A beautiful WW2 No.5 RAF mess jacket, waistcoat, trousers and leather boots with cuff ranks for a Flight Lieutenant. The set is named to Pilot Officer John Fletcher McPhie (of 12 Squadron) who crashed in his Fairey Battle (L5531) over France on 13/07/1940, being taken prisoner and spending the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 3 (of Great Escape fame).
The jacket is named on the label. As the jacket is named to a pilot officer and the wings have been moved to make way for a medal bar, it shows it to be pre 1947 (as John was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in 1947 and clearly used it before a medal bar was necessary), and therefore almost certainly used by John during the war.
The jacket has bullion King’s crown Pilot's wing and king’s crown buttons, all of which are present. Condition is very good - no mothing.
The trousers are also WW2 era, and very unusual, being high waisted mess dress trousers and braces. They are not named but came with the attached boots which are (as well as the jacket and waistcoat).
The trousers and boots are also in good condition with only a minor grazing of the leather on one toe.
Jacket size small - 34-36 inch chest. Trouser size also small- approx 28-29 waist, 33.5 inch inside leg. Boots appear slim fitting size (although they are marked size 10), i estimate in reality they are around UK size 7-8.
Pilot Officer John Fletcher McPhie (40730)
John enlisted in 1938 to 12 Squadron flying mostly Fairey Battles, service number 40730. On one fateful mission on the 13th June 1940 he took off from Sougé at 18:00, being sent to attack bomb Panzer columns reported to be refuelling in the Forêt de Gault, near Montmirail. However, his Fairey Battle (L5531) was shot down by heavy flak/ground fire, crashing somewhere around Chateau-Thierry France. All 3 crew members survived but were taken prisoner. John was given POW number 16247 and held in Stalag Luft 3 (of Great Escape fame). After the war, John was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in 1947 (and later to Squadron Leader).
