United Kingdom. A Royal Army Medical Corps Mess Dress Jacket and Vest with Parachute Qualification Badge

A British Royal Army Medical Corps mess dress jacket, constructed of extremely fine quality black wool, featuring a burgundy turned-down collar equally constructed of wool that transitions into long and narrow breast flaps. Each flap is decorated with a single Royal Army Medical Corps pin, consisting of a crowned laurel wreath with a snake and scepter and a banner underneath marked “In Arduis Fidelis” (Faithful in Difficult Times). The right flap is decorated at the bottom with four vertically mounted buttons decorated with a crowned snake and scepter within a laurel wreath and “Royal Army Medical Corps” that meet reinforced button-holes on the opposing side. The collar is flanked on both sides with integrated sew-on style burgundy wool collar tabs, both decorated with a single rank pip and Royal Crown pin, and secured in place by a brass Medical Corps button. The left sleeve is decorated with a cloth parachute qualification badge, consisting of a parachute, constructed of silver-tone rolled and twisted embroidery. Both sleeves finish with wide, integrated, burgundy cuffs without decorative buttons of any kind. The interior is lined with matching burgundy silk blended fabric, with the back section plain, while the sides are quilted, along with white liners for the sleeves. It measures 48 mm across the shoulders (seam to seam), with 66 cm long sleeves (seam to cuff), with a total length of approximately 67cm.

It is accompanied by a vest, with a burgundy wool front, featuring one diagonal-slit pocket per side, along with four vertically positioned buttons on the right side, that are met with an equal number of reinforced button-holes on the opposing side. Each button is decorated with a crowned snake and scepter within a laurel wreath and is securely sewn to the vest. The reverse of the vest is constructed of burgundy silk blended material featuring an integrated belt with magnetic metal buckle with two prongs in an “H” formation. The interior of the vest is lined entirely with white silk blended fabric and is free of markings of any kind. It measures 44 cmm across the waist, with a total length of 58 cm.

The jacket and vest are accompanied by a flask constructed of a nickel plated metal alloy, with a screw-top and a Royal Army Medical Corps badge attached to the front, consisting of a crowned snake and scepter within a laurel wreath and a banner underneath marked “In Arduis Fidelis”. It is marked “Made in England”, “James Dixon & Sons, Sheffield” along with “45” and “40zs” at the bottom of the flask, marked 80 mm w x 113 mm (l). 

A fine British Royal Army Medical Corps mess dress jacket, complete with vest, and accompanied by a matching flask, extremely well preserved, and in overall near extremely fine condition.