General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Cotton and wool; synthetic material; gold thread and other metal.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

80.0 cm

Width

60.0 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Aviation

Category

Clothing

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

During and after the First World War.

Canada

The individual to whom this artifact belonged was Selwyn Thompson “Sel” Franks (1899-1985). He was born on September 21st, 1899, in Weston, Ontario. His family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, between 1907 and 1908. He attended the Regina Collegiate Institute, the city’s first high school. According to family lore, Franks enlisted in the British Army’s air service, the Royal Flying Corps, in 1916. He left for his initial training after completing high school, which took place at the University of Toronto. During the winter of 1917 to 1918, he was one of the many trainees who went to Texas, near Fort Worth, to continue his training. Franks obtained his pilot qualification badge in early 1918. After a brief visit in Regina in March, Franks sailed toward the United Kingdoms, where he arrived in April. Once there, the young officer, either second lieutenant or lieutenant, received further training. In August of 1918, Franks crossed into France where he was assigned to a bomber unit, the No. 49 Squadron, in the Royal Air Force. Franks took part in a number of missions, or sorties, both low-level ones near the front and high-level ones further behind enemy lines. Franks kept on flying until the Armistice. At some point thereafter, the No. 49 Squadron was sent to a French village near the Belgian border, then to a town in Germany. The unit stayed there until July 1919, when it was disbanded. Franks himself was already home by then, as he had apparently arrived in Regina on May 1st, 1919. The presence of four Canadian Air Force (CAF) buttons and a CAF cap badge in the donation could indicate that Franks was transferred to this service, at least on paper, at some point between its authorization in August and September of 1918, and the disbandment of its two squadrons in the United Kingdoms in January and February of 1920. Franks was a member of the 1923 class of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. This being said, a burst appendix delayed his graduation as an electrical engineer until 1924. His brother, Wilbur Rounding Franks (1901-1986), is the gentleman who, during the Second World War, developed a G-suit, a special type of flying suit for pilots designed to reduce the impact of tight turns in aerial combat. The Franks G-suit was one of a few developed by Allied countries during the Second World War. This khaki double-breasted uniform jacket was worn by the British Army's Royal Flying Corps (RFC). It was unique to the RFC and surviving examples are comparatively rare. While cavalry had traditionally been used for reconnaissance and fast-moving raids, it was realized early in the First World War that mounted troops could not move around the networks of trenches to go on reconnaissance patrols, and could not charge entrenched infantry, as they were armed with machine guns and protected by barbed wire. However, while horses could not jump over trenches, airplanes were able to fly above them. Thus, many of the early RFC pilots had been cavalry officers before the war, as they were already accustomed to observation and reconnaissance patrols, which eventually became the primary role of airplanes. It may also have been thought that anyone accustomed to bouncing around on a horse would be suited for bouncing around in a small airplane. The maternity jacket reflects the transition from cavalry tactics to aerial warfare, which is one of those significant moments in the history of technology when animal power gave way to engine power.

Function

A jacket worn as part of a uniform during the First World War to identify the wearer as a Royal Air Force soldier.

Technical

The style of this jacket, commonly known as a "maternity" jacket, was adopted from British cavalry clothing.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Lettering on badge on proper top left of front reads: “RFC”.

Missing

The artifact appears complete.

Finish

Predominantly khaki exterior and part of interior; beige and brown lining; light and dark brown buttons; gold coloured snap buttons; gold coloured clasps and hooks, with some green corrosion; embroidered badges in different tones of brown; black and beige embroidered badge; light brown stitching.

Decoration

Pattern on lining inside sleeves is striped, with groups of two and six thin vertical lines repeating all over; Royal Flying Corps embroidered badge composed of two wings, a wreath, lettering, and a crown; embroidered star on each shoulder strap.