A.M. Whistle

Thats the badger!

Thanks, Denis.

While we’re on the subject of Air Ministry marked items, would anyone know if it possible to obtain one of the old white porcelain AM 1 pint mugs?

I will keep my eyes out for one. Again thanks to ebay, I got my 1 pint mug three or four months ago for £8, a recent one sold for £28.

Going slightly off topic here but picked up a lovely MKII course and speed calculator complete with a couple of 1944 charts for £30 last week:) Very pleased!.

Hello Newforest,

May I suggest the next time you have a policeman in your bath that he remembers to take his tackle with him! 😮

Kind regards, Malcolm.

While we’re on the subject of Air Ministry marked items, would anyone know if it possible to obtain one of the old white porcelain AM 1 pint mugs?

I found a box-full a long time ago, but the one I liberated went the same way as Dad’s whistle.:mad:

Is the chain fitting the usual method of fixture. It certainly looks contempory to the whistle and is the same metal and colour.

The chain would seem to be indentical to the one on the web site which is a ‘metropolitan police chain’ which incidentally looks like the chain on my old bath plug!:D

http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=115&cat=12&page=1

Tangmere 1949, Many thanks for the interesting information. The stores reference on this example is 293/W/102. At least it has two of the digits from the later whistle 2(9)3 !

Would it be true to say then that this whistle would have been issued prior to 1941?

Is the chain fitting the usual method of fixture. It certainly looks contempory to the whistle and is the same metal and colour.

Richard, Thanks for the link. Interesting site!

Denis, Came from a local house clearance with other items. Nothing to suggest police, but certainly could suggest aircrew.

Kind regards, Malcolm.

He probably flogged it on ebay…:p

Wouldn’t put it past him.

I think that the chain may be a clue, as it’s the same one that was attached to my Old Man’s whistle, and is also on a ‘Thunderer’ in my possession that my late Father in Law had from his days as a BR(W) Stationmaster.

Wish I knew what my little brother did with it when I joined the Army.:(

He probably flogged it on ebay….MJW probably bought it:p
I too own the latter Thunderer type 23/230 under the AM and Crown. paid £30 on ebay for it, as no one else bid on it , It sold only for its offer price. In recent months I have watched them sell for anything between £45-£85:eek:

MJW check this out http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/xcart/customer/home.php you ask them its J hudsons web site interesting bit about a six foot flying whistle Meteor.

Way back in the 1860s, Joseph Hudson, who was a Birmingham trained toolmaker, converted his humble washroom at St. Marks Square, which he rented for 1s. 6d. (one shilling and six pence per week) into a workshop. Here he did anything he could to supplement the family income from watch repairing to cobbling shoes. Today Acme whistles are recognized as some of the finest whistles manufactured in the world today.

I cannot recall the stores reference (sad that I ever knew!! Must get out more.) but it would either be prefixed for 22c (Flying Clothing) or 23 (Accoutrements). I think the latter as the later examples were 23.

This early type was replaced with a similar design, but in white plastic, for the 1941 pattern Mae West because the metal type was found to freeze to the lips in harsh conditions. However, it was then superceded by the later “Thunderer” type – also metal – which was Stores Ref 23/230. I only know that because I have one. It used to belong to the fiend who was my old PE teacher and who lost it one day on the sports field! Yours truly found it. After the torture that he gave us, and the terror that whistle induced, I didn’t feel inclined to give it back! :diablo:

Denis, Thank you for the great link. I will be using this again I think!

WG-13, Policeman was my thought when I originally saw it!

Nick, Thank you for the link and fascinating read. Interesting to note that the crash site was 1944 – at least one was in use after the introduction of the more usual snail type!

Does anyone know were I can obtain details of the AM Reference Code stamped onto the whistle?

When did the use of AM as a ‘brand’ for equipment come into practise?

Kind regards, Malcolm.

AM Whistle

We recovered one of the “1st pattern” whistle on a dig a few years ago – The aircraft crashed in 1944. See Firefly Z1906photo at bottom of the page. It was one of thelast finds, having been pressed into the baked clay underlying the wreckage layer – after a good soaking to get the clay out it worked perfectly!

Interesting item. My father had one of those issued to him as an RAF Policeman in the early 1950s, which he continued to carry when he joined the Hull City Police on demob.

I wore it on my ATC battledress as a cadet in the 70s. Wish I knew what my little brother did with it when I joined the Army.:(

This French collectors website shows both patterns.
http://wing.chez-alice.fr/RAF/RAF_survival.html
I have not seen the 1st pattern in any old crew photos, only the more familiar Acme Thunderer type hanging under the lapel. Interesting item though:)