Decorated sheepskin jerkin : Flying Officer J Hochkins RAAF, 58 Squadron RAF

Sleeveless sheepskin jerkin with four cotton ties sewn to the front panels. A label sewn inside the neck reads, 'Australian Comforts Fund Victorian Division' and a second label sewn onto bottom left front reads 'Country Women's Assoc. of Victoria'.

The smooth outer skin of the jerkin is decorated with hand drawn motifs. The upper right panel shows a coloured image of the squadron mascot, a koala named Blinkey. Below this image is a caricature of 58 Squadron's Wing Commander 'Mouse' Grant, with his signature as well as signatures from fellow aircrew, together with a large image of an owl with the words, 'Alis Nocturnis' (we fly by night), the Squadron's motto.

The right under-arm panel of the jerkin bears small vertical images of bombs grouped together. Together with the bombs and depth charges drawn on the back of the jerkin they represent the missions flown by Hochkins.

The upper left panel shows three images of “Pilot Officer Prune”, a character from an Air Ministry instructional cartoon known as “Dutiful but Dumb”. One of the cartoons holds his finger up with the motto for the Mostly Highly Derogatory Order of the Irremovable Finger (MHDOIF), 'Dieu et Mon Doigt' (sic) written above it. The MHDOIF was a spoof award for military incompetence for Royal Air Force members.

RAF Air Gunner's wings have been fixed to the lower left panel of the jacket and a 1939-45 Star ribbon. A large image of a Kangaroo with a Joey in its pouch wielding a Lewis Gun and the letters RAAF in red have been picked out below with the words, '1945 and now-the Japs' in black ink.
Drawn in 1943, the back panel shows blue roundels of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force with a drawing in red of a maple leaf, a kiwi and a kangaroo in the centre of each roundel respectively.

Drawings of aircraft and maps have been rendered in coloured inks. These include the Bay of Biscay, Skagerack, Norway and Cattegat off Denmark. A small image of a gremlin dancing on a cloud is depicted on the back panel together with a cartoon image of the Loch Ness Monster. On the left under-arm panel of the jerkin is an image of a New Zealand Tiki with the words, 'Kia-ora Maori Tiki' written underneath and a caricature of 'Foo'.

Sleeveless jerkin worn by 412315 Flying Officer Jack Hochkins, RAAF, who served with 58 Squadron RAF on operations over Europe during the Second World War. It has hand painted caricatures and motifs done by Hochkins. Born in Corowa, NSW, in 1921 Hochkins enlisted in the RAAF on 22 June 1941 and spent nearly 12 months on Air Crew Reserve training as an air gunner before being posted overseas. Hochkins was commissioned after 18 months service and saw active service flying 70 operational missions of trips up to 12 hours in duration, a total of over 1,000 flying hours.

Hochkins' area of expertise was Secret Equipment (S.E) as it was called before the word radar became widely used. He flew on continuous operational service with 58 Squadron RAF, a bomber squadron seconded for special duties to Coastal Command for 2 years and 3 months. Together with 502, their sister squadron, 58 Squadron's task was to keep the German U-boats away from Royal Navy convoys as well as bombing enemy ports and shipping lanes off Norway and Denmark in the Skagerak and Cattegut, and along the French coast. Hochkins flew in aircraft ranging from Tiger Moth trainers to Avro Ansons, Noorduyn Norseman and Bothas, Fairey Battles and notably Lockheed Hudsons and Handley Page Halifax Mk1 bombers.

Hochkins' jerkin forms a significant personal narrative of his experiences and includes such highlights as the Squadron motto or crest, representations of combat operations over Norway, Denmark and France with bombs and illustrations of attacking aircraft together with air force roundels and signatures from the air crew he flew with. Other features of the jerkin include affectionate drawings of the Squadron's mascot a koala named 'Blinkey’ and an elf-like creature with antennae called 'Gremlin Mk 11' the bane of many an air-crew. ‘Blinkey’ was a bear sent to Hochkins by his sister, Beverly and flew with him in his parachute bag on all operations.

Hochkins painted the jacket while stationed on an island off the north coast of Scotland. It was exhibited at the RAF Museum in London in October 1945.

Jerkins like this were made by the Country Women's Association of Victoria as part of the Australian Comforts Fund for both the Australian Army in North Africa and the RAAF in Europe.