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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1692.PDF
846 FLIGHT, 25 Dzcember 1953 UNIFORMITY Some Thoughts on the Attire of an R.A.F. Officer—and What Lies Behind It ICARUS wore feathers; Lunardi wore resplendently formal attire; Lilienthal wore leather leggings; the Wright brothers sometimes wore wool hats; P/O. Prune (1939-45) wore what was laid down in orders but, being Prune, wore it with a difference. And since Prune? Nothing much to report. R.A.F. uniform below the hat hasn't changed a lot during the last few years. But how did it become what it is? Why is the R.A.F. officer dressed as he is? What immortal hand or eye (to misquote by a hairsbreadth) framed his fear ful symmetry? World War 1 is a convenient jumping-off point from which to answer the question. So there you are,in the era of Fokker triplanes and Richthofen, horn gramophones, Chu Chin Chow and whisky at heaven-knows-how-little a nip. Look at yourself in the mirror. The head gear is unmistakably Army—a forage or peaked cap. The breeches are Army too: and the leather leggings they're tucked into. It's harder to find antecedents for the tunic—a wrap-over affair with double-breasted buttoning, unless there's a clue in its nickname (one of two): "the maternity jacket." But hold hard a minute! You now appear to be in naval uniform by the inimitable Gieves: only your wings stamp you as a flying type. So it would seem that you are in both Services at once. Any Service, that is, rather than a flying Service. And so you are, in a way. Your Army connection goes back to gasbag- bashing with the Balloon Corps (did you know that artillery spotting was done with balloons in the Boer War? Well, it was). Later, there was the Air Battalion. Then the Navy became interested—and in fact, a lot of "military" flying was done by naval types. Shortly before World War 1 aeroplanes were officially recog nized as offensive machines (as indeed many then were, in any sense of the word) of sufficient importance to have a Service to themselves. And so the R.F.C. was formed. And then the R.A.F.—but that's us, isn't it? At any rate, the quick-change- artist part of the Service's sartorial history was over and things settled down into die familiar blue-grey rut. "But," objects the albatross-eyed reader, "you haven't yet explained who designs the uniform—who actually thinks-up the webbing and the gum- boots and the scrambled eggs and all that. I mean, is it Schiaparelli or the Marquis de Sade? Or does it all happen 'through the usual channels'?" Unfortunately, it is the last answer that is 99 per cent correct. The usual channel in this case is the Equipment Department of Air Ministry. And they send their emissaries to far-flung R.A.F. stations to cull opinions and complaints about design, quality, modifications and so on (the fact that nobody has ever approached you for your opinions does not weaken the story in the least; it could happen). Sometimes the Equipment Department think up their own mods. When they do, they submit their ideas, with all the others they have gathered, to High Level. And High Level takes Appropriate Steps. And that's why you have tapes as well as buttons, or buttons as well as bows. Perhaps we'd better define the Appropriate Steps. They are these: having decided on a change, Equipment Branch makes out a Qualitative Requirement. To save you the trouble of looking it up, "qualitative" means "concerned with, depending on, quality" (any clearer?). This is sent to the Central Clothing Committee—a body that deals with all three Services. Once accepted by the C.C.C. the idea is talked over with Garment The female of the species: ("to a woman, clothes are a vitally important part of life"). On the left—other rank, World War I; behind barbed wire—W.R.A.F. officers of 1917. Flight" photograph Non-uniformity: Assorted caps, double-breasted jackets, field boots, slacks—and even a corncob pipe appear in this 1918 group. The fashions were displayed by No. 207 Squadron. Development, Ministry of Supply. Next it goes to P. Staff (Personnel) for comment. Then a mock-up or several mock- ups of the new piece of equipment may be made for field- testing by serving personnel. Air Ministry and the people who are to make the finished article may suggest modifications: and then the job's as good as done. Now, we've already said that the C.C.C. deals with all three Services. It therefore follows that changes in the uniform or equipment of any one Service can be instigated by any other. And certainly there's still a strong Army influence in what the R.A.F. wears and carries about. For instance, the fore-and-aft cap so long worn in the R.A.F. came from the Army. So does the webbing; and the present-day beret; and the brass buttons;
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