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IJAAF WINTER HELMET

 

IJAAF winter leather flying helmet.

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This specimen shows all the standard features and fittings typical for this type of Imperial Japanese Army Air Force helmets.

Leather construction, rabbit fur lining, back adjustment strap, chin strap buckling on the left by means of double metal rings, pressed leather ear cups and two goggle retaining straps. The latter are located behind the ear cups, such arrangement often being referred to as the "fighter pattern".

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Although it seems to have suffered during its use, this example still sports the Army star in front, a detail often missing on IJAAF helmets nowadays.

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TGK flying goggles

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TGK manufactured higher quality “hawk eye” and some custom made goggles worn by both army and navy aviators.

TKG are the initials for the Special Glass Optics Company and they are  embossed between the goggle strap screws on both frames. The company logo is the symbol of a fish which is sometimes surrounded by an oval outline. Some higher end goggles had the fish emblem stamped on the leather ends of the goggle strap in gold leaf.

 

TGK made goggles in a variety of different colors to the frames, padded rolls and goggle straps. The specimen shown has black painted aluminum frames, padded with a reddish brown velveteen cushion and holding clear glass lenses. The elasticized ajdustable strap is attached to the frames by means of leather tags and open wire rings.

 

TGK goggle boxes are colored dark blue-grey with a gold color fish emblem found on the top and front of the box. The latter are of higher quality than average Japanese goggle containers. TGK wiping cloths are known to exist in light blue and light green and in both large and small sizes.

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TTK patent IJAAF laryngophone

 

Both the Japanese Army and the Japanese Navy operated their own independent Air Forces during the war, both using completely different equipment sourced from different suppliers and totally incompatible with the other.

Communications equipment from either branch is extremely rare, because usually only the leader of the squadron had electronic communications with the ground. The majority of communication with the rest of the force was by hand signals or lanterns, to keep radio silence, surpirse being key to Japanese tactics.

 

This TTK throat microphone featuring one plastic covered laryngophone was an Army Air Force issue. It is marked in English ("TTK 6V PATENT") , typical of early wartime manufacture, and uses a metal fitting to be attached to a sturdy adjustable leather and elastic strap with a fixing buckle and  braided cord. Unfortunately the plug is missing on this example.