Identified dress uniform for LT. with extensive military service

[RustyRelics]

I don't collect uniforms like this, so this Officers dress jacket would be my first. I usually collect Ike jackets, but I decided to make a one time exception with this one.


The seller didn't have much info, but I saw the name and with a quick search, I immediately found the original owner.

The owner was a man by the name of Robert Illingsworth, born in July 1903, in Tillamook Oregon. I paused my Ancestry.com account for a spell, so I cannot find the exact dates of his service, but I did find records as early as 1938 showing Illingsworth as a passenger on board a troop ship heading to New York. He also graduated from a Non-Commissioned officers course in 1938, at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. At this time, he was a Sergeant in the 11th Medical regiment, which was a part of the famed pre-war Hawaiian Division. Once WWII broke out, the records get fuzzy, but his ribbon bars suggest WWII service in the European theater. In 1946, he reenlisted and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He served in the army in occupied Japan. I am unsure of whether he had an service in Korea, but his ribbon bars don't appear to show anything of that nature. I do know however that he retired from the army in 1955, serving 17 years (that I know of) in the army. He died in 1975 at the age of 72.


Forgive my spotty information. I'll try to find out more about this guy when I can.






The jacket is in very good condition, but shows some period button repair. I'll probably leave it as is.







The ribbon bars on this jacket are pretty nice, with sharp coloring. The ETO ribbon appears to have a star missing on the left side.





A very nice Japan Occupation patch.




This bullion overseas stripes set is on the right sleeve, indicating post 1953 application. I didn't even notice the bullion until I went to take pictures, because of how patinaed it was.






The name on this jacket is Illingsworth RK, But my Illingsworth is R. E. Illingsworth. I believe this was a mistake on the tailors part. Only six men named Illingsworth enlisted in WWII, and only one had an R in their name. I'm fairly confient that Robert is my guy.






Jacob Reed Sons was a military custom order company that made uniforms, swords and buttons, among other things that included civilian items.

[Politefaun]

Nice officers uniform! I like the way the ribbon bar is put together don't think I have seen one made like that before on this type of uniform. Will also make for a nice research project with the amount of years he was in.