Leather Jerkin

The Leather Jerkin was used as cold weather clothing by Canadian soldiers in both World Wars.  The jerkin was made from brown leather, the shade varying from garment to garment. British manufactured jerkins tended to be a light shade of brown with a khaki lining while Canadian manufactured jerkins were in much darker brown leather with a black wool lining. The ability to move the arms more freely was appreciated, and the jerkin had other advantages over greatcoats which were heavy (and made much heavier when coated with mud or soaked in water) and bulky. 

Jerkin No. 1

One source describes the jerkin as a "sleeveless leather shell, finished in dark brown, lined with blanket material and closed by five leather covered wood buttons. Jerkins were also made of canvas." In the First World War, priority of issue was to drivers, signallers and technical troops who "required freedom of movement while staying warm." The source indicates that issue of the jerkins was tightly controlled in the First World War, but were popular in combat arms units for sentry duty and patrolling and many went "missing."

Jerkin No. 2

During the Second World War, a slightly different pattern of jerkin was issued to British and Canadian troops in Europe, known officially as the "Number 2." The major difference may have been the number of buttons, with surviving examples of the No.2 having just four. The jerkins were more widely issued as cold weather gear than they were in the First World War. Field modifications were sometimes done in which greatcoat sleeves were added to the jerkin for added warmth, and in some cases woolen hoods were sewn to the neck opening. One sources notes that some examples had patch pockets sewn to the outside, as the jerkin itself had none.¹

As the name implies the jerkin was inspired by similar garments dating back to medieval times and the leather jerkin was issued in the British Army into the 1950s.²

British manufactured No. 2 Jerkin (images courtesy Ed Storey)

British manufactured No. 2 Jerkin camouflaged at the factory (images courtesy Ed Storey)
The webmaster on the set of Leo Major: One Man Army in 2019, wearing a surviving original example of a Canadian manufactured jerkin.

Notes

1. Gordon, David B. Uniforms of the WWII Tommy 2nd Edition (Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 2012.) p.202

2. Law, Clive M. Khaki: Uniforms of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  (Service Publications, 1997.)