For Sale: 1945 Tanker Oversuit

[Dusonn]

Eric,
it is true denim, solid, same as jeans are made of. I will ring Daniel tomorrow and ask about the postage to the USA. Also will find out his sizing. Probably the best would be that you PM me your figure size so he can find one to fit.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Dusan

Maybe easier to deal thought you for language.

Ask for regular ( not express) shipping to Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

Might be able to combine shipments for Eric and others....

Size to fit 6 foot 2 inches....waist 42....Chest 46 inches ...leg inseam 35...arm 35.... is any allowance made for shinkage during washing...?

The picture shown seems to be very similar to original British tanker coveralls including the internal suspenders system.


Thanks

Bob C

[Bob Carriere]

Good information on British tank suits.

http://www.militarymodelling.com/new...ed-force/3699#

and more reading here

http://www.militarymodelling.com/new...ed-force/3699#

[Jim Burrill]

After I had my run of the Denim AFV Crew suits from India with dyed cotton twill, not real denim. ( real stuff has the threads in the warp in white and the weft in color. Thats why you see a dark blue side to jeans and a whitish side on the reverse.

Adler made up two piece denims and the AFV crewsuit. Then he sold through a UK dealer even though you could reach adler (and see his prices) on his website. Funny, even with the exchange rates figured in ,the "retail price from the UK dealer was over 120% markup!

Still... I bought one and was quite pleased with the quality. I showed the other lads in 15 Recce and one fellow managed to get an order in before the stock of denim dried up. Attempts to determine if any more would ever be made have been unsuccessful.

I would be all for placing a order with this new source!

Next question though, is would they develop a pattern and make repro tan Pixie suits? I would really like one that was loose enough to go over full winter kit ( undies, wool shirt, jersey, BD) I can fit my 5'11"/37" waist body in my Size 6 with all but the BD jacket and still move around int he Humber. I wowuld love something that was actually loose!

[Robert Bergeron]

Ed, Pete,

My apologies if i was perceived as diminishing the quality of the immense leadership and brillant tactical sense of a most revered and respected British General of WW2 .

But, General Simmonds for example would never ever have worn a Dennison, or other accoutrement. Different style.

I only meant that he ( General Montgomery ) was most extravagant in choice of dress almost to the point of being tought of wearing costumes .

I am sorry if i offended you and any member of this most august forum.

Here you are , a Wing Commander shot down in flames .

Your bowing , humble servant .



Robert

[Bob Carriere]

with an email to Solomonadler in Ck but the message bounced as undeliverable...no such address.

Dusan is our best bet so far.

So far from what I have read I would be quite happy with the earlier 1942 tank oversuit unlined ..... tan would be ideal but green will fade after many washes.



Bob C

[Jim Burrill]

i went to the website and from the picture, it looks like the same fabric as what Adler used for the one I bought from him.
Fabric is good, although it is not the same shade of green all the wartime denimn I have is. Think of the post war denim coverallls all seemed to be that lime green colour. The original wartime dated AFV Cewsuit that I sent to India as a pattern was the same lime green.

I am excited that he has them in stock, and at a good price.

My questions would be postage cost to the USA and the measurements for his sizes. The crotch to neck measurement is more critical than a waist size!

[Dusonn]

OK guys,
talked to Daniel today. He said he has only small sizes left (4, 5 ) the larger are sold. He s done a batch about 7 years ago which is running out. He said he sold some denim fibre to Adler (not his actual name just nick) to make some ATS overall so not sure what he used for his stuff but they might have been Daniels ones. Anyway Daniel sold out all the larger sizes, most of them went to the UK and some to Poland (probably for redistribution). He used the UKs sizing chart. He is going to make new stock, if there is enough interest. If twenty overalls are ordered then he would make them priority and get them ready in about a month or so. He is able to answer emails if written in plain English. He accepts Paypal. Also he is happy to post a sample piece of denim to anyone of you to check the tan and quality. I asked him to take some detail pictures which I will post here next week and also some measurements of his sizing. He will also look into postage costs both to the USA and Canada.

Also there might be a price increase for the new stock of about 15CND as I wrote the old stock was made 7 years ago the the prices of everything went up a little bit..

[Jim Burrill]

Dunson, Thank you for talking with your friend. I would order a crewsuit myself, and when we confirm the price and postage costs, I will talk them up with my unit and friends here.

Especuially if they will make up some large sizes! My driver, Larry Grim is about 6'4" tall so he needs a tall suit.

Thanks! Jim

[Bob Carriere]

Originally Posted by Jim Burrill

The crotch to neck measurement is more critical than a waist size!

Good point Jim......I remember wearing work coverall and having tears in my eyes whenever I raised both arms in the air to reach top shelves.

On well fitting coveralls the crotch should hang low enough to give some leeway.

Will see what Dusan finds out for us cost wise. I probably could use a couple but that is a long way from 20 pairs. The original tan colored one must have been from a heavy twill or light duck fabric and not denim.

Bob C

[Jim Burrill]

Heh... I wore a flight suit for most of my 21 years as a Naval Aircrewman...

The thing that WPG sells is a tan item for hot weather. The thing that we are calling an AFV Crewsuit was the actual uniform for AFV crew in Europe in summer. Then the tan Pixies. And nixed in along the way is the lads who still wore just their BD.

Int he States in my area, we have shows where the temps exceed 102 degrees Farenheit, yet we are portraying 15 Recce in Holland. So the denim crewsuit over skivvies is the coolest way to go. Having a 2nd or third pair to change into would be a bit more civilized.

While I see the sense in using these as work coveralls (the crew would have gotten these things greasy doing Parades) Some of the members without vehicles have been using boiler suits and proper WD coveralls for maintenance. Just like the real troops did.

As I have said, I would love to see the shop expand and make up the winter Pixie suit as a replica. I would hope we could get a group buy for both the denimn crew suit AND the tan Pixie. I would commit to 2 of each against the 20.

[Dusonn]

Here are few pics of the overall. Daniel will yet send me the sizing. If there is an extreme figure (2 meter tall guys etc.) he can get a custom size made.

[Jim Burrill]

Did anything ever come of the vendor?

I connected last week with a shop in Pakistan that specializes in military hats. On a lark, I asked about clothing and they said they did them.

I told him of our efforts to get real green denim versions of the AFV crew suit made and sent him a close up of some real, unissued fabric.

He said he could get it. ( I want to see it!!)

Long story short - I sent him one of my cotton twill repros to use as a pattern. I also sent over a size 5 Pixie suit ( one of the Dutch post war) as a pattern.

The plan is to get a single one of each made matching samples of original fabric I sent him.

I will check for construction quality and fit and how close the fabric matches. I have stressed that the green denim needs to be real warp and weft proper denim.

However, if they do a good construction job on the AFV Crewsuit but have to use cotton twill dyed the right color, - and the price is right - I would probably go ahead with some orders as I have new clubmembers so bloody tall that nothing from the first batch will fit anyone.

Sizing - Problem first time around was that people took their measurements over a t-shirt and underwear or jeans. The crewsuits fit like shirts.

Not quite a problem for the denim ones as we wear them hear with just skivvies due to the summer heat. Often over 40C or 100F

But for the winter Pixies, you need more ease to get them over layers of thermals, BD, jersey, BD jacket, and still have the room to bend to get through the hatch and into your seats.

I have a size 6 that is larger than my real measurements and I can't wear the full set of winter clothes and bend over.

SO going by the label in the wrist doesn't seem to work.

Any suggestions? Right now, I just have to put it all on, and measure over that.

Key to any coverall type - flight suit, boiler suit, crewsuit, etc, is the torso height - crotch to neck. I wore flight suits for 18 years int he Navy and the crotch was always lower than with trousers. Otherwise, you sang falsetto when you had to scrunch up your legs to climb something.

[Bob Carriere]

.....let us know when you are taking orders........ and how you want the measurements.

In my expereince the military only had two sizes of the black motor pool coveralls..... too small and short or two large and baggy.

Cheers

[Eric R.]

I did reach out the Czech company that dusan put us onto. It took them a long time (several weeks actually) to respond but they don't have anything but small sizes in stock. Said they will restock this summer at some point.

I hope the guy Jim is working with gets the right stuff and can make a decent suit!

[Dusonn]

Guys I am very sorry for not looking after this issue. I have had some personal issues and been very busy so had not come to this forum very often. I had passed over your inquiries to Daniel - the vendor at the time but he was very slow in responses and there were some problems with the dressmaker so I stoped asking eventually. I am a bit ashamed to let you guys down after so many possitive responses. I am over the hard things and can finally spend more time for hobbies now so will talk to Daniel over phone tomorrow and see if I can find out more than Eric did on these tanksuits. I know he still has quite a good stock of the denim.

[Marc van Aalderen]

Hi Dusan,

There is interest from our group in the Netherlands for these overalls as well.
Please keep us updated and ask if it is possible to have some made in time for Normandy. Thank you!

Cheers,

[RichardT10829]

Likewise here in the UK, cost and dispatch times permitting (and how accurate they are)

[Dusonn]

Hi all,
spoke to Daniel on Saturday and he confirmed that he will make the overalls this summer. He was not sure when as according to him it was also a matter of funds. He will start with most usual sizes and leave any odd ones last. He said he has denim for about 50 overalls left. I will sum up the interest so far so he has better idea of the possible order situation and favourite sizes.
Well, from what he said I would not rely on him for the Normandy schedule Marc.