dyed to match originals. They used 100% cotton twill in the correct 8.2oz weight dyed using military spec dyes to match the earlier shade OD #3. The knit cuffs, collar, and waist band are made of 100% wool yarn dyed to the authentic shading. 

The zipper is a genuine durable Talon or Ideal bell shaped nickel/brass slider on nickel/brass teeth. To top this off they slapped an authentic wash-away US QM inspector tag inside bearing the size, their name and authentic contractor and spec information.

I've never seen an original jacket, so I'm not qualified to go on about how accurate a reproduction this one is, however it's clear that the attention to detail on this jacket is exemplary.

Simply put, it's beautifully made and timelessly stylish jacket. What more could a chap need?

Go ahead and order here.

(Pix courtesy of WWII Impressions.)

Pike Brothers 1942 Zip Deck Jacket

Pike Brothers have extended their range quite a bit for Spring / Summer ’14, that said the label are staying true to their work wear / military roots with the recent release of the 1942 Zip Deck Jacket.

The original mid-war jackets were widely worn until gradually superseded by the later N1 and Deck Hook closure jackets.

The DNA of its Army cousin, the Tanker jacket, is clear to see in the knit cuffs, neck and waist-band. The main aesthetic difference between the two are the pockets, with the US Navy version sporting D-shaped patch pockets.

There is no white U.S.N stencilling on the back - that came later in WWII when identifying Navy personal during amphibious landings became problematic.

Zip and inner pocket detail

As you’d expect from Pike Brothers a lot of effort has been expended on replicating the originals in every detail - everything from the correct spec densely woven jungle cloth, wool lining to vintage Talon zippers are present and correct.

Also there is the special membrane interlining - making the jackets just as wind and water resistant as the originals.

Pike Brothers founder Fabian Jedlitschka has been collecting old USN and Army jackets for a while, and it’s something he’s clearly passionate about. The first jacket Pike made was a B10 flight jacket and obviously the N1 is something of a staple. As Fabian says, “I like the styles and think for us it is vital to have the 1940s army/navy jackets as a basic line.” 

With none of us in any danger of having to square up to the Imperial Japanese Navy any time soon deck jackets may now be more of a fashion item, but it’s to Pike Brothers’ credit that they still make them for use as they were intended - to be worn hard as a utility garment.

Beautiful correct spec jungle cloth

Excitingly two more jackets are waiting in the wings, “In July we will be releasing the B15 and then for fall we will have the Deck Hook Jacket.” You can never have enough jackets, right?

Great news for deck jacket fans out there. Meanwhile you can check out the 1942 Zip Deck Jacket here.

The Battledress Blouse

The Grand-Daddy of cropped work jackets.

The DNA of the humble battledress blouse can clearly be seen in post-war casual and work jackets sported by the newly demobbed masses - most famously in civilian versions of the American "Ike" jacket.

Looking for a replacement for WW1 era Service Dress (SD) that was both more suited to vehicle mounted operations, and allowed our chaps better ease of movement, The War Department, after several trials, settled on Battledress, Serge in 1937.

Issued on a large scale in 1939, this is the uniform that most British and Dominion troops set off to war with.

Made from heavy wool serge, with mixed green and brown fibres, these are robust little jackets. Much shorter than its SD tunic predecessor, the BD blouse was originally worn over a collarless shirt and buttoned at the back to a heavy pair of matching trousers.

With an extremely high waist line that hovered dangerously close to the nipples, this was clearly meant to give a silhouette that emphasised height - important when attempting to instil fear in the the hearts of advancing German infantry!*

War Department size label.

1949 Pattern blouse. Notched collar, for wear with a shirt & tie. 

Various patterns were made over the years. The 1937 version had a rise & fall collar, buttoned to the top, (though officers often had theirs tailored to wear with a collar & tie.)

The blouse you see here is the 1949 version, made in 1952 by Prices Tailors Ltd. (There were a myriad number of contractors over the years. Sadly I could not find any information on Prices.)

The 1949 blouse could still be buttoned up against the elements. This reflects its dual use as combat and formal uniform after WW2.

Sporting an open notched collar this blouse was meant to be worn with a shirt & tie.

This type of battledress was often used as an alternative "walking out" uniform to Service Dress. As a combat uniform it was still worn in Korea, but fell in to disuse with the issue of Herringbone Twill uniforms poached from the Americans.

As our own cotton combat uniform came in to service there was no real need for two types of formal uniform and battledress ceased to be issued in 1961.

Pleated breast pocket with exposed button.

Smart fly front over the buttons. Acres of velcro and zips have replaced buttons on today's uniforms, but the fly front served the same purpose - preventing buttons catching on bits of kit.

I will say that wool serge, though heavy, creases easily. Unusually for Army uniform the blouse seems stubbornly resistant to all attempts to iron these creases out of it. Quite how this went down with generations of Sergeant Majors I'll never know.

Belted up, these blouses look rather snappy. If you prefer that louche, some would suggest scruffy officer look, leave it undone!

With pleats front and rear these blouses are quite roomy so, worn with some heavy jeans or flannels, they look great over a guernsey or a submariner. Just the thing for cutting about town in late autumn. Or a clandestine meeting with your resistance contact to blow up a bridge!

Interestingly The War Department also issued a denim working dress version of this uniform. As the name would suggest it was meant for menial work, however it was widely issued to front line Tommies on the Mediterranean Campaign. Plans are afoot to track down a denim blouse as soon a possible.

Earlier examples are becoming scarce, but post war versions are still straightforward to find. You can also still easily get hold of the later Greek & Dutch Army blouses. I found mine on Fleabay, but it is worth checking surplus suppliers to see what they have. There are also various reproduction companies making copies for re-enactor types, but I cannot vouch for these. I'd argue you're better off with an original.

*Apparently such large stocks of battledress blouses were left behind at Dunkirk that they were recycled by the Germans and issued to U Boat crews. Later in the war, with Germany unable to produce enough wool for their longer uniform tunics, in 1944 they introduced their own version made from shoddy (recycled wool.)

If They're Good Enough For Shackleton... North Sea Clothing

The Intrepid Sweater.

The Submariner - a Royal Navy issue classic.

It is no accident that so many items of military surplus are adapted by civilians - by definition uniform is smart and, until fairly recently, excellently made. Such is the case with the Royal Navy Submariner sweater. 

Popular in the years after the war these sweaters were soon adopted by motorcyclists for wear under their Barbour or Belstaff jackets, the better to keep them warm when their BSA broke down in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Surplus supply of the original WW1 & WW2 items dried up years ago, with reproductions of varying quality taking their place.

Setting the bar in terms of quality is North Sea Clothing, offering a selection of heritage knit-ware options based around Navy issue and home front pullovers of the 1930s/40s.

As readers might have gleaned we love all things Scandinavian here at New Utility and the The Intrepid is a Norwegian pattern Submariner, available in ecru, as here, or navy blue.

Made from 100% English wool by a family firm in Nottingham, the untreated wool retains its natural lanolin, so will keep its insulating qualities even when wet. Construction is robust, with reinforcing heavy cotton gussets at the shoulders. As with the guernsey this jumper will see you well in to the autumn of your years.

       

Reinforcing gussets on each shoulder.

Order your true size, don't size up.

This is not a stitch for stitch recreation. As the originals were quite long the jumper has been shortened & the fit is quite snug. NSC recommend that you size up if you like a roomier fit. I don't and love the fitted silhouette of this jumper.

The fact that NSC are supplying the Shackleton Epic Team in their recreation of the original 1916 expedition should tell you all you need to know on how good these sweaters are.

In my view no gentleman's winter wardrobe is complete without one. Perfect for bouncing about the North Atlantic. Or manfully drinking rum laced cocoa whilst watching The Cruel Sea. You can purchase The Intrepid here.