Photos of special interest for the development team.

[major_setback]

Badge awarded to those who had used the GQ parachute (one sort of GQ parachute was used with the Defiant). They had to apply for a badge from the manufacturer if they wanted one:



About the parachute and award:

http://www.britain-at-war-magazine.c...tle-of-britain

From Wikipedia:

"The gunner's hatch was in the rear of the turret, which had to be rotated to a side to enable entry and exit. There was not enough room in the turret for the gunner to wear a seat-type or back pack parachute so gunners were provided with a special all-in-one garment nicknamed the "rhino suit". To quote Frederick "Gus" Platts, air gunner in 230, 282 and 208 squadrons, "The Rhino suit we had to wear on Defiants was a bear but I couldn't come up with an alternative, even though it killed dozens of us. I forget the details of it but we could not have sat on our chute or even keep it nearby as in other turrets, so you wore - all in one - an inner layer that fitted a little like a wetsuit of today. The chute fitted around this, and then the dinghy and the outer clothing. There was inner webbing and pockets that literally fell apart (I presume) when one bailed out"".