I joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in 1942 and was drafted to the air force station at Rongotai, a suburb of Wellington. Prior to my leaving our farm at Longbush in the Wairarapa my father had given me the instruction, “When you are in Wellington, go to my tailor and have him make you a uniform and put it on my account.” Shortly after settling in and being issued with uniform, etc, I visited the tailor and was told that, yes, he would make me up a uniform but I would have to supply the necessary officers material. How to obtain this item?
I
had got to know one of the airmen who worked in the stores and, while talking
to him one day, I broached the subject of material. Yes, they did have bolts of officer material in the
warehouse. Next was the problem of
persuading him that procuring a bolt for me was all in a good cause, which I
managed and, surreptitiously, we transferred the bolt of material to the
bunkhouse and from there, suitably wrapped, I took it past the guardroom at the
gate, waving to the guards as I passed and down to my tailor. Two fittings later, the uniform was made up,
patterned on the issued item but in officer’s material.
From
Rongotai I was transferred up to the airfield in Masterton and from there was
put on a pilot’s course at Rotorua. All
of this time I had been wearing my new uniform whenever I went visiting friends
and was surprised to note that other airmen were in two minds as to whether to
salute me. Came the first Wing Parade
at Rotorua. After the CO had given his
usual pep talk he inspected the troops.
He stopped in front of me, eyed me up and down, asked me to step forward
and asked me my name. Then he asked
what I was doing in this uniform and I answered, truthfully, that my father had
had it made for me. His comment, “AC-2
Perry, I never want to see you on parade in that uniform again. Off the parade, please.” With that I saluted and marched off back to
our billets at Brent’s Hotel. I
continued to visit friends in Rotorua wearing the uniform, but reverted to not
wearing the issued item on Wing Parades.
When
I was down at Harewood, in Christchurch, flying Tiger Moths, the standard
apparel was shorts, socks and khaki tops so had no problem on the station but
continued to wear the uniform whenever I went downtown. From Harewood we went up to Auckland,
boarded the MV “Bloemfontaine” and sailed for Canada. In Canada of course, things were different, I could get away with
anything. I just told the Canadian
officials that it was standard RNZAF issue and they believed me. Typical of instances where the uniform was
queried was a course at Jarvis in Ontario.
Here I was the only New Zealander in a course of Aussies. They all came on Wing Parade in their “Goons”
(overalls) because they said that was standard wear back in Australia and I, of
course, was in my non-issue uniform.
The Canadian airmen were all spit and polish as usual. The Aussies were
dismissed and told to go back to the barracks and then it was my turn. “Yes Sir, this is standard air force issue
back in New Zealand”. Again the remark,
“I don’t want to see you on this parade ground in that uniform again”. Neither myself nor the Aussies had to attend
another Wing Parade.
The
end of the story is that I received a commission, took the uniform to a tailor
in Toronto, had patch pockets put on the sides and the braid sewn on the
sleeves. That uniform is still hanging up in my cupboard in Vancouver.
There
is a sequel. When we arrived in England
we were stationed down at Brighton and, while there, I took a trip up to London
and visited a tailor who had been recommended to me. Could he make me a battledress out of the same officers material
as the uniform. He could and did and for the rest of the war I paraded around
in my beautiful battledress. Again, I
always had the same answer, “Standard RNZAF issue, Sir”.