WW2 RAF Officers Tunic - Rowland Mark - Meteorological Department

Description

A lovely wartime RAF Squadron Leader's Service Dress tunic named to R. Mark.

Born on 10 November 1917 in Leicestershire, East Midlands, Ronald Mark trained as a meteorologist. By 1939, he was living at 19 Wood Street, Norwich, Norfolk, where he was employed as a Civilian Assistant at the Meteorological Office. Following the demands of total war, civilian staff were granted temporary commissions within the Royal Air Force's Meteorological Branch to forecast weather conditions and support military operations. RAF Lists record that Mark held a temporary commission in the Meteorological Branch from 1941 through to 1945.

A relatively little-known aspect of RAF history, but one recently popularised by the film Pressure, is the vital role played by military meteorologists. Responsible for predicting weather patterns and atmospheric conditions, their work was critical to both defensive and offensive operations. Perhaps the best-known example is James Martin Stagg, whose weather forecasts persuaded Dwight D. Eisenhower to postpone the Allied invasion of Normandy until suitable conditions arrived.

Although Ronald Mark's specific wartime duties have not been made public, as a meteorologist serving in the RAF Meteorological Branch during the period leading up to and including the Normandy campaign, he would have contributed to the wider meteorological effort that supported Allied operations.

The tunic is believed to date from the later years of the war, based on its black Bakelite buttons and the rank insignia of Squadron Leader.

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