V505, 5thAF 22nd BG 2nd Sq

[Andrew]

I recently won an auction by mistake- it was the worst timing I could ever wish for as i've had a very expensive month. It was one of those instances where you stick on a silly low bid just so you know at least you were there with a chance and bingo, it was mine to pay for.

More pics to come later

Well, on the bright side it is something i've been after for a very long time and it was a really good price plus it's originally patched and has provenance. I've always wanted a truely all Aussie A-2 and it's perfect to go with my 380thBG jacket. The problem i've got though is that the Pilot's name does not appear in any goodle searches other than NARA.

I'm told by the seller his name was
Frank Mimms (more likely Mims)
5thAF 22nd Bomb Grp 2nd Squadron, flew B-26 Marauders, otherwise known as The Red Raiders. It has stitch holes in the eps for what looks like Lt bars, but possibly Capt.

This is what i've found out about him so far;

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER

14058528

14058528



NAME

MIMS#FRANK##############

MIMS#FRANK##############



RESIDENCE: STATE

47

SOUTH CAROLINA



RESIDENCE: COUNTY

045

GREENVILLE



PLACE OF ENLISTMENT

4711

CP CROFT SOUTH CAROLINA



DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY

23

23



DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH

01

01



DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR

42

42



GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION

AV#C

Aviation Cadet



GRADE: CODE

9

Aviation Cadet



BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION

AC#

Air Corps



BRANCH: CODE

20

Air Corps



FIELD USE AS DESIRED

#

#



TERM OF ENLISTMENT

5

Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law



LONGEVITY

###

###



SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL

0

Civil Life



NATIVITY

47

SOUTH CAROLINA



YEAR OF BIRTH

22

22



RACE AND CITIZENSHIP

1

White, citizen



EDUCATION

6

2 years of college



CIVILIAN OCCUPATION

002

Actors and actresses



MARITAL STATUS

6

Single, without dependents



COMPONENT OF THE ARMY

6

Army of the United States - includes the following: Voluntary enlistments effective December 8, 1941 and thereafter; One year enlistments of National Guardsman whose State enlistment expires while in the Federal Service; Officers appointed in the Army of the United States under Army Regulations 605-10

The seller can't or won't provide any more detail about who he bought it off but has confirmed that it was bought in the Charlotte, NC area- so that might concur with his birthplace? Anyhow, if any other super sleuths can help out i'd appreciate it. As usual i'm after the plane number, name, crew details and if at all possible a photo!!

From this end i'm trying to dig deeper into just who ws V505 but it's probably lost in the mists of time. It was most likely a Melbourne based leathergoods maker (either Lasicas or Stag) and i suspect these might have been sold at large PX's. Since this group arrived in Brisbane (Amberley Field) and there was a big main PX on the corner of Adelaide and Creek Sts so Mims may have well picked it up there. I like this theroy as I know this old building well and it's still standing. Who knows.....

 

[Dr H]

You got one! Well done Andrew

 

[Weasel_Loader]

Nice grab and great photos.

 

[deeb7]

Good work, Andrew ... sorry it was at a bad time, but it had to be done.

 

[tater]

By mid '43, the 22d BG had a mixture of B-26s and B-25s. In the beginning of 1944, they started to transition to B-24s.

The 2d squadron was pulled out at some point, and returned to combat in April of '44.

I'm looking at pictures for you (I have a 600+ page unit history of the 22d BG in my lap).

tater

 

[Andrew]

Wow, thanks for doing that Mr T. Hopefully there'll be something, but I won't be too hopeful since I haven't had any success even with all the info i've got. It is interesting how different the diffent unit associations are- with the 380thBG you can get quite lucky with names as the have almost complete crew rosters on their website and heaps of crew shots. Any info on the patch would be useful too- I presume it's a wild Turkey?

Dave, you're right about that, but right now I have a few untended leaks in my rowboat so i'll have to move fast offloading. Any chance of you working your seach magic on this mystery?

Danny and Ian thanks, i'll do a proper review in due course- the details are really well worth describing and are often very different from the normal contracts. Interestingly it has a collar stand, i'm sure this pattern has been based on one particular US contract and that the maker attempted to copy it but the end result was their own local variation.

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Thanks anyway Tater, i'll have to try to get a copy of that one.

 

[tater]

Can't find a reference to your man. The book is excellent, however: http://irandpcorp.com/products/books/22bg

Format: Hardcover, 624 pages, over 1000 photos, 32 page color section

 

[unclegrumpy]

The service number you have is his enlisted number when he was a Cadet. To get anywhere you are going to need his later Officer number.

 

[tater]

Wow... it says actor above. A Frank Mims went to my school, UNM, before the war here in Albuquerque.

Taken in 1935 from a play at the U... wonder if it's the same guy.

 

[dujardin]

great jacket

hope you found your answer

 

[Andrew]

Wow... it says actor above. A Frank Mims went to my school, UNM, before the war here in Albuquerque.

Taken in 1935 from a play at the U... wonder if it's the same guy.

Tater, i'd noticed that as well. He would've been 13 in 1935 and that guy does look older....

Cory, any ideas how to do that?

 

[Andrew]

Hey Tater, just wondering if you checked the index and he wasn't listed, but looking through this sample of the contents of the book it shows an appendix of 22nd Group planes, pilots and crew chiefs. I don't suppose he might appear in one of these lists?

http://irandpcorp.com/revenge-samples

 

[Dr H]

Horsehide Andrew? Any evidence of 'roo skin grain?

 

[deeb7]

Dave, you're right about that, but right now I have a few untended leaks in my rowboat so i'll have to move fast offloading. Any chance of you working your seach magic on this mystery?

I can't find any photos, but here's a little more bio ...

• Charlotte, N.C.
  
  Mr. Frank Mims, 80, of Charlotte, N.C., died Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002, at Carolinas Medical Center, University in Charlotte.
  
  His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8, at Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, with the Rev. Greg Gillispie and Mr. Mims' daughter, the Rev. Marguerite M. Rourk, officiating. Interment will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
  
  Born Jan. 17, 1922, in Greenville, a son of the late David Henry and Mae Springfield Mims, Mr. Mims grew up in Greenville and attended Furman University. He flew bombers in Australia and New Guinea in the Pacific Theater during World War II, rising to the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was retired after many years of selling large trucks, most notably for Tarheel Ford Truck Sales. Mr. Mims was a member of Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church, where he had served as an Elder, taught Sunday School for many years, was active in the Loafers Seniors Group and participated in various choirs, most especially the Handbell Choir, his latest passion.
  
  Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Sara Murray Mims; two daughters, the Rev. Marguerite M. Rourk and her husband David, of Columbia, and Carolyn M. O'Connor and her husband Frank, of Ocoee, Fla.; one son, Murray Frank Mims, of Charleston; one brother, Fred Mims, of Greenville; three sisters, Mary Lou Reid, Frances O'Connor and Eleanor Glenn, all of Greenville; and three grandsons, Anthony Wood and Edwin and Matthew Rourk.
  
  In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Hickory Grove Presbyterian Church, 5735 E. W.T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28215; or the charity or organization of the donor's choice.
  
  The Wilson Chapel of Hankins & Whittington Funeral Service, 5301 Albermarle Road, Charlotte, (704) 568-2106, is serving Mr. Mims' family.

Published in The Greenville News: 02-08-2002

 

[Andrew]

Amazing. Thanks so much for finding this Dave. There is so much information there and builds quite a picture of his postwar life. Sounded like a gentle fella. It's incredible how many years these items float around as just relics until people like us try to piece back their history. Makes me wonder how it came to be sold out of the family and if they'd rather not be contacted about it.

Thanks again.


Ian, I suppose kangaroo hide has been used by modern leather goods makers for a long time, but I suspect back then it probably wasn't used commercially. The leather on this jacket is thick and a little spongey, a little stiff and kind of fragile but a lot heavier than US made A-2's. That may also be in part due to the heavier than normal cotton drill lining. As you can see in places like the collar it's lost its top coat. I think the thickness of the hide points to a larger critter but I have no idea if they were cutting up horses here as they were in the States at that time. I just imagine that it's cowhide but i'll try to get some good closeup shots of the surface and the rough out side in the pockets. I have samples of recent kangaroo and they're nothing like the slightly pebbled surface of this leather- they look more like horsehide. Maybe it's wombat hide!

I have to say that compared to the luxury of almost all my original maker A-2's it's a bit of a pov version and it's evident that like a lot of gear that was made here at that time it was done under lean circumstances. Compared to any other maker it's certainly not a jacket you'd wear today but it's too unique for that anyway.

 

[tater]

I checked the section on pilots and crew chiefs first. They have the serials of all the aircraft, but they did not manage to associate crew with all of them, sadly. There are plenty of pictures with named—and unknown—crew in the book for 2d squadron.

I should have checked the birthdate before I found that picture, lol. Clearly it is not him.

All the books from those guys are great, BTW, I have all of them, and buy the new ones as soon as they are released.

 

[Peter Graham]

What a great find Andrew. As you say, a lot of these jackets are just relics until some interested person uncovers their history. As I discovered with my B-3, it's so fascinating uncovering a persons life bit by bit. I'm sure you'll find out more soon.

 

[Chris217]

Andrew, to show you what a small world it really is, my maternal grandmothers mother was a Mims. My grandmother just turned 93 and is still as sharp as a tack.. Her branch of Mims lived right outside of Augusta, GA. which is only a couple of hours away from from Greenville, SC..In looking back over some of our Mims family history I have there was a branch of grandmother Mims family that had moved to that area of South Carolina from Augusta before the turn of the century..I'm willing to bet that Frank Mims of Greenville was probably one of my grandmothers distant cousins..I'm sure she never knew him, but I'll ask her tommorow about the branch Greenville Mims and see if she knows anything about them..Awesome jacket by the way!

 

[bombs away]

Hello,

Great find Anbrew !

And what a great story about the past of the jacket.

I know you must be very happy
Congrats !

Tim