WW2 Tank Suit

[Flying10uk]

Black boilersuits/coveralls with white name tag.

REME personnel (the real deal not re enacting) who where on some heavy armour all wearing Black overalls

Is this not the modern-day incarnation of the "Tank Suit"?

In the same way as the WW2 "Tank Suit" is nothing more than a glorified pair of overalls, available in a variety of thicknesses/colour options.

[bigduke6]

I drink (On occasions ) with an ex fireman who was ex RTR, in all his photos he managed to save, he is wearing a Black overall, the overall just provided him with more freedom to move in such a confined space, I will ask him next time I'm out, which should be this coming Saturday.........

Think he was mainly with the Scorption,Scimitar or Abbot they all look the same after a gallon of ale..... probably not the best thing to say to any RTR.

[Flying10uk]

I am familiar with the "standard" British army green boiler suit/coverall because I have purchased surplus examples to use myself as I find them much longer lasting and harder wearing than civilian overalls.

[GeeRam]

So that's not a 50's or 60's tank suit then......., the era I'm talking about?

Nope, WW2 era.

At the start of WW2, there were two 'overalls, tank, for the use of' The black tank suit, and a dark tan one piece work suit, often used by tankies. I will scan pages from the book again when I get the chance. By mid-WW2, the new tank suits, the winter suit and the lightweight denim suit for tanks and armoured crews came into being. By wars end, these had been supplemented by the alternative winter suit with the denison pattern camo material and the lightweight Jungle Tank suit as shown earlier.
The Jungle Tank suit, I believe didn't last long after WW2, can't be certain exactly, but they are rare, so probably not made in huge quantities.
The winter Pixie suit in tan continued in service for quite a while after the war and I've seen early 50's dated ones, so was even still being made in quantity into early 50's. The camo version probably did as well, in less quantity, as they do seem rarer to find, but I have seen post war dated examples of these.

RTR members wearing the winter 'Pixie' tank suit in the cold winter during the Korean War (as seen by '49 Patt BD being worn in rear)



Anything after the Korean War era, and I'm in unknown territory regarding British Army uniform/kit, so as they say on TV, "I'm out!"

[Peter Laidler]

The bloke in the maroon cravat, on the right has GOT to be the tank commander called Rupert.

[Flying10uk]

The bloke in the maroon cravat, on the right

The goggles that this chap is wearing appear to have an additional bracket/pin, in the centre, above the nose and I have a similar pair of googles to these. It was suggested to me that this type of goggle was intended for bomber crews because coloured filtered lenses could be fitted/attached to this bracket and flipped down when caught in a searchlight. Is anyone able to confirm this, please?

[GeeRam]

The goggles that this chap is wearing appear to have an additional bracket/pin, in the centre, above the nose and I have a similar pair of googles to these. It was suggested to me that this type of goggle was intended for bomber crews because coloured filtered lenses could be fitted/attached to this bracket and flipped down when caught in a searchlight. Is anyone able to confirm this, please?

They are standard RAF Mk VII flying goggles, first introduced around 1942, and yes, the bracket above the nose was for a flip down tinted screen which could be fitted. The goggles were standard issue across all RAF, but, yes, it's possible that the attached tinted screen was only issued to bomber command crews?

This is what it would look like with the screen clipped in place and in the down position.

[WarPig1976]

The goggles

They may be a pair of modified RAF Mk VII's. The leather nose cover appears to be gone as well as the anti-glare screen but the bracket hasn't been chopped off which was apparently common. The screen was a sun visor, but I suppose it could be used for searchlights.

I wear a pair of MkIII's and a leather helmet when it gets cold around here. Gotta look cool on a Harley you know!!!

The new guy beat me to it.........

[Flying10uk]

I'll dig my pair out over the weekend to photograph.

I got my pair of goggles a little under priced, years ago, because the chap selling them said that they were not ex RAF and he went onto "explain" that to be ex RAF they should have broad arrow markings and not the "A.M." markings that this pair of goggles have. I tried to explain to him that "A.M." stood for "Air Ministry and was/is on the majority or wartime RAF kit but he wouldn't have it. He couldn't tell me what he thought "A.M." stood for but he didn't think it had anything to do with the RAF. I paid him what he asked and didn't try to knock him down.

[Flying10uk]

Here are a few pictures of my goggles.