SELLING OFF MY COLLECTIONS OF WW1 AND WW2BRITISH AND ALLIED MILITARIA(PRIMARILY BRITISH) TOFUND A RETURN TO MY EARLIER HOBBY OF RESTORING AND RIDING CLASSIC BRITISH MOTORCYCLES.. SO, IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU ARE LOOKING FOR PLEASE GET IN TOUCH...

DEFINITELY THE LAST BRITISH WW2 AIRBORNE ITEM FROM MY FORMER COLLECTION !-I HAVEN\'T SEEN THIS BLOUSE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HAVEN\'T LOOKED IT OUT BECAUSE I THOUGHT I REMEMBERED SELLING IT LONG AGO ! - HOWEVER, I MUST HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN AS I FOUND IT AGAIN DURING A SWEEP OF THE DREADED LOFT YESTERDAY SO HERE IT IS... OFFERED HERE FOR sale IS A GENUINE AND 100% ORIGINAL WW2 EARLY 1940 PATTERN BRITISH ARMY BATTLE DRESS BLOUSE WITH IT\'S ORIGINAL PERIOD ATTACHED INSIGNIA FOR THE RECONNAISSANCE CORPS IN ONE OF THE BRITISH AIRBORNE DIVISIONS - LIKELY 1ST AIRBORNE DIVISION\'S 1ST AIRBORNE RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON OF OPERATION \'MARKET GARDEN\' FAME AS I BELIEVE THAT 6TH AIRBORNE DIV. AND 2ND PARACHUTE BRIGADE HAD NO RECONNAISSANCE CORPS UNITS ATTACHED (6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION\'S ARMOURED RECCE BATTALION WORE R.A.C. SHOULDER TITLES.)

THE BLOUSE IS IN A GOOD ISSUED CONDITION WITH SIGNS OF HONEST SERVICE WEAR, SOME WEAR TO THE NAP OF THE KHAKI WOOL SERGE BUT THE BLOUSE HAS NO MOTHING OR DAMAGE (GIVEN THE PRESSED-IN PLEATS ON THE REAR OF THE BLOUSE IT IS UNDOUBTEDLY A \'BEST\' OR \'WALKING OUT\' BLOUSE) - THE BLOUSE HAS THE KD LINED COLLAR AND TOOTHED WAISTBELT BUCKLE OF THE EARLY \'40 PATTERN (BUCKLE IS THE EARLY NICKEL-PLATED VARIETY, STAMPED \'WILL NOT RUST\') ALL THE ORIGINAL DISHED BRASS BUTTONS ARE INTACT WITH THE CORRECT \'REVOLVING SHANK\' BUTTONS TO THE EPAULETTES. TWO INTERNAL KD POCKETS, THE MAKER\'S LABEL IS PRESENT BUT SADLY IT IS COMPLETELY WASHED OUT AND UNREADABLE, HOWEVER THERE IS A GOOD CLEAR W/|\\D ACCEPTANCE STAMP \'O\' DATING THE BLOUSE TO 1942 (THIS IS THE LAST YEAR OF PRODUCTION FOR THE EARLY \'40 PATTERN, PRODUCTION OF THE \'AUSTERITY\' PATTERN COMMENCING IN MID TO LATE \'42..). AS SOME INDICATION OF SIZE, MY MANNEQUIN IS PRETTY LARGE AND THIS BLOUSE FITS IT PERFECTLY, SO FROM PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE I WOULD ESTIMATE IT IS LIKELY A SIZE \'9\' OR LARGER. THE BLOUSE IS NOT NAMED AS FAR AS I CAN SEE. POINTS OF THE COLLAR HAVE SMALL PRESS STUDS (POPPERS) FITTED FOR EXTRA SMARTNESS.

INSIGNIA IS GUARANTEED TO BE OF WW2 MANUFACTURE AND WW2 PERIOD ATTACHED TO THE BLOUSE, IT COMPRISES:- A MATCHED PAIR OF EMBROIDERED \'RECONNAISSANCE\' SHOULDER TITLES, A MATCHED PAIR OF PRINTED \'PEGASUS\' AIRBORNE FORMATION SIGNS, A PAIR OF MID-WW2 PARACHUTE WINGS AND A GREEN AND YELLOW RECONNAISSANCE CORPS LANYARD TO THE LEFT SHOULDER (STITCHED IN PLACE) ALL THE INSIGNIA IS HAND STITCHED TO THE BLOUSE AND TO BE HONEST IT IS NOT VERY WELL DONE (THIS CHAP WAS DEFINITELY NOT THE UNIT TAILOR !!..) THE SHOULDER TITLE ON THE RIGHT SLEEVE AND THE PARACHUTE WINGS BOTH HAVE A \'LOOSE\' CORNER BUT OTHER THAN THIS THEY ARE STILL FIRMLY ATTACHED.

AT ARNHEM, DUE TO THE UNAVOIDABLY LONG DISTANCE BETWEEN THE DROP/LANDING ZONES AND THE OBJECTIVES, 1ST AIRBORNE RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON WERE TASKED WITH RACING TO THE RHINE BRIDGES IN JEEPS TO CAPTURE AND HOLD THEM UNTIL THE PARACHUTE AND AIRLANDING BRIGADES COULD ARRIVE ON FOOT. UNFORTUNATELY THE GLIDERS CARRYING THEIR JEEPS CRASHED ON LANDING, WRECKING THE JEEPS AND MAKING THEIR TASK IMPOSSIBLE SO THEY FOUGHT THROUGHOUT THE BATTLE AS INFANTRY.

OVERALL A SUPERB ORIGINAL AND UNDISTURBED EXAMPLE OF A RARE WW2 BRITISH AIRBORNE BATTLEDRESS BLOUSE IN GOOD SERVICE WORN CONDITION, DATED \'1942\' AND WITH IT\'S ORIGINAL INSIGNIA TO A RELATIVELY RARE UNIT - A GREAT ADDITION TO ANY WW2 BRITISH AIRBORNE COLLECTION..

LOW START PRICE AND MY USUAL LOWRESERVE..

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO HAVE A LOOKAT MY OTHER LISTINGS TONIGHT AND IN THE NEAR FUTUREFOR MORE WW1 AND WW2 BRITISHUNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT ITEMS...

I KEEP ALL MY sales \'PRIVATE\' TO PROTECT buyers FROM FAKE \'SECOND CHANCE\' OFFERS..

UK buyers - YOU CAN PAY VIA PAYPAL OR BY PERSONAL CHEQUE DRAWN ON A UK BANK (PLEASE ALLOW TIME FOR CHEQUES TO REACH ME AND CLEAR INTO MY ACCOUNT BEFOREI DESPATCH YOUR ITEM..) BUYER TO PAY POSTAGE AT COST.

NON-UK buyers - PAYPAL ONLY PLEASE - BUYER TO PAY SHIPPING COSTS -PLEASE NOTE - THE SHIPPING COSTS QUOTED ON THE LISTING ARE FOR THE UK MAINLAND, CANADA AND THE USA ONLY - SHIPPING TO EUROPE WILL OF COURSE COST LESS THAN TO THE U.S. OR CANADA !.. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR EXACT SHIPPING COSTS TO YOUR COUNTRY BEFORE offerDING..

PAYMENT BY WHATEVER METHOD MUST BE WITH ME WITHIN5 DAYS OF THE END OF THE sale AND PAYMENT BEFORE THIS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED />On 22-Nov-15 at 02:44:21 GMT, seller added the following information:

IT HAS BEEN POINTED OUT BY A COUPLE OF SHARP EYED MEMBERS THAT THERE APPEARS TO BE THE \'SHADOW\' OF A PREVIOUSLY FITTED \'AIRBORNE\' STRIP ON THE LEFT SLEEVE IN THE SECOND IMAGE, I DID NOT SEE THIS WHEN TAKING OR LISTING THE PICTURES (OR I\'D HAVE MENTIONED IT IN THE DESCRIPTION..) BUT HAVING CHECKED THE IMAGE I CAN SEE NOW WHAT THEY MEAN - THE BLOUSE HAS NEVER HAD STRIPS WHILST IN MY POSSESSION (WELL OVER 10 YEARS) BUT HAVING INSPECTED THE SLEEVE CLOSELY I THINK THAT THE BLOUSE DID AT ONE TIME HAVE AIRBORNE STRIPS FITTED - HOWEVER I MUST POINT OUT THAT THE EVIDENCE OF THIS IS EXTREMELY FEINT (NOTHING LIKE AS CLEAR AS IT APPEARS IN THE PICTURE) SO I THINK THEY WERE REMOVED LONG AGO AND THE \'SHADOW\' IS CAUSED BY A LUCKY TRICK OF THE LIGHT PICKED UP BY MY CAMERA. TO THE NAKED EYE THE LEFT SLEEVE APPEARS THE SAME AS THE RIGHT ONE AS PICTURED IN THE FIRST IMAGE, THOUGH UPON VERY CLOSE INSPECTION IT TOO APPEARS TO HAVE HAS A STRIP FITTED AT ONE TIME. WHETHER THEY WERE REMOVED \'OFFICIALLY\' OR BY AN UNSCRUPULOUS BADGE COLLECTOR I DON\'T KNOW BUT BY THEIR VERY FEINT \'SHADOWS\' I WOULD ASSUME THE FORMER IS THE MOST LIKELY EXPLANATION FOR THEIR CURRENT ABSENCE..