V505 Australian A2 tender approved date and maker found

[Southoftheborder]

A decent swing in a leather jacket would be almost impossible, so a bit weird that someone would come up with this. I mean, don't get me wrong, you'll look good while trying to swing a club.

Leather and suede golf jackets were very common though. Look at the Aero Royale which is styled on pre war golf jackets.

 

[33-1729]

I posted my comments in response to post #8.

Post #8 uses the British pound, GBP.



The British pound GBP was different to the Australian pound.

Wartime; £1 Australian = US$3.224

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_pound

Thank you very much!

We don't know if the materials to make the jackets were covered in separate contracts (as were the A-2 contracts with American companies) or included in the Australian contract, so ~2,500 jackets is probably the highest possible number of V505 jackets produced and maybe much less.

 

[dinomartino1]

It may be a while before I get a reply from the national archives.

Thank you for making an inquiry with the National Archives of Australia.

We aim to respond to inquiries within 30 business days.

 

[dinomartino1]

It may be a while before I get a reply from the national archives.

Thank you for making an inquiry with the National Archives of Australia.

We aim to respond to inquiries within 30 business days.

May have to wait until the 21st of may for a response.

 

[MeachamLake]

So who is going to be the first to make a V505 repro then?

 

[zoomer]

A decent swing in a leather jacket would be almost impossible, so a bit weird that someone would come up with this. I mean, don't get me wrong, you'll look good while trying to swing a club.

How many golfers in 1932 HAD a decent swing by today's standards?
And keep in mind it was probably capeskin or some lightweight, highly flexible stuff.

 

[dinomartino1]

May have to wait until the 21st of may for a response.

Still waiting, I sent an email about the delay and am waiting for a response to that as well, the joys of dealing with govt bureaucracy.

Saw this simpson jacket on eBay, oddly it is in England.

 

[dinomartino1]

National Archives of Australia
National Reference Service

Reference: NAA1000254423

Thank you for your inquiry regarding contracts for the Department of Supply and Shipping for 1943.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify any records in our collection which relate to contracts for the Department of Supply and Shipping for 1943. Generally speaking, records of supply contracts were temporary records so they probably wouldn’t have been retained long term.

I did locate the below record which may be relevant:

Title Minutes of meeting - Contract Board Supply 2 Jun 1943 to 30 Jun 1943 - Agenda numbers 8857 to 9762
Contents date range 02 Jun 1943 - 30 Jun 1943
Series number MP263/4
Control symbol VOLUME 90
Citation NAA: MP263/4, VOLUME 90
Item barcode 12032937
Location Canberra
Access status Open

f you wish to purchase a copy of the item.

You may choose instead to view the item in the Canberra reading room. If so, please contact the National Reference Service beforehand and quote the item details on this letter so that the necessary preparations can be made. Advance notice of at least five days is preferred. Our contact details are given below.

Please contact us again if I can be of further assistance.

 

[33-1729]

National Archives of Australia
National Reference Service

Reference: NAA1000254423

Thank you for your inquiry regarding contracts for the Department of Supply and Shipping for 1943.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify any records in our collection which relate to contracts for the Department of Supply and Shipping for 1943. Generally speaking, records of supply contracts were temporary records so they probably wouldn’t have been retained long term.

I did locate the below record which may be relevant:

Title Minutes of meeting - Contract Board Supply 2 Jun 1943 to 30 Jun 1943 - Agenda numbers 8857 to 9762
Contents date range 02 Jun 1943 - 30 Jun 1943
Series number MP263/4
Control symbol VOLUME 90
Citation NAA: MP263/4, VOLUME 90
Item barcode 12032937
Location Canberra
Access status Open

f you wish to purchase a copy of the item.

You may choose instead to view the item in the Canberra reading room. If so, please contact the National Reference Service beforehand and quote the item details on this letter so that the necessary preparations can be made. Advance notice of at least five days is preferred. Our contact details are given below.

Please contact us again if I can be of further assistance.

Road trip!

... Or did you purchase a copy?

 

[dinomartino1]

Round trip from Perth to Canberra would be 4869 miles, not a big journey from Melbourne or Sydney though.
I have to find out how many pages it is as that affects the cost, it would be digitised and then become viewable by anybody searching on the national archives website.

 

[dinomartino1]

I still think that records may exist and the archives do not to know where to look, there would have been an order from the US army to the dept of trade and shipping and you would assume it would have the specifications for the jacket along with a technical drawing of the design. There may not have been an actual tender as such as there is no record of one in the govt. gazette. I think as Simpsons where already making uniforms and flying gloves and gauntlets for the Australian armed forces and the US army and as they where primarily a leather goods business the govt. simply gave then the contact. So you would then have then have correspondence between the dept and Simpsons regarding if was feasible for them to make the jackets to the design, the unit cost, wether the govt was going to provide the hardware and leather etc.

There may also be US records as the army would have had to contact the states to get the drawings or a pattern for the jacket, some kind of requisition would have been made and the funds for payment approved and the record of such a payment.

Now we have to remember that we are talking about the days of correspondence by letter not email so a contract awarded on the 24th of June may not even have been discussed in the June minutes maybe a later month and the contract may have been discussed at an earlier meeting regarding who they where going to get to make the jackets. I would need to be in the reading room to go through the different months minutes.

I actually like researching stuff but I am too far away from Canberra, if I could visit the reading room I'm sure I could find out wether anything exists or not, we can see how long they took to reply to my request, I had to wait nearly two weeks for an answer to my email as to why they had not processed my request in thirty days, and there is a waiting time for up to 30 days every time you contact them.

Part of my request was this

"I need to know what the two numbers stand for the in the contract.
10.776 Req. 18669"

They did not address that part of my request in their response.

 

[SydneyCollectorGuy]

So who is going to be the first to make a V505 repro then?

I know I'm late to the party,but due to the "Made in Australia" bit on the label..... well only a Australian make can do it accurately since a overseas producer would have to omit that due to IP/copyright protection laws

 

[33-1729]

I know I'm late to the party,but due to the "Made in Australia" bit on the label..... well only a Australian make can do it accurately since a overseas producer would have to omit that due to IP/copyright protection laws

Welcome!

I was able to track down the paperwork and a link to more information is below.

1943 Australian "V505" Flight Jacket

This post is for dinomartino1, who found a contract reference to make flying jackets for the Dept. of the Army by Simpsons Gloves Pty, Ltd., Vic. in the June 1943 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Most likely for the Australian made A-2 jacket labeled the V505. A great find! Pictures of the...

www.vintageleatherjackets.org

Note: Minutes of the Australian Contract Board Supply Business Paper Numbers 8605 (dated 19/5/43) & 9032 (dated 2/6/43) confirm this contract. V505 jackets have been shown to be used by some members of the U.S. Fifth Air Force

 

[SydneyCollectorGuy]

Stagg leather also shared that contract (might have been contracted by Simpson due to the size of the order or maybe to put together "kits" supplied by Simpson?)

And as interesting as it is.......the only company that currently can do a reproduction of it (due to the aforementioned "country of origin" copyright protection like laws ) is Christie's of Sydney......and they are a tiny set-up that as of afew weeks ago had a "expression of interest" flyer in their store to pre-order a V505......guess they're going to see if it's viable to do a run for the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 in the Pacific)

 

[33-1729]

Stagg leather also shared that contract (might have been contracted by Simpson due to the size of the order or maybe to put together "kits" supplied by Simpson?)

And as interesting as it is.......the only company that currently can do a reproduction of it (due to the aforementioned "country of origin" copyright protection like laws ) is Christie's of Sydney......and they are a tiny set-up that as of afew weeks ago had a "expression of interest" flyer in their store to pre-order a V505......guess they're going to see if it's viable to do a run for the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 in the Pacific)

There were a number of rumors around of who made the V505, but the actual documentation shows only Simpson’s Gloves P/L to be involved. Stagg and the others were just possible speculation.

 

[kirova]

Stagg leather also shared that contract (might have been contracted by Simpson due to the size of the order or maybe to put together "kits" supplied by Simpson?)

And as interesting as it is.......the only company that currently can do a reproduction of it (due to the aforementioned "country of origin" copyright protection like laws ) is Christie's of Sydney......and they are a tiny set-up that as of afew weeks ago had a "expression of interest" flyer in their store to pre-order a V505......guess they're going to see if it's viable to do a run for the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 in the Pacific)

did the flyer mentioned what price it will/might be? if the price is reasonable I certainly wouldn't mind supporting an Aussie made A-2

 

[SydneyCollectorGuy]

There were a number of rumors around of who made the V505, but the actual documentation shows only Simpson’s Gloves P/L to be involved. Stagg and the others were just possible speculation.

The thing about Simpson glove makes little sense I'm my mind since the government clothing factory did the majority of clothing orders (barring officer attire that was more of a custom/tailored situation) and the fact it was situated down in Victoria.....but the gazette notification tells no lies

 

[SydneyCollectorGuy]

did the flyer mentioned what price it will/might be? if the price is reasonable I certainly wouldn't mind supporting an Aussie made A-2

It had no price at all....... probably scalable depending on how many shows interest.....their A2 jacket are $275 at the moment so probably would be at it's cheapest