Lorenzo_l
Well-Known Member
Part 1. the jacket
Sometime last year, I was lucky enough to acquire, from a member of this forum, an original Dubow 27798 A-2 in the less common goatskin. I have been meaning to post a review of this jacket for a while, so here it is. All pictures are mine unless noted.
Photo courtesy of Vic (@silversurfer)
The jacket has known provenance to a fighter pilot in the ETO (more on that and the patch in Part 2) and is in wearable condition. Upon getting the jacket, I was blown away by how supple yet strong the goatskin skin is. I asked Vic before getting the jacket whether he thought the jacket needed conditioning, and he said it didn't. After 80+ years, the hide is in excellent condition and definitely needs no conditioning. The collar lobes on the Dubow are, in my opinion, the best!
The back of the jacket (Photo courtesy of Vic (@silversurfer)):
You will notice a faint painting of a P-38 on the back. This is the type of aeroplane that the jacket's original owner used to fly. This picture shows the painting a bit better:
The painting is fading, but one can clearly identify the aeroplane as a P-38.
The squadron patch:
The patch is that of the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force. The 14th FG fought in Tunisia and the Italian campaign. According to sources, it is likely that the patch could have been commissioned in Italy to a local artisan, while the unit was stationed there. It differs some from the official patch, which might attest to a local commission
The nametag:
While the nametag reads "W. D. Semple", the jacket was very likely issued to Warren Everett Semple. Upon discussing this with Vic, I was told that misspelt names on nametags were a fairly common occurrence.
The nomenclature, including the inspector's stamp:
The epaulettes, with the rank insignia's stitch marks:
The left sleeve's AAF meatball:
It wasn't until taking and inspecting the above picture that I noticed the stitch marks along the meatball's circumference. Obviously, another patch (probably 15th AF's?) was probably sewn onto the sleeve.
The right-hand sleeve bears a painted US flag:
More pics on a follow-up post
Sometime last year, I was lucky enough to acquire, from a member of this forum, an original Dubow 27798 A-2 in the less common goatskin. I have been meaning to post a review of this jacket for a while, so here it is. All pictures are mine unless noted.
Photo courtesy of Vic (@silversurfer)
The jacket has known provenance to a fighter pilot in the ETO (more on that and the patch in Part 2) and is in wearable condition. Upon getting the jacket, I was blown away by how supple yet strong the goatskin skin is. I asked Vic before getting the jacket whether he thought the jacket needed conditioning, and he said it didn't. After 80+ years, the hide is in excellent condition and definitely needs no conditioning. The collar lobes on the Dubow are, in my opinion, the best!
The back of the jacket (Photo courtesy of Vic (@silversurfer)):
You will notice a faint painting of a P-38 on the back. This is the type of aeroplane that the jacket's original owner used to fly. This picture shows the painting a bit better:
The painting is fading, but one can clearly identify the aeroplane as a P-38.
The squadron patch:
The patch is that of the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force. The 14th FG fought in Tunisia and the Italian campaign. According to sources, it is likely that the patch could have been commissioned in Italy to a local artisan, while the unit was stationed there. It differs some from the official patch, which might attest to a local commission
The nametag:
While the nametag reads "W. D. Semple", the jacket was very likely issued to Warren Everett Semple. Upon discussing this with Vic, I was told that misspelt names on nametags were a fairly common occurrence.
The nomenclature, including the inspector's stamp:
The epaulettes, with the rank insignia's stitch marks:
The left sleeve's AAF meatball:
It wasn't until taking and inspecting the above picture that I noticed the stitch marks along the meatball's circumference. Obviously, another patch (probably 15th AF's?) was probably sewn onto the sleeve.
The right-hand sleeve bears a painted US flag:
More pics on a follow-up post
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