Beschreibung:

RAF Cap. A post-WWII RAF officers cap, blue cloth with C. Bates tailors label, queen's crown cloth insignia with a brass eagle, brown leather sweatband inscribed Sqn Ldr E.W. Seabourne and with manufacturers gold stamp, together with a pair of RAF trousers, blue cloth and with tailor's label for John Hammond & Co (1922) Ltd, dated 1955, size 13, inscribed Seabourne (Quantity: 2) Sergeant Eric William Seabourne (1919-2005) was born in Leyton and educated at Worthing High School, he joined the Auxiliary Air Force in 1935 and served with 601 Squadron. In 1938 he applied to the RAFVR and qualified as a pilot the same year and on the outbreak of WWII, he was posted to 9 FTS Hullavington. In May 1940 Seabourne was posted to 151 Squadron at Martlesham Heath and was then posted to 238 Squadron at Tangmere in June 1940. Seabourne had only three hours of training on Masters before flying solo in a Hurricane. After only seven hours of training he was declared operational (without even firing the guns). On 13 July he shared in destroying a Me110 and damaged two more in his first encounter with the Luftwaffe. He destroyed a Me109 on 8 August and two more on 13 August, in this engagement he himself was shot down in Hurricane I P3764, he was attacked by three Me109 and the aircraft was set on fire. He prepared to bale out but his hood jammed, then the aircraft turned on its back and Seabourne fell out, taking the hood with him. After a delayed drop of 16,000 feet, he opened his parachute, blew up his Mae West and went into the sea about seven miles south of the Isle of Wight. Seabourne was picked up by HMS Bulldog, and taken to the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar. After a week, Seabourne was moved to Park Prewitt Hospital at Basingstoke, where he remained for seven months undergoing plastic surgery by Harold Gillies.