R.A.F. Mk.VIII Pilot Goggles - WW2

RON

RON

Well-known member
OK, this is is neither imperial nor German but I'm pretty sure someone here could still help me.

As I'm trying to complete my WW2 Fighter pilots headgear collection, I was wondering if the following RAF Mk.VIII goggles look authentic to you or not? When compared to other photos of similar goggles, they look OK except maybe for frame coloring (lighter/paler blue), the font used on the box lid (not full caps) and the nose leather pad (no border stitching)... but then again the differences could be maker-specific. :-k

Here's the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120868547991" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please hurry if you know anything; there's still 2 days to auction end! [-o<
 
Thanks Curly.

Shouldn't these have some sort of marking or date, at least on the frames, like I've seen advertized for other specimens for sale on the net or did that depend on the maker as well?
 
Hi Ronny,

Sorry for the delayed reply, I only check this site every now and again, I know so little about pickelhaubes I don't dare to post anything about those (although, like you I have a couple of examples that I am very proud of, including a Prussian Beamte helmet like yours and a Bavarian officer's helmet in superb condition) I prefer to read and learn...

However, I collected WW2 RAF equipment for a long time so I do know a little more about that subject. You might find a date on the box but there is not much space for any stamping on the frames, Air Ministry items might have a circular inspector's ink stamp with a date code but the most you could hope for is an AM stores part no. Flying gear usually began with 22C/xxx. Compared to the earlier MkIV goggles the MkVIII's were mass produced in the war years so they were rushed out but the quality of these still shows. Lesser quality repro. biker's goggles are widely available, the design continued for many years over here in the UK until they were declared illegal for road use because of the glass in them. The AM version are far better quality.

All the best,

Curly
 
Thanks again Curly! As I already have 2 USAF WW2 flying helmets (complete) and their Luftwaffe counterparts (still missing their Oxy. masks there; freaking expensive!), I thought it was about time I ventured into RAF... (see http://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6765&hilit=+flieger" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for photos).

You should share the photos of your haubes like I did when I first joined this (superb) Forum.

The expert guys here are quite patient with Imperial rookies like us and what do you know, slightly over a year later, I'm past a 1000 posts and have learned (and spent!) alot about (on) pickelhaubes with 9 of these in my collection already + a few soft caps!
 
Hi Ronny,

I found the collecting of WW2 RAF flying gear very addictive (like all collecting I suppose) however, I was lucky enough to start collecting it when it was still fairly easy to find and generally inexpensive, not the case now. I started when I was a kid back in the late 1960's, in fact I still have my first RAF C-Type flying helmet now, I traded it in my school playground for a motorcycle crash helmet. In those days you could find a lot of gear in Army Surplus stores and not militaria dealers' tables at fairs! I once went to a scrap dealer with my dad and in the yard was a huge pile of those US oxy masks (same type as you have displayed with your US summer rig), all new in individual plastic bags and with red stoppers in the ends of the tubes, the dealer allowed me to pick a couple out, I kept them for years.

As with all collecting though it easily got out of hand and the boundaries became blurred, apart from having a lot of flying gear very soon I was collecting bits of WW2 aircraft and had most of a Lancaster bomber cockpit - instrument panel, throttle quadrant and pilot's seat, all the Radio Operator's, Bomb Aimer's and Navigator's gear including radio receivers and transmitters, bomb computers and early radar sets plus turret gunsights and controls. I would also find Spitfire stuff but that came and went as that was expensive even then. At one point I even found two Lanc. tail wheels and brought them home in the back of our VW Beetle (in two trips...) So as you can see it's a slippery slope...

From a very early age I had always wanted a pickelhaube, I can remember seeing them in junk shops when I was a kid but they were always just too expensive for my pocket money although I can remember buying a 1916 patt. stahlhelm which had the crown caved in for .50p when I was about 11. Last year I finally took the plunge and I now have two very nice examples which I shall take photos of an post as I promised Tony (Kaiser's Bunker) I would. However, as money is short, I may have to call a halt to collecting Imperial German items but I would love a WW1 Prussian EM's shako or Uhlan's czapka one day. Here I go again...

Curly
 
"As with all collecting though it easily got out of hand and the boundaries became blurred, apart from having a lot of flying gear very soon I was collecting bits of WW2 aircraft and had most of a Lancaster bomber cockpit "

This is one of the greatest collector confessions of all time!!!

This statement should be enshrined somewhere - the collectors motto - or collector widow's lament.

Eric
 
Or 'collector's divorcee's lament'... :lol:

P.S. I'd love to have a Luftwaffe Stuka to display in my backyard... Hell, I'd even build a special garage for it!
 
Yes, that's quite true, there is a saying over here: "When I die, never let my wife sell my collection for how much she thinks I paid for it!"

I'm not 100% certain how to post photos on this site so here is a link to some of my collections past and present, including a couple of shots of the pickelhaubes. I hope this link works.

Curly


http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj142/curlycarroll/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
This is why I'll ask to be burried along with my stuff... :)

I see you also collect masks Curly and that you had relatives fight in both wars?
I love that pair of duelling flintlocks, the Enfield family, and the cockpit you refurbished; not to mention those Napoleonic weapons!! =P~

I have a couple of English pocket pistols myself and a matching 1943 Lee Enfield Nr.4 Mk.I complete with spike bayo., sling, and cleaning kit (that goes through the butt plate).

Here's how you post images on the Forum:
When you place your mouse cursor over the image in your Photobucket album, it gives you a list of option.
You go down to the last ('IMG Code') and click on the actual code (starts with 'http...').
This automatically copies it and then you paste it (ctrl+V) within your message here.

Here's a few pics for you--And while we're at it, could you tell me if the RAF padded-type wings hereafter are WW2 or post?:
[img]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g432/rony_kastoun/Pistols-BritishMastersFlintlockc1820NockPercussionc1830.jpg
GermanMauserG981916Kar98k1939BritishLeeEnfieldNo4Mk11943.jpg

RAFPilotWingsPaddedBadge-WW2orpostWW2a.jpg

RAFPilotWingsPaddedBadge-WW2orpostWW2b.jpg
 
Hi Ronny,

superb photos, thanks for the gen. on how to post photos too.

I love your Gew98, they are hard to find in good condition now, is your No.4 British or Canadian? It looks very nice indeed. Apart from the the odd pickelhaube the only thing I collect now are Enfields but I have almost stopped those too as I am only allowed a certain number on my licence, a fascinating field of collecting though. That is an old photo on the photobucket site, I have since found a few more stunning Enfields including an elusive Canadian CNo.4Mk1*(T).

Wanting to find an SMLE of the type my grandfather would have carried at Mametz Wood got me into collecting Enfields and I suppose the association of my uncle's service in the RAF got me interested in WW2 RAF items, he had a very interesting time in the RAF, he was a wireless operator on Lancs. and had to bale out twice and he crash landed on another occasion, it's a miracle he survived.I've been collecting allsorts, mostly military, for all my life though.

When we moved from our last house to this one 16 years ago I had to sell nearly all my stuff, strangely the only thing I really regret selling was the set of Manton duellers as they were exquisite. In the early 1800's, while they were working, the Mantons were regarded as the best gunmakers in England and at that time that also meant the whole of the World.

Your wings look fine to me, they appear to be wartime with the King's crown although it's very hard to tell nowadays as so much is reproduced, I would have bought them as genuine though. They could be just post-war but who would know? I still have a few aircrew brevets, some are padded and others flat. I think issued insignia may have been flat during the war but I am only guessing. Many pilots were officer rank and they would have purchased their own uniforms with privately made insignia which may well have been padded.

All the best,

Curly
 
Hey Curly,
I bought the badge in Montreal in the late 80s as genuine.
The wings don't glow under a UV light which means at least that they're not new... Old enough to be WW2? I guess I'll never find out but it's OK.
I bought my Enfield in Canada too although it's a British 1943 issue. I still need to complete it with its WW1 counterpart and there's plenty of these that show-up at gun exhibits across Canada although matching ones are a bit harder to find nowadays.
Here are my Mosin-Nagant WW1 (mismatched d/1900) & WW2 (matching d/1939) M91/30 Russian/Soviet rifles. I found a sling for the WW2 version since but am still looking for its WW1 counterpart:
Rifles-RussianSovietMosin-NagantM1891M1930762mm.jpg
 
Hi Ronny,

very nice rifles and I'm sure the wings are 100% correct and genuine.

It's a funny thing but it has taken me over seven years to find an all-matching WW1 period SMLE in the kind of condition that I wanted. Sure there are still hundreds of mismatched and beaten up examples with oil soaked furniture out there but good ones are extremely hard to find now. I was very lucky that my Registered Firearms Dealer (who is also a good friend) was offered an SMLE that turned up in a wardrobe in Kent in the South East of England. Incredibly, the rifle had been brought back from France by a soldier in 1918 and he had put it in the wardrobe but somehow it was never handed back in - firearms regs. were far more relaxed in those days and it wasn't until the early 1920's that firearms certificates were required by law. The current family contacted my RFD to sell it and make it legal.

The rifle is not mint but it is in extremely good condition having just a few knocks in the furniture, it is however totally matching and just as it was issued, it has never been repaired, had bits swapped or messed with in any way, every screw is sharp, the bore is superb which is extraordinary for a service for a rifle which is very nearly 100 years old.

Here are some photos:

SMLENo1MkIIIgvrt.jpg


SMLENo1MkIIIgvlft.jpg


SMLENo1MkIIIcuRt.jpg


All the best,

Curly
 
This is one beautiful Enfiled Curly =P~ ; exactly what I'll be looking for during the next Montreal November gun show; provided I can take some time off from work and travel to Canada then...

I bet you have a nice bayonet to go with it... What about the sling; have you found an original one for it?
 
Hi Ron,

I doubt if I'll find a good 1918 sling for it but I have a few new WW2 dated examples which are the same (save for the date...) the earliest dated sling I have is from 1936 and that will do. Funnily enough, I bought a superb 1907 patt. bayonet for the rifle over seven years ago on eBay! It had to come all the way from the US but it was a great price and in excellent condition. Although I do have a few different types, I have purposely avoided getting into bayonets as that again is a huge field of collecting. The only way I can justify it to myself is that the bayonets will scratch the finish of the rifle if fitted.

The SMLE is not rare in itself but the condition of it is, I have far rarer Enfields which cost an awful lot more but this is one of my favourites.

Happy collecting!

Curly
 
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