A-1 Jacket Time Period

[Jennison]

I was on the Good Wear site reading about the
A-1 jacket. They became non-standard in May, 1931 with the advent of the A-2. No surprise there. What confuses me however, is the statement that the A-1 stock was “finally exhausted during WWII.” What exactly does that mean in light of the A-1’s non-standard classification a decade earlier? Could Air Corps personnel wear A-1 jackets as long as they were available? If so, are there extant WWII period photos of A-1s in service?

 

[mulceber]

In theory, non-standard means they can keep issuing it to pilots, and pilots can keep wearing it and not be out of uniform, it’s just not the latest and greatest equipment anymore.

Personally, I’ve never seen a pilot wearing one during WW2, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t one or two.

 

[B-Man2]

I was on the Good Wear site reading about the
A-1 jacket. They became non-standard in May, 1931 with the advent of the A-2. No surprise there. What confuses me however, is the statement that the A-1 stock was “finally exhausted during WWII.” What exactly does that mean in light of the A-1’s non-standard classification a decade earlier? Could Air Corps personnel wear A-1 jackets as long as they were available? If so, are there extant WWII period photos of A-1s in service?

The brief answer is yes the A-1 jacket could be worn and in fact were worn during the early stages of WWII. I’ve seen a couple of photos of WW II pilots wearing an A-1 in the midst of a few pilots wearing A2’s . I’ll see if I can find one .

 

[Silver Surfer]

I had an a-1 "style" 1930s jacket that was passed on to the son of the original owner vet. the son wore it during the war, and had his bs patch stitched on it. when I purchased the jacket, it came with documentation and pix. point being, not only were a-1s worn during wwll, but some non issue civies as well. and yes, there are some pix of a-1s in wwll service, as Burt pointed out.

 

[Jennison]

Thanks for the replies. This makes sense what you guys write. “Non-standard” doesn’t at all sound like a prohibition, does it. The only curious part, “finally exhausted,” seems to suggest one could ask QM for one and maybe an unissued one. Does that sound right? If you think about it in modern terms, that’s like asking for a piece of gear from 2014.
Burt, that would be awesome to see a photo.

 

[mulceber]

Yep, pilots continued to wear their A-2s and get issued them after they became non-standard. And the last three A-2 contracts were all ordered by the government AFTER the A-2 was declared non-standard, so they were still issuing them.

Burt, that would be awesome to see a photo.

Me too!

 

[Jennison]

Actually, it would be equally interesting to see a War period photo of an A-2 with button pocket-flaps, like a Werber or Aviation Togs (or Goldsmith…yeah, right). All the photos I’ve seen of those (and A-1s) have a bi-plane or hi-wing in the background.

 

[Jennison]

Yep, pilots continued to wear their A-2s and get issued them after they became non-standard. And the last three A-2 contracts were all ordered by the government AFTER the A-2 was declared non-standard, so they were still issuing them.


Me too!

That’s quite interesting. I didn’t realize that about the timing of the final contracts. I thought those were carried out during the “limited standard” period.

 

[mulceber]

Sorry, limited standard. When you initially posted that the A-1 was non-standard, I assumed that was what you meant.

 

[Jennison]

"Non-standard" is the term used by JC in the description. I figured it simply meant that the jacket was no longer issued at all, vs "limited standard" where the jackets were issued by exception. That's why I got tripped over the "finally exhausted during WWII" language. If the jacket wasn't issued at all, how could stores become exhausted?

 

[mulceber]

I’d be interested to hear John’s answer to that. My read on that is that "non-standard" was probably a less jargon-y way of saying “limited standard.”

 

[Jennison]

That would certainly make more sense, at least in this context. While I'm not an expert (like really not) and JC is, I assumed "non-standard" meant something different than "limited standard."

 

[Jennison]

This one is interesting, posted in a different thread. It looks to me to be a depot-refurbished A-2. If so, wouldn't it mean this button-flap jacket was intended for late-war and post-war use?

 

[mulceber]

I actually don't think it is. That's a Security Aviation Togs contract A-2, and all the ones I've seen are a darker, more chocolate-y brown than other early A-2 contracts. See this one from Eastman's book for a comparison.

 

[Jennison]

So, it appears to you that it wasn't redyed? I'm not that learned yet to be able to tell that, I was simply going by the AAF decal, a common feature of depot/later jackets.

 

[mulceber]

Yeah, that was my impression for a while, but I've seen enough jackets with the decal without any evidence of re-dye that I'm kinda agnostic on that point by now. That SAT A-2 you posted COULD have been given a re-dye (evidently by someone who was good at it), but I'm inclined to say that's probably just the original color (plus patina).

 

[Jennison]

From a time period standpoint, would you think an in-service wearer would have applied it? If so, the insignia wasn't approved until 1942. Would it be reasonable to assume the jacket saw Wartime use? Sorry for all the questions (and I should be working...)

 

[mulceber]

Oh yeah, pretty sure this one saw wartime use. Just because it had buttons didn't mean the quartermaster was going to refuse to issue it. It was just another variation among A-2 contracts.

And I think you're probably right, the wearer decided to apply it himself.

 

[Jennison]

So, an A-2 jacket from 1932 could very well be in the QM stocks for issuance just like the later jackets. Like finding a wheat back penny or silver dime in your change. "Hey, how come you guys all have snaps on yours?"

 

[mulceber]

Yep. The other thing is, I've noticed a lot of the SAT/early Werber A-2 jackets that have survived are in larger sizes: 44 and above. One is even a size 50(!). I suspect that the average A-2 size in the early '30s was larger, since at that point most AAC pilots were career officers in their 20s and 30s, and they were therefore bigger. As a result, a decade later, if you needed a 48 or a 50, your chances of getting one of the early contracts was significantly greater than it would be if you were a size 38 (for example).