RAF Battledress Tunic

[Panzer_Commander]

Hi everyone, I have just acquired a RAF battledress tunic, and it has no markings, just what I wanted. Some time ago, I bought from a trade show a set of Pilots wings for the RCAF and some RCAF "CANADA" shoulder boards. Now I have no idea how to attach them properly to the tunic. Any advice would be very helpful! And I will be grateful! I'm also looking for information for what "rank" markings would be appropriate, i'm thinking Captain or Colonel, and what they might look like. A side note, the Pilots wings backing has fallen off, would it be better to sew it back on, the onto the tunic or just attach it the way it is?

Thanks

~Ryan  

Edited March 10, 2016 by Panzer_Commander

[Guest Fred Karno's Army]

@Panzer_Commander Hi,firstly don't worry about reattaching the backing wings when putting them on the tunic,secondly what insignia you would need would depend on what exactly you wanted the tunic to represent?.Sergeant pilot rank upwards.Personally i would put the wings on,adding a single DFC ribbon underneath,a nice escape whistle attatched to the collar and probably Sergeant pilot chevrons to the arms,not forgetting the 'Canada ' titles above below the epaulettes. 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Fred Karno's Army

[the colonel]

@Panzer_Commander, you might be able to help me, I'm currently researching a Canadian pilot KIA aug44 while on an SOE mission, trying to find any living relatives, he was from Garrick, Saskatchewan, whos best to contact about this ???

[Bil4338]

Captain or colonel are army ranks, not found on Air Force dress.as for the wings, a little daub of general purpose glue will hold the gauze on until it's ready for sewing.

let us know how it turns out!

[Davejb]

I would go with Hams idea, there were a lot of Sergeant pilots in the RAF and RCAF, , more so than senior flight officers really, plus stripes on both arms looks better than chevrons on cuffs,plus a nice side cap. Its not too hard to sew the insignias on, just dont go right through the material of the Battle dress, or it will look terrible on the inside, some neat tacking stitches on all insignias will secure them tightly to the uniform, and use blue cotton thread not synthetic or nylon and dont forget, the pilot wings go on the breast above the pocket

[Norrie]

On 3/9/2016 at 13:01, the colonel said:

@Panzer_Commander, you might be able to help me, I'm currently researching a Canadian pilot KIA aug44 while on an SOE mission, trying to find any living relatives, he was from Garrick, Saskatchewan, whos best to contact about this ???

Hiya, I'm researching a pilot KIA in 1942, he was my uncles best friend, .he's from Saskatchewan too, ( cant remember the town) anyway, I got in touch with the local Legion Club, they were a great help...:) 

[Norrie]

This is my uncle ( on the right) he was a Mosquito pilot in WW2, and with him, is his observer. My uncle was a Flying Officer, and the Observer a Flt Sgt. Just before this photo was taken, he was told to remove his VR ( Volunteer Reserve ) badge. In another pic, there is very little "stuff" on his jacket, an Eagle on his shoulder, and a rank stripe on the epelettes. plus what you see in this picture.  I've not managed to afford a battle dress jacket yet, but have got original wings and an original cap badge for my display on him, the photo might help you some..:)

 

Good luck.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Norrie