Original WW2 RAF War Service Dress Blouse with Pilot Insignia

Code: 53089

An original Royal Air Force War Service Dress Blouse which belonged to 551146 Cyril Jeboult Jones.

Cyril Jeboult Jones was born in Plymouth on the 17th of October 1919 and joined the RAF some time in the 1930s. He was a sergeant around the time of the Battle of Britain and it appears he flew Blenheims with 252 Squadron as this number can just be made out written in ink on one of his pictures. He flew 32 daylight ops on Fairey Swordfish (during 1939), Blenheims and Beaufort types as well as Mosquitos. He was shot down over Italy in 1942 and spent the next years as a prisoner of war in Italy and then in Germany. He is recorded as being at Stalag 357 Kopernikus - Oerbke and Stalag Luft VI Heydekrug and his POW number was 3747. During the early part of the war he was a Sergeant but was made up to Warrant Officer and finished the war with this rank. After the war he worked for Rolls Royce in Derby.

The jacket itself is a standard wartime issue example made from RAF blue coloured serge wool. It features a wire waist belt buckle which may suggest early manufacture and has been fitted with flat pattern King's crown pilot wings and warrant officer rank badges. Black plastic buttons are fitted throughout with one of the cuffs featuring a button replaced by myself. The label has been removed from the interior and there is no name anywhere inside the jacket. This came with the grouping listed separately and I have no reason to believe that it did not belong to Cyril Jeboult Jones. 

The jacket is in worn condition and has suffered from moth damage. This is particularly bad along the bottom of both pockets and there is a large hole to the rear shoulder which has been repaired. There are many other smaller areas of damage to the wool. As well as this there are the usual signs of service wear. 

This jacket is not in great condition and this has been reflected in the price. None-the-less it is an original aircrew badged example which would still make a good addition to a WW2 collection.