Rare WW1 British Machine-gunner Tunic

This piece is a WWI British machine gunner's tunic. This unique piece of uniform was designed and built for issue to the machine gun crews. The purpose of the design was to provide padding and to prevent slippage when the crew were carrying the Vickers gun or mount on their shoulders. The shoulder pads consist of 2 top layers of uniform material, leather pads and padded material to prevent the gun or mount slipping off of the shoulder. This unique piece is basically the top 10 inches of a modified WWI tunic. The inside right front panel is ink stamped with what appears to be a P over a W, broad arrow D. There is no other label or markings. This piece is in excellent condition with only a few scattered areas of moth damage and minor staining. These pieces must have had a very low survival rate. This was basically due to the fact that the tunic could be used for one purpose only and not used as a piece of clothing following the war. A very scarce and original piece of British uniform. For the British military or the machine gun collector.