To think,I could have had one a year ago for $300

I like WWII equipment that is named with a felt tip marker.

edstorey wrote:I like WWII equipment that is named with a felt tip marker.

Well Ed you can have them all, as I am not partial to them at all. If you give me a few weeks, I can probably find an original 1st Can Para, and 1st Special Service Force tunic for you. Both could be marked very sharply and crisp with a felt tipped pen with the original owners name.

I'm not too much of a fan of them either Ed. If I come across some though,I'll let you now.(Sarcasm)
The unfortunate thing about the marker,or even pen...is that there may be some people out there who feel they are doing a service to us all by maybe making the names more visible.
Cheers

I stand to be corrected on this, but some Second World War equipment may have seen recent service and been marked appropriately. But, if I understand the army, this type of equipment was temporary issue, not a regular part of the individual soldiers equipment. That makes marking the vest even more unusual as it would not be appropriate to mark it to an individual.

I wondered if the writing had been done with a brush and ink? and the service no. would be British with no letter at the front, I will have to have a look, see if it falls into a block

just my observation I could be wrong of course

Battle Jerkins like many items of militaria are now highly sought after and potentially expensive collectables.   The British version has been copied and reproduced for many years (decades) and at times it can be difficult to distinguish between original wartime items and high quality reproductions.

Battle Jerkins were only employed as specialized items for a number of military operations from 1943 until late 1944.   They are perhaps best know or associated with Operation NEPTUNE (Normandy) and as such this association has added a cachet to the item which has fueled demand by collectors and increased the prices being asked and surprisingly being paid.

I can understand the desire to own one of the vests and to be able to have something that can be tied to a specific military event; but the fact that these items were only issued for a very short period of time to a very small percentage of military personnel who either quickly replaced them with 1937 Pattern Web (Army assault formations) or returned them to stores as was the case with RCN Beach Commando 'W' must be considered when encountering examples that apparently have a direct link to major events like Normandy.

Following WWII many serviceable Battle Jerkins remained in British military stores and could have been reissued for trials evaluations and other military applications.   The vast majority were sold in the UK as surplus and enjoyed renewed use by the hunting and fishing community.   All of this post-WWII use can account for unusual and distinctive markings that to the overly enthusiastic or unaware collector would appear as evidence of wartime use.

Canada manufactured a very distinctive example that saw extensive trials both in Europe and in Canada.   This version of the vest was never used on an combat operation and those Canadian stocks which were held in military stores following the war were disposed of as surplus in the mid-1950s.

As with any collectable, before purchasing one of these items be cognisant of the history of this piece of equipment and aware of the many reproductions.

I have attached images showing original, unmarked generic examples of both the British and Canadian 1942 Pattern Battle (Assault) Jerkin.

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Ed I really appreciate your detailed answers, I am on the same page as you. I guess what we would assume as logic in putting a value on an item is different to someone who is desperate (obviously) for one of these going by the price at auction.

I only see the historical value in an item, I hate the money part.

Johnno and Ed,I agree as well. I am fortunate as a good portion of my gear has provenance. At the same time, I do have some items that are a wee bit questionable,and I am guilty of the "excitement" part of the collecting too. Need to keep that under restraint somewhat though,and as we all know I think..that is tough sometimes!

We continually learn as we go. Anyway,thanks for the info gentlemen!

by value I mean it sparks an interest,