Why Depot Re-Dyes?

[Jennison]

Hi: I can't wrap my head around this. If A-2 jackets were no longer being issued as of April, 1943, why did the Govt go through all the trouble of re-dying, stamping and adding AAF decals to the turned in jackets? Was this in compliance with the Limited Standard order? If so, how many jackets did they think they'd need to be reissuing under this order and, weren't there still enough new, un-issued jackets in QM stores to meet those limited needs or did we run out? Regarding the latter, we were still well in the dark days of the War, so I would think there'd be plenty of new jackets (given the Govt's penchant for ordering stuff in the heat of war).

Also, if redying was indeed in compliance with the Limited Standard order, can it be assumed that, if I tore my A-2 beyond repair in say, very late 1943, I would be reissued some other guy's redye? To that end, let's take Hilts the Cooler King, as an exanple. Based on the Order, he wouldn't have been issued that re-dye unless he trashed his original A-2, right? By the time re-dyes were in stores, new guys were issued cloth, weren't they?

Sorry for the drivel, but I don't get it. Can someone please enlighten me?

Jennison

 

[B-Man2]

Supply chains were slow. There weren’t cut and dry time lines. Just because the Army stopped issuing A2’s in 43, it didn’t mean that they immediately started issuing B-10s and
B-15s The next month . Also remember that most supply chain items were sent to Europe via ship transport . 42 and 43 saw a lot of U-boats sinking supply ships . And as always the REMF’s always grabbed the latest and greatest equipment first . Couple all this together and it definitely was part of the transition time line problem .

 

[Skyhawk]

That is a whole lot of questions!
I don't have research on this but here are my thoughts:
Depot redyes were performed to refurb turned in A-2's. It was meant to fix them up and make them all a uniform dark brown color. This process probably was phased out when the cloth B-10's were released, because new aircrew would get the cloth jackets. I'm sure there was an overlap while stocks were built up and maybe a lucky few got the redyes if cloth jackets were not available.

 

[Jennison]

B-Man: This statement of yours is SPOT on: "Supply chains were slow. There weren’t cut and dry time lines. Just because the Army stopped issuing A2’s in 43, it didn’t mean that they immediately started issuing B-10s and B-15s the next month."

I took the buzz words from that and found the following (which was really right under my nose, on the History Preservation Associates website, to which I give credit):

"The B-10 Flight Jacket was the first cloth-shelled, alpaca fur-lined flying jacket of the USAAF, being standardized for service in July 1943. However, actual combat issue did not take place until March 1944, with the 8th Air Force in England receiving an initial issue of B-10 Flight Jackets with the corresponding A-9 Trousers. By the spring of 1944, the B-10 Flight Jacket was appearing in much greater quantities, as evidenced by the many 8th and 9thAir Force aircrews outfitted in this jacket in time for the D-Day invasion at Normandy on June 6, 1944."

Red tape, production issues ships (not C-17 Globemasters)...I should've thought of that, but common sense is always a short-round when it comes to me.

Thank you guys.

 

[Pa12]

Supply chains were slow. There weren’t cut and dry time lines. Just because the Army stopped issuing A2’s in 43, it didn’t mean that they immediately started issuing B-10s and
B-15s The next month . Also remember that most supply chain items were sent to Europe via ship transport . 42 and 43 saw a lot of U-boats sinking supply ships . And as always the REMF’s always grabbed the latest and greatest equipment first . Couple all this together and it definitely was part of the transition time line problem .

I think I’ve asked this before but, was the redye, decal and nameplate mandatory? In other words are there examples of russet wth no decal or name tag? I’ve got a good memory, just a bit short.

 

[ludospeed]

Reissue B-3.

 

[mulceber]

I'm not positive on this point, I think there's a misconception that's underlying your confusion:

A-2 jackets were no longer being issued as of April, 1943

Oh they were still issuing them to pilots. They just weren't paying companies to make them anymore. The A-2 had been superseded by the B-10, but they'd made 3/4 of a million A-2 jackets already. They weren't going to stop issuing them to pilots just because it wasn't the latest-and-greatest kit. So after that point, it wasn't the *standard* garment that was issued to airmen, but from my understanding it was still available. And with that kind of investment, it made sense that the government would try and clean up the A-2 and make it look better after use.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

"The B-10 Flight Jacket was the first cloth-shelled, alpaca fur-lined flying jacket of the USAAF, being standardized for service in July 1943. However, actual combat issue did not take place until March 1944,

In today’s garment industry, you need a period between 2-3 month to order materials, set up production schedules, and etc. And the B-10 flight jacket is a kind of complex item, actually delivery time depends on how many workers were available for B-10 ‘s production line.