VJ Day in Kodachrome | Hawaii August 14, 1945
Sir Winston Churchill
Hobbies included: drinking, cigar smoking, bricklaying and painting. Sir Winston = a true gentleman.
America’s Oldest Tent Maker | Armbruster Mfg Co.
Founded in 1875 in Springfield, Illinois, the Armbruster Manufacturing Co. is America’s oldest tent maker. As you can see from the building in the above archival photo, the company started out as a canvas goods and upholstery shop but eventually came to specialize in tent making. Armbruster was also a supplier to the U.S. military during WWII — which is how I came to discover them. I was looking to buy an authentic WWII tent, of all things. I considered buying an old original, but didn’t really want to deal with the smell of such an artifact. The good news is, Armbruster is remaking a variety of WWII olive drab canvas tents on the exact same equipment as it did in the 1940s — that is definitely the best-of-both-worlds.
WWII-Era WAVES in Chambray
As the U.S. Navy ramped up for WWII, its leadership began the unprecedented task of recruiting 27,000 female sailors called WAVES, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Previously, it was only during the first world war that the Navy accepted females into its ranks, and mainly for clerical roles and as nurses, not as officers. According to the USN History and Heritage Command, in 1942 the WAVES performed previously atypical duties in the aviation community, Judge Advocate General Corps, medical professions, communications, intelligence, science and technology.
U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships | Camouflage Unit
The idea of painting a ship in odd patterns is credited to British artist Norman Wilkinson during the time of the first world war. The concept — which became known commonly as “dazzle” — was an attempt to confuse German U-boats by making a ship’s course and speed difficult to judge, and thus difficult to torpedo. The technique was eventually adopted by the American Navy in 1918 and the practice continued (mostly by the U.S.) throughout WWII. It was during the 1930s and 1940s that a standardized set of ship camouflage patterns were adopted and deployed across all Tennessee class battleships and Essex class aircraft carriers by the camouflage unit of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships.
WANTS & DESIRES | WWII HBT CAMO TROUSERS
You’re looking at a pair of non-issue U.S. Army Ranger pants that feature one of the first ever military issue camouflage patterns. This pattern is commonly referred to as HBT (Herringbone Twill) CAMO, and was most widely issued at the request of General Douglas MacArthur to Marines in the Pacific theater of WWII, sometime after the Battle of Tarawa. The two-sided motif (lighter color camo for spring and darker for fall) also briefly saw action in the European theater, but was scrapped because of its similarity to a German camouflage.
The Ursula Suit
If you haven’t been to the Barbour archives (don’t feel bad, I haven’t either) you might be unfamiliar with the Ursula Suit story. The Ursula suit is a coveted British WWII artifact made expressly for Lieutenant Commander George Phillips (pictured above c.1939) and the crew of the submarine HMS Ursula. Mr. Phillips was unhappy with water stopping ability of the issued Navy kit, so he took matters into his own hands and commissioned Barbour to make what would become the famous (and standard issue) Ursula Suit.
Victory Mail of the Second World War
Encouraged to write letters to service members overseas, Americans heeded the call and sent massive amounts of mail to their loved ones. The U.S. Postal Service was quickly overwhelmed as the volume of correspondance skyrocketed. So in 1942 the government decided to implement Victory Mail, or V-Mail as it was known, which was a version of the British “Airgraph” system. The Smithsonian explains how the British came to develop Airgraph.
LIFE Archive | Brooklyn Navy Yard
When it comes to the Life photo archive I seem to be stuck in the year 1942. The mining always begins at random places and seems to inevitably end up around WWII. The Brooklyn Navy Yard has long been a fascination of mine, and these pictures of war-time industry help to scratch that itch. One day when ACL is a massive corporation (with interests in everything from ladies undergarments to heavy equipment; just like the Japanese!) the world headquarters will hopefully be at the navy yard in good ole Kings County, Brooklyn USA.
Wants & Desires | A. Lange & Söhne Military Watch
In my world, there aren’t many things better than a military watch. The fantastic Hodinkee featured this vintage 1940′s pilots watch from German watch maker A. Lange & Söhne. I have a personal connection with Lange, since I helped with their PR at one of my previous jobs. Near the end of WWII the A. Lange & Söhne factory in Saxony was bombed and completely destroyed by the Allied war machine, forcing the closure of the company for nearly fifty years. The brand lay dormant until its revival in the early 1990′s by Switzerland’s Richemont Group. So this pilot’s watch is one of the last remaining time pieces from the old German factory and is something you won’t see five of your friends wearing, that’s for sure. More on the watch here.
Obsession | P-51 Mustang "Cadillac of the Sky"
The P-51 Mustang is one of the most celebrated fighters of the 20th century. The WWII-era single seat plane was introduced in the middle of the conflict and served to tremendous success in both the European and Pacific theaters. The most widely produced of the P-51 models was the D variant, which was put into service in 1944 and would became the workhorse (bad pun) of the USAAF in Europe. Outside of its beautiful shape, speed and maneuverability, what made the P-51D special was the Packard built V-1650 engine. The fighter’s power plant was a North American made supercharged version of the illustrious Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. This gave the P-51 an incredible top speed and a ceiling of over 41,000 feet. Perfect for long range bomber support. After the war, the iconic fighter even inspired Ford designers to name their new sports car after the P-51.
