As I look back through my past cleaning and restoration projects, there are among them, some that I often believe might be of interest to the reader, and I thought that I would start by telling you about this one. This is nothing to do with self-promotion, as I have retired from this type of work, and permission has been sought and granted for me to mention names and details.
A while ago, I was asked if I could speak to a woman front-of-shop who wished me to examine her late husband’s RAF uniform from WWII. Her adult children accompanied her. Mrs Simpson had a suit bag within which was the uniform, complete with medals. She told me all about her late husband and his long career in aviation, which started in the 1930s.
The uniform was in very good condition given its age, and reflected the care and love Mrs Simpson had bestowed on it over time. However, 60 years had allowed plenty of dust and debris to build up on the uniform even in a suit bag. She wished it to be restored to the condition it was in when it was worn by her husband.
Mrs Simpson explained that her late husband was a musician and in his service book dated 1935 it gives his profession as ‘a scholar’ prior to joining the RAF.
He was already a Flight Sergeant in 1935 and she showed me a photograph of him in his khaki desert uniform. He was also a hands-on brilliant engineer. One of his service friends at that time was an aircraftsman Shaw, who sadly, was killed accidentally while riding his Brough Superior motorcycle. Her husband found out his companion’s true identity when he was asked to play at the commemoration of T E Lawrence – the legendary Lawrence of Arabia – in Saint Paul’s Cathedral in 1936.
Flight Sergeant Simpson resumed his duties and became proficient at working and testing many types of aircraft. He was meticulous in keeping records of all the work he personally carried out and tested on a whole gamut of aircraft. I was entrusted to look at them and photograph everything. They were immaculate and I was very careful to keep them so.
One of Ronald Simpson’s other friends colleagues at the time was another legend, Douglas Bader, who lost both legs in a flying accident, and still went on to fly Spitfires in WWII.
Flight Sergeant Simpson’s uniform and extras were cleaned and restored to the best of my ability and it was very emotional for the family to see the uniform in its restored condition. That would normally be enough, but I was given access to the flight book which shows a long distinguished career with the RAF. The planes, see right, are an aviation fan’s dream.
