Wartime B-15 civilian

[bombs away]

Hello,

Just have a look to this picture.

It's the first time I see a civilian made B-15 on a wartime picture !

I've always thought all these kind of jackets were post war ones, but this General (unidentified) shows I was wrong.

Tim.

 

[Roughwear]

Interesting picture Tim. Yes the B-15 is a civi one, but when exactly was the photo taken and where?

 

[bombs away]

Interesting picture Tim. Yes the B-15 is a civi one, but when exactly was the photo taken and where?

Andrew,
I've found it on Footnote in the "WWII, Burma India" section. No more info.
I have already seen a few mistakes, with some postwar pics in the WWII section, but it's quite rare.

Tim

 

[havocpaul]

I think his rank is a key factor here, so many of the senior officers/generals etc had privately purchased jackets: A-2's, Tanker-style, B-3's and this may be the case here.

 

[bombs away]

I've checked and finally found the back of the picture :

So we have a real civilian B-15 worn in WWII.

Tim

 

[Peter Graham]

Very interesting. Good research Tim, and a cool pic.

 

[better duck]

Gents, pardon my ignorance, but what deductive reasoning leads to the conclusion that this is a civilian B15?
The obvious thing that I can see is the small mouton collar, but is that conclusive?
Or am I missing something? Please enlighten me!

 

[bombs away]

Peter,

On an original military B-15 you should find :
- off-center zipper
- snaps to close the pockets
- no epaulets

Hope it helps

Tim.

 

[better duck]

Peter,

On an original military B-15 you should find :
- off-center zipper
- snaps to close the pockets
- no epaulets

Hope it helps

Tim.

OK, hadn't scrutinized the pic detailed enough! This list leads to the question, together with the small mouton collar, if we could/should call this a B15 derivative at all. General appearance is B15 like, I agree, but il looks like something like a B12.5 (in between a B10 and a B15)

 

[Curahee]

Is it me or are the pockets missing the snap-buttons all together ? how can you tell the zipper is not off-centre ? He is General so he could have had made custom clothing right ?

 

[deeb7]

Is it me or are the pockets missing the snap-buttons all together ? how can you tell the zipper is not off-centre ?

Yes ... no snaps. The zipper meets the mouton collar, if it was offset it would finish under, and the wind flap would be visible along side.

 

[pipvh]

Is there a possibility that the general is Howard C Davidson, commander of the Tench Air Force in the CBI between 1943 and 1945? Someone with access to decent reference books would be able to check this out far better than me, but from looking at online newspapers etc, there is a resemblance.

 

[deeb7]

Is there a possibility that the general is Howard C Davidson, commander of the Tench Air Force in the CBI between 1943 and 1945?

Yes, Tim figured it out ....

viewtopic.php?p=65938#p65938

 

[bombs away]

General appearance is B15 like, I agree, but il looks like something like a B12.5 (in between a B10 and a B15)

I like this idea Peter ! :mrgreen:

Tim.

 

[pipvh]

pipvh wrote:
Is there a possibility that the general is Howard C Davidson, commander of the Tench Air Force in the CBI between 1943 and 1945?


Yes, Tim figured it out ....

Aaagh... Do I need glasses or what? What a waste of bandwidth!

Well, at least I worked it out with good old-fashioned detective work...