Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. This is fantastically rare as only a few were ever made. The Great War erupted in August 1914 and the British were far from ready. The Royal Flying Corps was in absolute infancy. There were very few pilots and fewer pilots to train new ones. As a general rule all pilots were Officers and that was the tradition throughout the war but in the early days of WWI qualified NCO sergeants were used in active flight duty.
This is s uniform set from one such Sergeant Pilot dating from early WWI. The set consists of the following items:
– Model 1914 Royal Flying Corps Other Ranks issued Maternity tunic. The Model 1914 differed from the Model 1912, in that it carried shoulder straps, a closed collar, an angled front opening, plain cuffs, and pocket flaps. Features fine embroidered the RFC pilots wings to left chest, sergeant stripes to both sleeves and sewn on ROYAL FLYING CORP cloth patches to each shoulder. The lining of the tunic is in excellent condition but it is unnamed. Overall excellent condition.
– RFC side cap with brass RFC badge. Excellent.
– Buff colored Jodhpurs
– Knee length brown leather boots.
Little research has been undertaken as to whom this set could possibly have belonged to but there are very few candidates as NCO pilots were exceptionally rare, and in fact the practice was highly discouraged.
A fabulous set of early Royal Flying Corps equipment offered in excellent condition. You won’t see a set like this again anytime soon!