Nice period photos of A-2's

[Brettafett]

Thought I'd add some pics to the mix...

 

[Officer Dibley]

thats awesome Dibley! love the expression on the captain's face holding the bear mascot! I have been looking at various crew pics myself to have blown up to small poster size to hang in my man cave!

Trouble as you know Edward is that blowing up to 8" x 12" looses detail.
I think you can ask for prints held by the IWM and specify the size. If taken from an original negative, quality can remain pretty good. I have one of Capt Scott & party at the South Pole taken from the original plate. Awesome quality.
The one posted above i bought from a bric-a-brac stall for £4.

 

[dmar836]

Bretta, Got an ID on that first photo?
Dave

 

[Pilot]

Any tight fit?
Thx for sharing, love these photos.

 

[Smithy]

Bretta, Got an ID on that first photo?
Dave

That's a photo of the 513th FS in September 1944.

 

[Brettafett]

Bretta, Got an ID on that first photo? Dave

Dave, I grabbed it here... https://353rdfightergroup.wordpress...oner-352nd-fighter-squadron-and-oral-history/
Pilots of the 513th FS, 406th FG, 9th AF

 

[Brettafett]

Love this pic of Capt. Horace Waggoner - Now thats how to wear an A-2 and a crusher cap.

 

[Greg Gale]

I love how ww2 piltos spread the collars of their A-2, flat, pointing sideways. It's not easy to achieve that effect with modern repros.

 

[dmar836]

Looks like Capt. Waggoner has the internal pockets added as well. I wonder how many did that?
Great shots, guys!
Dave

 

[Brettafett]

You know, most of the pics I've seen with those inside pocket 'rigger-mods', have been with the 352nd FG... It could not have been only them...?
(352nd FG, 486th FS Frank Cutler, Steven Andrew and Capt Edwin Heller)

Also see Eastman's 352nd FG Elite Units Monarch.

 

[Grant]

Great photos guys. Thanks for posting.

 

[unclegrumpy]

Two of the guys are sporting the 352nd's patch...which is one you don't off see...

 

[falcon_ib]

M/Sgt. John Vincent McCrum of the 5th Air Force's 43rd Bomb Group, 403rd Squadron, the "Mareeba Butchers."

According to legend, the 43rd's nickname "Ken's Men" was taken on to honor skip bombing pioneer Capt. Ken McCullar of 63rd Squadron, whose B-17 hit a wallaby on takeoff from Seven-Mile Airfield, New Guinea, in April 1943. Different sources also attribute adoption of the name to General George C. Kenney, commander of the 5th Air Force, and General Kenneth Walker, commander of V Bomber Command.

The 403rd's nickname also has a morbid origin. From the 403rd Bombardment Squadron History, August 1944: "The story goes, that the 43rd Bomb Group, in conjunction with the old 19th Bomb Group, allowed a few of their bombs to stray into a Geisha-girl house while on a mission over Rabaul. The damage to the darlings of the Japanese soldiers, according to Madam Tojo of Radio Tokyo fame, was a little more than devastating, and she swore vengeance on the 'butchers' of her 'innocent girls'. The 403rd Squadron of the 43rd Group, because several of their crews had figured in the bombing, took an almost malicious delight in the attention they received, and they adopted the name, 'Mareeba Butchers.' Since then the 'Butchers' have laid down their bombs on targets from Lao to Davao. So well they have done their job, Madame Tojo continues to threaten them at frequent intervals, on her radio program, and the 'Butchers' accept each threat as an additional incentive to live up to their name, and put their bombs where they will do the most good."

From an October 1943 article by Robert Cromie titled, "Tribune Writer Sees Raid From 'Satan's Sister'" --
"'Don't bomb the geisha houses' some one yelled.
'Why not?' a companion asked. 'You can kill more Japs there than anywhere else.'
'Yeah,' the first speaker said, 'but the last time we did they got awfully mad.'"

T/Sgt. Louis Baron, New Guinea 1944

 

[Brent]

M/Sgt. John Vincent McCrum's jacket looks out of the box new. Great picture.

Regards,

 

[Silver Surfer]

hahahahaha, they look like leo gorcey, huntz hall, et al, known in film as the the east side kids.

 

[B-Man2]

hahahahaha, they look like leo gorcey, huntz hall, et al, known in film as the the east side kids.

Hahaha.....I didn’t realize that there might be a few other Baby Boomers here. We’re probably the only people who still remember those guys. I used to see them in the movie theater on Saturday afternoon for .25 plus you got a double feature , a Flash Gordon Segment and 10 cartoons. Glad to know that I’ve got someone else here who remembers who the Bowery Boys were. Thanks for the quick trip down Memory Lane

 

[Officer Dibley]

 

[Silver Surfer]

yup, the full monty on saturday for 25 cents. up and coming jds outta mom and pops hair for four hours...maybe more. plenty of time for mom and pop to add to the family. oh, almost forgot...the sepia tinted flash gordon serials, news reels, cartoons, and what ever else they could throw at us.

 

[Flightengineer]

Famous photo, famous to all A2s fits.
Today Doolittle copilot and last surviving raider Mr. Richard Cole celebrates his 103rd birthday. Let God give Dick health and keep him.
He is living history

 

[Silver Surfer]

103, wow!