387th Bomb Group insignia?

[Anonymous]

This was my first patch done about 7 years ago. As I was just learning I used oil based paint that cracked like crazy. The interesting thing is that it's very difficult to chip the paint off.

This other patch I just finished, the yellow, and black around the edge was plane specific to the Carolinian. Is the 387th this insignia, or was there a squadron number attached to this insignia? I have looked in the maurer book, and the 387th is different.

 

[shedonwanna]

I believe this is the 558th squadron insignia. Diagonal yellow and black "Tiger Stripes" painted across the top of the vertical stabilizer were used to identify their B-26 aircraft as 387th group and used creatively on the patch. Mauer usually lists the last approved "official" patch and not always the one from WWII.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the update.

 

[shedonwanna]

Thanks for the update.

Glad to be of assistance - now get back to painting!

 

[a2jacketpatches]

The cracks look great, a little of that ecoflow rubbed in would do it even better. Put that on ebay and say you did it on purpose.

 

[CBI]

both look great!

 

[Ian C]

Superb

 

[EMBLEMHUNTER]

In the Mauer & Mauer book you have to make sure and check the "approval" date of the emblem shown, most were of WW2 design, but there were quite a few that were in the book that weren't used until "post war" , there were quite a few "Unofficial" Group and Squadron emblems that were worn by the USAAF and the others services , but those being of that nature were not "officially" recorded into the unit records .
I have been researching these era emblems for about 30 years now and have found quite a few of the "Unofficial" types used during WW2 , it is fascinating to know that there were so many like this , it is understandable that the units were so busy with flying and the war that they even had time to have emblems made up let alone send them to proper "Official" channels for "approval" , and sometimes even then if they were submitted for various rules they weren't always "approved" and were supposed to be re-designed, but some units just went ahead and used them anyway.

That's when you have to really scour the books/interenet and talk with people at shows etc to track down an "Unofficial" design to not only find out what unit it was with but when and then sometimes there were "variations" in both how/where they were made and in thier details, they sometimes had a emblem made up while in the US and used only then , after being deployed into combat they usually went for a more "agressive " emblem as a lot of the "stateside " one were more "cartoonish" type like those done by Disney/WB etc .

Your patch is that of the 558th Bombardment Squadron, as far as I have been able to ascertain the "Group" never had an Official or Unofficial emblem, only the squadrons had them, that's another oddity too of WW2 unit emblems, some would only have a "Group" emblem and no "Squadron" , and then some would have a "Group" and a few squadron emblems but not all and then some had none at all for WW2 .

So as you can see it is a very interesting and time consuming and ongoing research effort , but one I never tire of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny

 

[Anonymous]

Your the man Johnny.