Type E flying helmet : Flight Lieutenant B J Reynolds, RAAF

Beige cotton 'Aertex' Type 'E' lightweight, internally wired flying helmet. The helmet has a grey elastic chin strap and black rubber cups protecting the external radio receivers. The snap fastener joining the elastic to the helmet has been torn from the helmet but remains with the elastic. The receivers are marked '10A/13466'. On the left hand side below the rubber earpiece is a sewn-in plug connector for the oxygen mask microphone. There are three snap fasteners each side adjacent to the receivers plus a metal oxygen mask retaining hook on the right side, for attaching the oxygen mask. At the rear of the helmet is a single buckle strap and four brown leather snap fastening tabs to secure the flying goggle straps and the wiring loom cables; the proper left strap has broken and is missing its fastener. Internally, the helmet has chamois ear pads to reduce external noise; Reynolds has marked his name in ink on each of these. Each chin section and the brow are lined with beige felt. The loom wires emerge from the rear of the helmet and combine to form a 1.8 m long insulated cable which ends in a large brown bakelite and brass plug. A small, free floating square of leather equipped with a snap fastener is attached to the cable and can be attached to corresponding fasteners either just below or just behind the left receiver. The helmet is marked in black ink just in front of the microphone plug ' ^ REF NO. 32C 976'. Reynolds has also marked the initial of his last name - R - in ink on the front of the headband.

Related to the service of 032564 Flight Lieutenant Bernard John Reynolds, born Goondiwindi, Queensland on 6 March 1931. Reynolds graduated from No 2 Course, RAAF Point Cook December 1952 after training on Wirraways. Assigned to 22 (Mustang) Squadron, Schofields, NSW, he converted to Mustang and Vampires at No 2 Operational Training Unit (2 OTU), Williamtown in the following year. In July 1953 Reynolds transferred to 2 Squadron, Amberley, flying Lincolns and acted as co-pilot on one of three Lincolns tasked with flying through the atomic cloud generated by the British nuclear test at Emu Field, South Australia on 15 October 1953. With the rank of Flying Officer, he was transferred to RAAF Tengah at Singapore and spent 1954 and 1955 flying Lincolns operationally with 1 and 6 Squadrons on missions in Malaya during the Emergency. Reynolds returned to Australia in 1956, attending a Flying Instructors Course on Wirraway, Vampire and Winjeels and, promoted to Flight Lieutenant, served as a jet instructor on Vampire aircraft in 1957-58 at Central Flying School (East Sale). After serving as personal aide to Air Marshall Sir Frederick Scherger from 1959-60, Reynolds converted to the CAC CA-27 Sabre in 1961 and was appointed Flight Commander of 76 Squadron, Williamtown in 1962, a position he held until 1963. During the same period, he was leader of 76 Squadron's Red Diamonds Aerobatic Team, flying Sabres. Towards the end of 1963, Flight Lieutenant Reynolds was transferred to Perrin Air Force Base, Texas, USA on an exchange posting flying F102A Delta Daggers and the T33A Thunderbird trainer, the latter aircraft used by the Americans for aerobatic flying. In 1967, Reynolds was promoted to Wing Commander with postings at RAAF Staff College; Air Force Office, Canberra; Commanding Officer of the Mirage Operational Conversion Course at Williamtown (1969-70); Senior Air Staff Officer, IADS at Butterworth, Malaysia (1971-72) and later Air Commodore, Butterworth, 1979-83. Having served as Honorary ADC to two Govenors- General (Kerr and Cowen), and reached the rank of Air Vice Marshall, Reynolds retired from the RAAF in November 1985. He died just four months later, on 10 February 1986, of cancer.

The lightweight Aertex material used in this flying helmet was developed for use in the tropics and was likely used by Reynolds when flying Lincoln bombers.