Reluctant Sale – 1940’s RAF Uniform

Back in 2013, I acquired a small collection of RAF uniform from a private collector in North Norfolk.  The pieces had been in her collection for over 30 years, and originally belonged to one incredible man.

As a general rule, I try to steer well clear of WW2 uniforms.  It’s not that I don’t find them fascinating, because I do; it’s just that I know very little about them and therefore I leave the trading of such things to the experts.

However, just occasionally a collection comes along that is just too darn intriguing to resist. The history attached to a piece of uniform can be fascinating, and in such cases, the budding historian in me, eager to know more about the original owner, wins through, and the piece gets brought home with me!

The collection consisted of a 1945 dated greatcoat, a 1941 dated tunic, a 1930’s mess dress jacket and waistcoat, a pair of post WW2 mess dress trousers, 2 1950’s caps, a late 1940’s blouse, a leather sword frog, some leather gun holsters, and a pair of plus fours with matching waistcoat.  While the sword frog and gun holsters are now sitting happily on my dad’s Sam Browne, the rest of the uniform had been safely stored away, while I pondered what to do with it.    

 

Being bespoke made some of the pieces bore the original purchaser’s name, a G.M.Buxton.  Some delving later, and we established that the uniform we had was originally made for Geoffrey Mungo Buxton, a Wing Commander, later to become Group Captain in the RAF during WW2.

A search of the Internet turned up quite a lot of information.  Technology really us a wonderful thing, and after putting out a request some months ago to see whether anybody had any information about Buxton, I was incredibly lucky to be contacted by his daughter, who furnished me with some invaluable information.

So who was this man?  Well, Geoffrey Mungo Buxton was born in 1906.  Buxton entered the air force as soon as he left school.  He trained in India with them, before being sent to Cambridge University where he achieved a starred first in aeronautical engineering. 

He designed the Buxton Hjordis, a single-seat sailplane built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd, which was flown at competitions in Europe between 1935-1937.  He went on to design the Buxton Hjordis 2, which was again built by Slingsby, but renamed the King Kite. 

During WW2, Buxton was involved in research experiments with “Queen Bee”, seeing whether wooden gliders would get picked up by radar. 

Post war, he was sent to Germany to see how far the Germans had got developing rockets, and the like.  His record of his trip to Germany is held by the RAF Museum, Hendon.  He worked at the Ministry of Supply until 1956, when he retired to North Norfolk. 

Fascinating, don’t you think?  My heart says keep it, but my head says it needs to find a new home with someone who will, hopefully, love and appreciate it as much as I do!  Parting with it is not an easy task, but it has, very reluctantly, been listed on eBay, and you can find the listings by clicking here, and then looking at my other items.

I would dearly love the collection to stay together, but realistically, it is likely to go to separate buyers. 

So if you, or anyone you know, is in search of some RAF uniform, then please take a look at my eBay auction, and give a piece of fascinating uniform a new home.    

Needlework Illustrated - 1940's Magazines

“Not another collection!” I hear you cry.  Fear not, my collection of these magazines is very small, just 19, but they are so wonderful that I hope you’ll enjoy seeing them and you never know, you might want to start your own collection! :o)

I first became intrigued by this publication after reading this post on HenHouse blog.  This lucky lady had acquired a large collection of these magazines which she then cleverly used to create some highly desirable wartime posies. 

Well, having a penchant for corsages and knitting magazines, the quest to acquire my own collection began. 

I like to know a little bit about what I’m collecting but the Internet has failed to provide me with any great detail about these magazines.  What I have been able to glean, from careful scouring of the delicate pages, is that they were part of the Weldon’s empire.  As far as I understand it, the magazine’s origins lay in the early part of the 19^th century when the title was originally Fancy Needlework Illustrated.  I know this name remained until well into the 1930’s because issue 142 from November 1937 still carried it.  At some point, maybe at the outbreak of war, who knows, the “fancy” was dropped and the magazine updated, so to speak, to become Needlework Illustrated.

In the early years of WW2, the publication was large, measuring a generous 23.5cms by 30cms with 34 pages and was published bi-monthly, on the 30^th of the month.  In the summer of 1942, due to wartime paper shortages, the publication was scaled down to 19cms by 24cms with the frequency of the issues reduced to quarterly.  I’m not entirely sure when, but post war, it was marginally decreased in size again to 18cms by 23cms.

As to dating them, they have proved tricky little blighters to pin down!  Why publications weren’t dated, we’ll never now, but I jolly well wish they had been because it would make it a lot less frustrating!! 

However, if you’re prepared to take your time and look closely, you can work out little bits here and there. Offering a little extra help was that fact that most of these magazines feature a foreword which, more often than not, mentions the coming season that the magazine is equipping its reader for.  It’s like a puzzle, slowly building up little snippets of information from each magazine and then putting it all down on paper to see what you have got. 

The breakthrough to accurately dating at least some of them came in issue 182 which firmly dated its publication to the end of 1945.  I know this, with certainty, because of this cheerful message in the back of the magazine.

These magazines are wonderful and, dare I say it, they are on a par with my beloved Stitchcraft magazines, if not a whisker in front!  They feature jumpers, toys, accessories, little bits for around the home, embroidery and some rather splendid patriotic bits and pieces.  Make Do and Mend and the long forgotten “rag bag” feature in many issues.

As to my collection, well, I got my first issue on eBay for just 99p plus P&P.  It was cheap because it was without its front cover – not ideal, certainly, but it was what it offered inside that I was interested by.  It contains patterns for some truly lovely corsages as well as a “stars and stripes”. 

With the USA link and the large size of the magazine, I’m guessing it was produced when America became our allies after the bombing of Pearl Harbour so I’m pretty certain that its issue 167 which dates it to spring 1942.

Following the purchase of the above magazine, I was lucky and acquired a small run of consecutive issues, namely 175 through to 183.  Having a run of numbers really helped me to pin down the publication dates.

I then picked up some individual magazines numbering 168, 169, 172, 173, 181, 187, 189, 194 and 196.  They all came from eBay and the 1940’s editions do pop up infrequently.  When they do, so far at least anyway, they are quite cheap, especially when compared to the inflated prices that some of the Stitchcraft magazines go for.
 

My earliest two issues, and also my favourite 2, are numbers 160 and 161.  They are both early war editions, 160 from the end of 1940 (it mentions Christmas) and 161 from the first months of 1941.
 

The green and black jumper featured on the cover of 161 has made it onto my “to knit” list while the Dig For Victory Bunny has to be attempted at some point in 2013!  I think the covers sold them to me; I especially love the RAF wedding with the bride’s homemade hat and blouse - patterns for both feature in the magazine!

If you have any of these delightful magazines and have been unsure of date, I’ve included a list below which I am 99% sure is correct although, of course, if you know differently, please feel free to correct me :o)

Here goes, I hope it’s not too complicated!

1940 – Bimonthly issues numbering 155, 156, 157, 158, 159 and 160 all issued on the 30^th of every alternate month so January, March, May, July, September and November.

1941 – Bimonthly issues numbering 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, and 166, again, all issued on the 30^th of every alternate month

From 1942 onwards, issues went quarterly and seem to have run is seasons i.e. spring, summer, autumn and winter.

1942 - Issues 167, 168, 169 and 170                                   1943 - Issues 171, 172, 173 and 174

1944 – Issues 175, 176, 177 and 178                                  1945 - Issues 179, 180, 181 and 182

1946 – Issues 183, 184, 185 and 186                                  1947 - Issues 187, 188, 189 and 190

1948 – Issues 191, 192, 193 and 194                                  1949 - Issues 195, 196, 197 and 198

When flicking through issue 182, I found something rather special (well, I think it's special).   Slipped between the pages was a newspaper cutting and a price ticket from a piece of fabric!  It shows that the purchaser got 2 5/8 yards of material for 14/6 plus 3 precious coupons!  If only I knew what had been made!  It was obviously important to someone so it has now been put safely back between the pages and that's where it shall stay.

I adore these magazines, really I do.  I know you shouldn't get so attached to "things" but I would hate for anything to happen to them.  They are a wonderful source of patterns for any knitter or crafter, but especially the vintage obsessed among us!  If you are lucky enough to spot one for sale, take a look inside, I think you'll like what you find :o)
Gosh, rather a long post, I do apologise.  Did you stick with it?  If you did, thank you, I hope you found it interesting :o) 

Wimpole At War

Well, we're home, and what a brilliant weekend we had.  We spent it under (rather wet!) canvas at Wimpole Hall for their "Wimpole at War" event. 

Wimpole Hall is a beautiful National Trust property which is worth a visit at any time.  It was taken over by the National Trust in 1976 after the owner, Elsie Bambridge, daughter of Jungle Book writer, Rudyard Kipling, died.  The house is vast and beautiful and the gardens are impressive.  This is a picture of the house first thing on Saturday morning.  The blue sky is deceptive because it was a lot colder than it looks!!

Once a year, they turn the clock back 70 years and the grounds are "invaded" by re-enactors for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend of wartime fun. 

To be fair, the house was a bit of a disappointment from a 1940's perspective.  There were a few "rations" on the breakfast table, a couple of gramophones, a few period knitting patterns and some USAAF boots and a jacket but there was so much more they could have done and it was a shame they didn't embrace the era. 

However, outside was a very different affair.  There was 1940's music, the Suffolk Home Guard, the NFS, the Ministry of Food, a pair of Spitfires, a good helping of Woolton pie and so much more!  All enjoyed with friends old and new :o) 

Love those giant containers!

There was a dinner and dance on the Saturday night and, to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary, my parents went along.  They enjoyed a welcome warming meal of sausage, mash and red onion gravy (Woolton pie for Mum), followed by fruit crumble!  Too cold to dress in their best, so overcoats were the order of the day.


Slightly "rabbit in headlight" look going on!  Think it was the camera flash :o)

On the purchasing front, there were more stalls this year and I came away with a green Tala biscuit tin (never can resist green!), some tasty National Trust biscuits to go in it (not sure they'll last that long!!), a Kangol CC41 beret bought by my Dad for C, some more knitting patterns (you can never have enough!) and "The Kitchen Front" cookery book from 1942 which was only 50p because it didn't have the front cover! 

The weather let us down on Sunday big time.  It rained so hard that our tent leaked and we had to pack up early!  There is now a van to unload and a tent to dry out.  Wimpole is our last 1940's event of 2012 - I'm already looking forward to next year! :o)

IWM Duxford - Spitfires, Motors and Merlins

Yesterday, we visited the IWM Duxford for their Spitfires, Merlins and Motors event. 
I love Duxford and have wanted to trade there for ages so was super excited about the vintage fair which had been organised by Discover Vintage. 

Duxford is one of my most favourite places to visit and houses an amazing collection of war birds including a static Lancaster – my favourite WW2 plane.  We’ve been to a few of the displays put on at Duxford, the most special being Flying Legends which never disappoints.  As silly as it may seem, Duxford has a super special place in my heart because last year we treated my Dad to a ride in a Tiger Moth for his 60^th Birthday.  A week before the flight was due to take place, he was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery.  Classic Wings, the company who run the flights, were brilliant and allowed us to change the booking.  After a long recovery, to see him climb into the plane and get to fly it was pretty darn special and still makes me well up just thinking about it!  Daft I know.

Getting back to the point though, as the event name suggests, yesterday saw Spitfires and classic cars on site together.  The weather wasn’t overly kind and a deluge meant that not all the Spitfires managed to get into the air, and the one from the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight didn’t make it at all.  Although I was inside the hall for the most part, I did manage to get outside to see a pair of Spitfires swooping low over the runway and putting on a beautiful display.

As to the fair itself, well, the stalls were spread out around 3 large aircraft in the hall – it was the largest place we have ever stalled out in, very impressive.  There was a nice mix of stalls selling some amazing items. 

Some of our mens hats :o)

And some for the ladies - what a lovely backdrop!

The stall next to me had a much coveted collection of cream and green enamel kitchen ware but I resisted the urge to indulge :o)  I did, however, do a little bit of shopping and came home with these three items.

Another Lavenda knitting pattern to add to my collection for a very reasonable £1.50, a beautiful 1940's Economy Design sewing pattern for £10.00 and Mr Y tracked down the brooch for just £6.00! 

I also brought home another brooch.  It's made of perspex and has been so beautiful carved.  We did have it for sale on our stall but when it came to it, I couldn't part with it so it just had to come home :o) 

  
To add to the already atmospheric venue, entertainment was provided in the form of Major Swing and also The Swinging Sweethearts.  Major swing played some iconic tracks from the 1930's-1950's while doing a little bit of dancing too; even a few of the stall holders got up and did a little stroll.

The Swinging Sweethearts, quite simply, were brilliant.  I'd never heard of them before but they didn't disappoint.  They are very talented and we were lucky to have our stall right in front of the stage so had a brilliant view.  

Where ever we go, we seem to be lucky and meet some truly lovely people.  We met an Australian lady who fell in love with a pair of 1940’s dead stock shoes that we had and so they’ll be heading back to Oz with her shortly.  We also met a charming lady who is a fellow blogger, but I never found out what her blog is :o(  If you’re reading this, please get in touch.  She was petite enough to fit into a tiny Susan Small dress that we were selling and I think she looks amazing in it.  The photograph doesn’t really do it justice because there is a huge bow on the back of this dress - stunning!!

Alongside the lovely people, there were also the numpties who, sorry to moan, were a pain.  One family thought it funny to try our original 1930’s hats on their childrens’ heads before taking a photograph.  Even my loudest tut and hardest Paddington Bear stare didn’t get my annoyance across.  Most people respect that the clothes are, quite simply, irreplaceable, but those that don’t get my goat!  :o)

After a long but very enjoyable day, we rolled home at 7.30 where I promptly rang for a take-away (I wasn’t about to cook having spent 10 hours on my feet, thank you very much) and once little Y’s were tucked up, I fell into bed myself at 9pm.  I’m still suffering today with somewhat sore feet so I shall go and rest them and do some knitting while I have some peace because Mr Y has taken critters two to the park :o)  

Recent vintage finds!

Sorry for my blogging absence.  Mr Y has broken up for the summer holidays and we’ve been somewhat busy. 

So what have we been up to?  Well, aside from the knitting and sewing, there has been lots of decorating, serious gardening and curtain making in readiness for an estate agent valuation – goodness me they are nosey thorough!!  I didn’t think he’d look in the airing cupboard; he was very lucky he didn’t get pelted with the ironing mountain that I’d shoved in there to get it out of sight!

I can't quite believe we are in August already.  The year is romping by, 8 months in, only 4 to go.  August and September are the busiest months for events and fairs.  Every waking minute, or at least so it seems, is spent wielding the needles. 

However, I have managed to take a few hours out – all work and no play and all that – and have found some lovely things.  A trip to the local car boot sale a few weeks ago yielded these vintage lovelies for my two girls.

The Twenty Tales for Telling was printed in March 1945 and the Wise Owl’s Story is from July 1949.  It’s a little bit tatty on the spine but oldest Y doesn’t mind and has already squirrelled it away in her room.  As a child I loved the Little Grey Rabbit’s Christmas book and am very happy that C has followed in my footsteps as far as a love of books goes.  The Splendid Book For Girls is in remarkably good condition and I love the fact that the giver took time to write a little note to the recipient “With Love to Rosemary from Auntie Netta & Uncle Will”.  It was only 50p, I couldn’t believe it, it’s just a shame that it isn’t dated.  I’ve had a brief scan through some of the pages and have seen some drawings of RAF men and a plane but no date!

Littlest Y was all smiles when presented with this toy.

She adores anything to do with Snow White and so this couldn’t have been better and at only £2.00 – what’s not to love!

Two eBay purchases next.  Both brooches, as if I need any more, right?  First is another wartime one, nice and colourful and then a little Cornish pixie sitting on a toadstool.  He’s rather cute.  I’m just waiting for the right outing to give him an airing – maybe when we head home to Cornwall in a few weeks time??

The weather has been hit and miss these last few days, more miss than hit to be fair, but I needed to get a zip for a dress I’m working on (which I still haven’t been able to find because my local shop is pants!  I need a 9” zip and all they had was a 20”!) and so we took a trip to the coast.  It was warm enough for summer dresses but was raining, that really fine rain, you know the sort where you end up getting really wet?  (I know all rain makes you wet but some is worse than others, right??)  Anyway, we took the little ones onto the prom for fish & chips.  Plenty of salt and vinegar – yum :o)  They didn’t seem to notice the rain and while Mr Y and me stayed dry in the pretty Victorian shelter, the girls took to dancing in the gardens.  Little Y is a bouncy dancer (I’m sure you get what I mean) and ended up giving unsuspecting passers-by a flash of her knickers – the innocence!! 

On the way back to the car, Mr Y suggested a detour into the normally fruitless Red Cross charity shop – I’m very pleased he did because I came away with these 2 books.

The Britain At War is a monster of a book, it’s seriously huge and heavy – as if my bookshelves weren’t groaning already!  It has some lovely photographs in, some I’ve seen before in other books, some I haven’t.  At £2.00, I couldn’t leave it gathering dust on the shelf – could I?  Better than that, though, was the War on the Home Front book by Juliet Gardiner.  It contains over 30 removable copy documents and an audio CD.  It’s in perfect condition, looks like whoever had it first never even opened it.  Priced at £30 brand new, it was a snip at £3.  It will be a perfect resource for little Y.

The best buy of the last couple of weeks is this AMAZING fabric, just take a look.

Bought online from a fabric shop, this was vintage stock that they were getting rid of, at a ridiculously low price.  It’s 35” wide and there is 10 meters of it which, if I'm really careful, should produce 3 beautiful dresses.  I'm not sure what the fabric is.  It was advertised as a rayon mix but I don't know what it's been mixed with because it's a really heavy, floppy fabric.  Can't wait to use it, but I have 2 others that I have to finish first - when I find a flipping zip!

I'm now off to to get stuck into a piece of rather tasty coffee cake and have a flick through the pages of my last purchase of the day.

Undecided as to whether I like this magazine - this is only the third one I've bought - I shall persevere :o)