WW2 real deal flight jacket

[Kyle Hawbaker]

Picked up the jacket and sword this weekend. 374th Bombardment Squadron, 14th AAF, CIB Unit

 

[B-Man2]

Wow !! great find …. And it’s a size 46…. That in itself is a find in that size . Did you pick it up at a show or through an another source .? No need to say where or who .

 

[Nickb123]

A beauty.

 

[ausreenactor]

Picked up the jacket and sword this weekend. 374th Bombardment Squadron, 14th AAF, CIB Unit

Well done!

 

[VeraVoulik]

What a beauty!! I love it!!

 

[Brettafett]

Jeepers, what a find!

 

[Silver Surfer]

outfriggnstanding!

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Wow. Just Wow. To think that there are gems like that still out there, waiting to be found. Well done, Kile. Look after it well, for that is a piece of history you got there.

 

[blackrat2]

That is an awesome find, great bit of history saved
Do you know much about the original owner and the story behind the jacket and sword
Thanks for posting

 

[Silver Surfer]

if ya look at the bs patch, you will see that the artist who created the design had made more than a demon gripping bombs. the demon gripping bombs is a skull type face. this particular patch is one of my favs due to this well thought out sophisticated double image. no Micky mousing here.

 

[Kyle Hawbaker]

Wow !! great find …. And it’s a size 46…. That in itself is a find in that size . Did you pick it up at a show or through an another source .? No need to say where or who .

I work part time in a retail cutlery store. People are always bringing in knives to sell or have appraised. This elderly woman came in to the store looking to sell the sword. In our conversation, she said she had a jacket for sale too. I have collected jackets for years but have never owned an authentic (theater worn) flight jacket. I made her an offer on both and the rest is history. I am still trying to authenticate the sword. If it's legit, it was made somewhere between 1429 to 1441.

 

[Kyle Hawbaker]

That is an awesome find, great bit of history saved
Do you know much about the original owner and the story behind the jacket and sword
Thanks for posting

The jacket belonged to a family member of the lady who sold it to me. She provided me photos and documentation to go along with it. She doesn't remember much about the sword other than it was in her house since she was a little girl. Markings on the handle indicate it is Yoshii Kiyonori, Muromachi period, 1429 to 1441 from the Bizen school. I still need to get the sword authenticated.

 

[Kyle Hawbaker]

I also wanted to add the leather is in incredible condition with no real cracks or tears. The cuffs and waistband do have quite a few moth holes. The blood chit sewn inside does have a lot of wear, but the escape map in the pocket is in really good condition. Also, the zipper functions really well.

 

[Flightengineer]

An incredible purchase!

 

[warguy]

A very nice jacket (and sword). I hope you can put together as much information as possible on the owner of the jacket. I would rather have an original with tattered Original cuffs, zipper and liner any day to one with replaced parts. Those are getting hard to find. I know some folks like wearing these, but they are historical artifacts first and foremost and I encourage you to keep it as is and treat it with care. You don’t see very many with the 14th AF patch on it like this. As already stated, great squadron patch as well. Congratulations!

 

[Silver Surfer]

man, ya lucked out, big time. pix and documentation? better yet.

 

[Grant]

Wow! Great to still see amazing originals popping up - and that squadron patch is totally bad ass! Congrats, Kyle!

 

[London Cabbie]

Escape map too…Well done Thankyou

 

[bazzer]

Excellent find well done in great condition
Baz

 

[Dimitry M]

Just wow! Now how many body parts did ya have to snip off to get your claws on these?