Treasures from a skip – what a vintage suitcase revealed

Treasures from a skip

Skips are usually full of waste material, nothing much of interest not many treasures in a skip and not worth anything to anyone else, most of this waste can be recycled and turned into something useful rather than going to landfill sites.

Once in a while though, something catches our Find-a-skip yard-workers eyes and this time it happened to be treasure in the form of an old vintage ‘Revelation’ suitcase. Inside the case was a full World War II RAF uniform.

The RAF uniform consisted of trousers with braces, jacket, overcoat, hat, beret and spare buttons.

The stripes on the upper sleeve indicate that this uniforms owner was a sergeant within the RAF. Traditionally RAF officers uniforms were tailor made by different people most seem to have been made in London, but they could be made anywhere, even in the far east (particularly for hats)

The hat indicates that this person was a warrant officer or non-commissioned officer, as the ranking on the front of the hat is that of ‘other ranks’

It is undecided what we will do with this treasure as we want it to go to the best home, somewhere it was be preserved and appreciated.

We recently published this on our Find-a-skip facebook page and have been overwhelmed with the comments and shares. The interest in the WWII RAF uniform has reached over 5,000 people!

Could have been worse

While researching the history of this uniform I thought I’d find out what other treasures from a skip have been documented, this treasure was particularly relevant.

To the horror of the two skip drivers who discovered it, one of the most unusual items ever found was a World War II naval artillery shell discarded in a skip in Cornwall in 2006.

When the Royal Navy’s bomb disposal squad arrived on-scene the shell was found to be still live and, even more worryingly, mere metres from a large petrol station. The squad worked quickly to remove the bomb, which was disarmed and later destroyed in a nearby quarry. Had the bomb been detonated accidentally, the experts insisted, it would have sent potentially deadly shrapnel flying for thousands of metres around.

Who knows what could have been if not for these keen-eyed skip drivers. A lesson perhaps for anyone looking to go digging through skips for potential treasure, always be careful – you never know what people might be throwing away!

If your waste doesn’t consist of valuable treasures and you really just need to get rid of it, call us for a competitive quote