In the public mind, the raid was captured in true Hollywood style by the 1965 film The Heroes of Telemark starring Kirk Douglas with considerably help of Ulla Jacobsson but the impact of Steely Flats were the jackets . In a more recently mooted inspiration by other brands this need and inspiration of the jacket is an essential piece of wardrobe to protect oneself from the elements. In Mancunian terms this is often depicted in the well known form of the trusty parka. The original parka emulating from the Artic regions of Northern Russia and Alaska with the less know term of ‘animal skin’. The indigenous Inuit first recognised the need to shield themselves from extreme weather but with little forcasting of the similar if less extreme protection needed in the Cottonoplois of Manchester and beyond.
The parka eventually made its way further West becoming the customary coat of the US military during WWII, and although they weren’t made from animal skin, they were used for all of the same reasons their arctic originators used it – it’s warmth, practicality and durability. Not only that, but they were relatively cheap to make, had plenty of pockets for ammunition and other war wares and were largely spacious, which meant it could be worn over the soldiers bulky uniforms. Not long after 1951, the fishtail parka was developed through similar conditions of necessity. This deviation was created for soldiers to again cope with the freezing climate during the Korean War. It was originally known as the M1951 due to the date it was created.
The parkas journey continued into the 60’s when it came to symbolise an entire subculture in England, becoming a vital part of the iconic image of the mods. The parka has since become more widespread, with recent fashion trends adopting a resurgence in British classics, including the parka.
This parka was also closely linked to the resurance of Ska and Mod primarily due to the 2 tone scence led by Jerry Dammers and the Specials AKA. Like most styles and fashion this was in the mix with the Jam who rebelled from their punk tag using influenes from the sixties and taking musical influences from the Kinks, the Who and Northern Soul to name a few. The Jam’s punk credentials faded due to the brilliance of the songs, the writing of Weller and the Jam’s instance of looking smart a very working class heritage of looking as good as you could afford before the excessive use of edit cards and the over reliance of the often overpriced designer brands. The resurrection of Ska led by the Specials but supported by the rather cool looking Pauline Black and the Selector with Bad Manners the splendid Dave Wakeling with Ranking Roger of the Beat amongst others. Being from Manchester and being well versed with the West Indian influence, music , food, cricket ( Clive Lloyd in particular for me) and the absolute undeniable cool of the fashion as seen best in the barbers shop. One of my first friends , a ginormous for his age Dwain, helped me cement these styles in the memory banks with an exposure to the original rude boys so when the Specials came back with the tonic suits and two tone suits it was an easy transition for me even though I never managed to get a whole suit just the trousers along with a fake Harrington jacket. Just to digress again the Harrington named after a character played by Ryan Oneal in Peytoin Place was another Manchester classic made by Baracuta ( if you can afford one these days – woow!) also loved by Steve McQueen and James Dean which was brought back to the non esoteric public via the rude boys and Ska revival. Bloody good job too.
The Heroes of Telemark. That version was not quite true to real life - but the story of the real heroes of Telemark is still extraordinary and most worthy of admiration which leads to inspiration.
Point blank has written that the character of Walker is actually dead throughout the entire movie and the events of the film are a dream of the accumulating stages of revenge. Others have also considered this concept: Brynn White has questioned whether or not Walker is a mortal or a ghost,
Spurred on to a direction because people were doing things for themselves. People were running their own things d some were extremely independent like Freaky Dancing Fanzine- don’t read the NME read this was the mantre.
This independence reflected the way I felt and Steely Flats became to try and represent.