Lucien Truscott wearing his A2

[dinomartino1]

Personalities: Major General L K Truscott, who took over command of the Allied bridgehead from General Lucas on 23 February, presents the Legion of Merit to Brigadier General R G Ramey in Nettuno Square.

Lieutenant General von Senger und Etterlin, Commander 14 Panzer Corps, meets General Mark Clark, Lieutenant General McCreary and Lieutenant General L K Truscott at 15 Army Group Headquarters where the Germans received instructions regarding the unconditional surrender of German forces in Italy and West Austria

General Sir Harold Alexander, C-in-C 15th Army Group, with Maj Gen Truscott and other senior Allied commanders, 5 May 1944.

 

[B-Man2]

Hi Dino
Great post but look again closely . That’s not an A2. It has no knits and the cuffs are button cuffs. It’s a private purchase jacket that looks like an A2 but isn’t .
Cheers

 

[dinomartino1]

Yes, I did not look too hard and I spelt his name wrong , oh well.

 

[Silver Surfer]

if i am not mistaken, white feather [austrian? german? company] makes a repro of the truscott jacket. john lever either has one or thought about getting one a few years back.

 

[Kennyz]

General Truscott's jacket has come up a few times here in the past as I recall, dinomartino1.

Silver Surfer that is true, here's the thread about the repro of the General's jacket, our own John Lever is wearing it.

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/whitefeather-generals-jacket.20336/#post-189030

Ken

 

[MikeyB-17]

The chaps in the background of the Alexander pic are having a good laugh about something.

 

[jeremiah]

Nice pics and good eye Burt.

 

[Silver Surfer]

the funny thing about that truscott jacket is that it would see to me to be the one that most likely inspired the wardrobe dept in the raiders films.....and then the knock offs. dollars for donuts that the folks that make the knock offs dont even know about the original truscott jacket.....even stu at lw doesent mention it....or at least years ago didnt when he started making his "raiders" jacket.

 

[CBI]

Great pics but with the exception of the first one, he really doesn't look good wearing it. Does not fit him well IMO and correct, not an A-2.

But again, cool pics!

 

[zoomer]

General Truscott's jacket has come up a few times here in the past as I recall, dinomartino1.

Silver Surfer that is true, here's the thread about the repro of the General's jacket, our own John Lever is wearing it.

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/whitefeather-generals-jacket.20336/#post-189030

Ken

Pretty handsome design there. But I'm suspicious the front "surround" stitching indicates pieced-in panels around the zipper. Am I wrong?

 

[Silver Surfer]

nope, just the leather folded over, as a form of jetting.

 

[Spitfireace]

The chaps in the background of the Alexander pic are having a good laugh about something.

Normally Generals don't appreciate a good laugh.

 

[Bombing IP]

The first picture in my opinion is an A2 with modified cuffs ,the rest are different jacket ,because the first jacket has a flap over the zip as A2 jackets do and larger pocket flaps.The other jackets have the zipper exposed like a G1 with smaller flaps.

BIP

 

[Pilot]

The chaps in the background of the Alexander pic are having a good laugh about something.

An open fly/zip?

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

We've looked at this a few times, even considered a repro at one point but came to the conclusion he probably desinged it himself.
Having never seen another period jackert remotely like it, nearest being an Avarix jacket, something 8? and The Raider's jacket, another fantasy jacket.
It looks as if it's based on a very short 30's Half Belt but I've not see any pics of the back.
Add some epaulettes, top stitched facing Levi Manalo style, and Cargo belows pockets, very untypical of leather jackets pre the 1970s It sounds like the sort of novice designed jacket we turn down the opportunity to make at least once a week

 

[zoomer]

The G-8 is what you're thinking of, Ken. A faux Navy design (sometimes known as "Type 440") cribbing from the M-444 but without the sheepfuzz. No bi-swing but gusseted armpits and a slender, adjustable beltback.

As for the epaulets, the man was a frigging 3 star general. He wants epaulets, he gets epaulets.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Very Close if not exactly what I was thinking of.
Avirex were the first to do the style, they called it the Type G-8
Lots of other folk copied it, i'm assuming they thought it was a rare military issue
The one above looks like one of the copies

 

[Bombing IP]

May be this will help

He was superstitious about his clothing, and usually wore a leather jacket, "pink" (light khaki) pants and lucky boots in combat. He also wore a white scarf as a trademark, first during the Sicilian campaign.

It was only long after his death that it became known that he worked for the CIA from 1951 until 1958. None of his papers nor his books mention his CIA activities but the declassification of a secret memorandum brought Truscott’s service to light in 1994. He was assigned as senior CIA representative in Germany and in charge of the cloak-and-dagger operations in the country.


BIP