A few A-2's from the collection

[Steve27752]

A belated welcome to the forum.
Just to echo what has already been said, what a marvelous collection of jackets you have.
Thanks for posting them.

 

[Silver Surfer]

thank you for sharing with us, jon. outstanding!

 

[Chandler]

After the AAF cancelled the A-2, in some cases they ran out of jackets to issue to later war
flyers, thus the PP jackets.

It's been heavily alluded that the A-2 remained on in stores for many years after WW2, and after the cancellation from issue, some even into the Korean conflict. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to know the whys and wherefores for the purchase of this jacket. Besides, it's already been shown that the original owner had no complete affinity to leather!

Chandler

 

[JGC]

I thought I was out of A-2's to show, but I found one more. This jacket is named to W.J. Basman, I have no information on this airman, other then he flew in the CBI theater. The blood chit on the back is quite interesting, it appears to be theater made. Jon

 

[Anonymous]

Again, thank you all for the welcome to this forum. This next A-2 is named to Lt H.W. Agan, he flew P-38's with the 339th Fighter Squadron. This is the outfit that was given the task of intercepting Japanese Admiral Yamamoto's plane and shooting it down. If anyone has information on the patch on the left breast, I'd be interested in finding out if this is a Group or Squadron patch. Thanks Jon

I have a friend who has a Sefton Clothing Steerhide jacket that is 12 years old and the EXACT of that hide. Incredible.

J_H
PS NICE collection by the way.................

 

[Chandler]

I have a friend who has a Sefton Clothing Steerhide jacket that is 12 years old and the EXACT of that hide. Incredible.

Oooh... be careful of that can of worms -- we all know what insinuating (even unconsciously) steerhide may have originally been used can bring on!

Chandler

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry Chandler, couldn't resist it. i have a reputation to maintain :twisted:

The statement is true though !

J_H

 

[Chandler]

The statement is true though !

And I love the steady character my ELC Star is developing... ELC Steerhide Star, that is!

Chandler

 

[JGC]

I thought I'd try and post a few more of my jackets, this one came from a yard sale in my hometown. Its a B-10 named to Lt Col Dan Kauerauf, a B-24 pilot with the 451st Bomb Group, 726th Bomb Squadron. Lt Col Kauerauf flew 50 missions and won a Distinguished Flying Cross for a mission to Ploesti, Romania.

 

[JGC]

I guess you wouldn't consider this M-41 to be a flight jacket, but its one of my favorites. I have a number of these walking out jackets, I think they were made for leaves and R&R. The jacket is named to Jack Curtis who flew on B-25's with the 81st Bomb Squadron in the CBI theater of operations. Both shoulder patches are theater made, the squadron patch is soft leather and was probably also theater made. Earthquakers is the nickname of the squadron and is drawn on the front of the jacket , but also in leather across the back of the jacket. Milly was the name of the B-25 and she is sitting inside the outline of the state of Oregon, which was the state that Curtis was from.

 

[TankBuster]

Very neat M-41! I've never seen anything like that! (the leather Earthquakers)

 

[Andrew]

I can see why you like it so much, a very unique jacket.

You may already know but "Milly" is Miss March from the 1944 Vargas calendar. Her line is"My bankroll is as skimpy as my very brief apparel, but since my taxes crush the Axis, why, i'd gladly wear a barrel!"

 

[johnwayne]

Got to agree with everyone this is one of the best threads except like a lot of us I'm sure, I'm so envious!! As I mentioned previously, this is the 'holy grail' as far as I'm concerned, however, that M41 is pretty special too, looks like a tailor has been commissioned to chop off the bottom and shorten it then use the cut off piece to make a waist band - I've never seen one like that before - might buy a repro and have ago a that!!

Let me add my thanks to all the others

Wayne

 

[Chandler]

I guess you wouldn't consider this M-41 to be a flight jacket, but its one of my favorites.

There are some odd modifications on that M-41. Was it issue or private purchase (could you buy that style jacket off the rack back when?)?

Chandler

 

[JGC]

Thanks for the positive comments on the M-41 jacket. Andrew, I had no idea that Milly was Miss March 1944, thanks for the info. As far as the jacket is concerned, it is an issue piece that was tailored. I've got a number of WWII era uniforms that were shortened from 4 pocket tunics and made into Ike jackets with the same belt configuration. Its obvious that Jack Curtis wanted the most unique jacket in the squadron, I think he succeeded. Thanks Jon

 

[Andrew]

Jon, here she is.....

 

[JGC]

Jon, here she is.....

Fantastic Andrew, thanks for posting. Thought this would be an interesting comparison. Jon

 

[Andrew]

Jon, from the looks of the scale of your drawing it's been done at actual size which suggests that they just traced over her to make their version. I found that this was probably done on a jacket I used to own. Just for fun I did some reconstructive archaeology on the art so I took a one to one copy from my original calendar and overlaid it and it was a perfect fit. Makes sense as they could bet the best rendition of it plus they are already at a good scale for jacket art.

This was the final reconstruction of how it might have once looked (using photoshop)

 

[JGC]

Andrew, that would have been a fantastic looking jacket. Did you also photo shop the lettering? Thanks Jon

 

[JGC]

I thought I'd go ahead and post the pictures of the other 2 M-41 field jackets. This first jacket came out of a yard sale in central Illinois about 15 years ago. Its for a NCO with the 487th fighter squadron, its got some great looking patches, some theater made. This particular squadron was attached to the 8th airforce, and flew mostly P-47's, and P-51's towards the end of the war.