Leather flying trousers : Flying Officer L D Crowther, RAAF

Places
Accession Number REL28917.002
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Uniform
Physical description Leather, Sheepskin
Maker Nero Leather Clothing Company Inc
Place made United States of America: New York
Date made c 1941
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Brown leather flying trousers lined with sheepskin. The trousers have a zip fly fastening and tapered legs. A zip runs alongside the inner calf of each leg. The waist is rounded up at the back with a pair of black elastic braces sewn into the middle. The braces cross over and end in leather straps which can be fastened into metal buckles sewn into the front of the waist on either side of the fly. The braces are marked on the inside 'FREEMAN. L.H.'. A makers label is sewn inside the waist below a leather loop used for hanging the trousers.

History / Summary

Associated with Flying Officer Lance Dixon Crowther. Crowther enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 3 February 1941, joining training units in Cananda on 17 June that year. He trained at schools of Bombing and Gunnery, Air Observation, and Navigation before joining further training units in England on 13 December. He joined 40 Squadron, RAF, from 7 June 1942, serving in the Middle East and North Africa before returning to the United Kingdom to join an Operational Training Unit on 25 October 1943. He later returned to Australia, serving in Victoria from 12 August 1944 and in the Northern Territory with 24 Squadron, RAAF from 31 March 1945. Crowther, by this time promoted to Flight Lieutenant, went missing in the Timor Sea during an operation against the Japanese cruiser Isuzu on 5 April 1945. Crowther was navigator on Liberator A72-77, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Ford, which was shot down during the operation. None of the crew were recovered.