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What jacket(s) are you wearing at the moment?

B-Man2

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
mrchina said:
I never saw this one on the GW website. I had expressed interest in the GW B-10 however, after an exchange of an email or tow, there ware no further communication. I have since given up and bought Bronson items. Thank you for your reply.
Cheers and Happy Holidays,
Don
Click to expand...
What size do you wear?
 
Maverickson

Maverickson

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

As seen, one of my original AN-J-3A Monarch go to wearers.

28858


One of the very few true large (size 46) War era Monarch jackets I've ever seen. Some time back I completely dissected this jacket. Then renewed all of the original cotton thread. Before resurrecting and while at it I patterned this jacket complete.

Note the faded collar which takes many months to create. But worth the effort.

Happy Holidays!
 
Last edited:
Micawber

Micawber

Well-Known Member
Lorenzol said:
Some nice photo, Steve! The family in (the right) uniform, gorgeous jeep and an even nicer Christmas day. You've got it made, pal. Care to tell us a bit about the jeep?
Click to expand...

Many thanks, it was an on the spur or the moment kind of thing to take advantage of a rare bit of sunshine :)

You asked about the Jeep...

It's a Willys MB that came off the production line February 25th 1943. I only have hints to it's service history but it was more than likely stationed somewhere along the west coast of the States. Sold during a one day surplus sale at Fort Benicia, Calif., which was open to veterans only in June 1946 that was attended by 10,000 and included Jeeps, trucks, trailers ...you name it. Fortunately the original sales receipt and permission to collect has stayed with the Jeep so I know the chap who bought it [ex army] paid $659.40 which was a fair bit for a Jeep back then. I suspect he went that high due to the condition of the frame, tub etc plus it had a new engine and transmission fitted while still in service in 1944. That engine and transmission is still in the vehicle and running sweet. The guy that bought it was a California resident but as he went back in the army he left it with his parents for use on their ranch - also in Calif.

The Jeep stayed on that property, only getting light use in the dry for decades , was serviced annually at a garage in the local town. The guy who owned the garage eventually bought the Jeep in recent years and had his brother, a classic car restorer, remove the tub and do a frame up service & respray in a rather grey and glossy olive drab. In 2013 the Jeep was put up for sale and bought buy a chap in the UK who imported it, had it resprayed in the original shade of olive drab that was colour matched to original paint behind the data plates. He also had a brake and steering rebuild carried out before using it for shows etc. He also drove it to and around Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D Day.

I last had a WW2 Jeep 20 years ago but started to fancy another and after searching for quite a while purchased this MB along with a WW2 Willys trailer that had been with it since the mid '80's. Since then I've redone the stencil markings including what ought to be a fairly accurate hood number*, stripped the original bumper looking for signs of original unit markings [unfortunately only a few tiny traces remain but not enough to gain any clues], sprayed up and fitted a straighter replacement bumper, serviced it and done 101 other bits and bobs.

Traces of original markings on the rear bumpers...

IMG_20191118_113903959[1].jpg


Original data plate..

10.jpg


*As she has had a decent respray I'm not going to strip the hood back hoping to find traces of the original hood number but several databases exist that, given the serial number and date of delivery, will enable a good guess of what it may have been. That said I found info from a guy with a Jeep made on the same day but with a serial number 85 less than mine, meaning it went down the line 85 in front of mine. This guy did strip the hood of his jeep and found the original number - so adding 85 to that should give me a near as dammit number for mine.

The end [well you did ask] ;)
 
Lorenzo_l

Lorenzo_l

Well-Known Member
Micawber said:
Many thanks, it was an on the spur or the moment kind of thing to take advantage of a rare bit of sunshine :)

You asked about the Jeep...

It's a Willys MB that came off the production line February 25th 1943. I only have hints to it's service history but it was more than likely stationed somewhere along the west coast of the States. Sold during a one day surplus sale at Fort Benicia, Calif., which was open to veterans only in June 1946 that was attended by 10,000 and included Jeeps, trucks, trailers ...you name it. Fortunately the original sales receipt and permission to collect has stayed with the Jeep so I know the chap who bought it [ex army] paid $659.40 which was a fair bit for a Jeep back then. I suspect he went that high due to the condition of the frame, tub etc plus it had a new engine and transmission fitted while still in service in 1944. That engine and transmission is still in the vehicle and running sweet. The guy that bought it was a California resident but as he went back in the army he left it with his parents for use on their ranch - also in Calif.

The Jeep stayed on that property, only getting light use in the dry for decades , was serviced annually at a garage in the local town. The guy who owned the garage eventually bought the Jeep in recent years and had his brother, a classic car restorer, remove the tub and do a frame up service & respray in a rather grey and glossy olive drab. In 2013 the Jeep was put up for sale and bought buy a chap in the UK who imported it, had it resprayed in the original shade of olive drab that was colour matched to original paint behind the data plates. He also had a brake and steering rebuild carried out before using it for shows etc. He also drove it to and around Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D Day.

I last had a WW2 Jeep 20 years ago but started to fancy another and after searching for quite a while purchased this MB along with a WW2 Willys trailer that had been with it since the mid '80's. Since then I've redone the stencil markings including what ought to be a fairly accurate hood number*, stripped the original bumper looking for signs of original unit markings [unfortunately only a few tiny traces remain but not enough to gain any clues], sprayed up and fitted a straighter replacement bumper, serviced it and done 101 other bits and bobs.

Traces of original markings on the rear bumpers...

View attachment 28960

Original data plate..

View attachment 28961

*As she has had a decent respray I'm not going to strip the hood back hoping to find traces of the original hood number but several databases exist that, given the serial number and date of delivery, will enable a good guess of what it may have been. That said I found info from a guy with a Jeep made on the same day but with a serial number 85 less than mine, meaning it went down the line 85 in front of mine. This guy did strip the hood of his jeep and found the original number - so adding 85 to that should give me a near as dammit number for mine.

The end [well you did ask] ;)
Click to expand...

Hey Steve,

Thanks a lot for obliging and posting about that gorgeous Jeep. It's a piece of history and a treasure you've got there mate! Produced in 1943 and running sweet! Thanks for sharing this piece of history. That's why I enjoy this forum so much!
 
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