Irvin with a little history

[TankBuster]

Grants recent Irvin post got me motivated to post some pictures of my own. I got this one about 3 years ago, I had posted pics of it on the older forum, but never got into the little bit of history behind it.
The jacket itself is in real nice shape. It's a 1941 dated size 5. It belonged to Flight Lt. Engineer William J. Jowers. He served on Lancasters with 9 Squadron. He was awarded the DFC in 1943. He was also part of the famous raid that eventually sank the Tirpitz. Some of his other items were auctioned on Ebay a week after I bought his Irvin from the same seller. The group of all items came out of a museum shortly before being sold. Sadly, I was not able to spring the $2,500 for his uniform, paperwork, and named medals including his named DFC. The seller was however kind enough to copy the paperwork, and send it to me.
Regardless, I think it's pretty cool to not only have a real nice Irvin, but to know a little of its history. So many of these seem to have their stories lost.
Hope you enjoy!
Jeff

Here's the paperwork I recieved.

Last, these are Lt. Jowers other items that were sold the following week!

 

[Roughwear]

Although I have seen pictures of your splendid Irvin before Jeff, I did not know about its history. The officer certainly had a colourful service career! The paper works adds immensely to the value of the jacket, which appears to be the work of Irvin Air Chute. Do you ever wear it?

 

[John Lever]

Fabulous jacket, thanks for posting.

 

[TankBuster]

Hey Andrew,
Thanks. To answer your question, I've slipped it on a few times, but other than that, I do not wear it. I just don't trust vintage sheepskins. It's more my hangup than anything. They are also a little thick for me personally. I tend to wear my original B-10's much more. It is wearable though, and in a larger size 5, it fits well.

Thanks John!

 

[Grant]

Beautiful Irvin! Looks like it's in pristine condition and has hardly been worn. It's great to see that others have the same appreciation for a great jacket.

Thanks for posting the photos!

 

[Falcon_52]

To echo the others' replies: thanks so much for posting this! The jacket looks to be in wonderful condition and having its history must really be icing on the cake. Thanks again for sharing with us...

Noel

 

[dujardin]

i will call that a ''small treasure''.
thanks for sharing, good catch.
maybe you may wear her one more time and take some pictures for us

byeeeeeee marcel

 

[TankBuster]

Thanks again guys. There is some wear, but overall, the shell
is in very good shape.
Marcel, maybe I'll slip it on again for some pics.