Anyone seen WWII color pic of airman wearing Beacon Rust?

[Mac]

We've seen a good number of contemporary pictures of original (WWII era) Aeros with beacon rust knits, on both russet and seal jackets. I've never, however, seen a vintage color pic (from the WWII era) of an serviceman wearing an Aero with rust knits. Has anyone?

On a related note, I was watching "The Devil's Brigade," the movie about the joint American-Canadian commando unit, and I saw an actor (extra) wearing a seal jacket with rust knits. I assumed it was a surviving original, but who knows.

Cheers,

Mac

 

[Chandler]

There was a heckuva mix of originals and modern civilian A2s in the Devil's Brigade.

IIRC, William Holden, Vince Edwards, and Andrew Prine all wore "A2s," and Prine's was the only original.

Chandler

 

[CBI]

I have seen a number of post WWII photos of original Aeros with beacon rust knits. John Chapman was telling me that these redish knits were actually a mistake. The Army ordered and/or received these red knits which were not the color they wanted but decided to use them anyway. The Army supplied all of the materials (hides, knits, hardwear, lining, even labels) to the manufacturers who then cut the patterns and assembled the jackets.

 

[Roughwear]

I have seen a number of post WWII photos of original Aeros with beacon rust knits. John Chapman was telling me that these redish knits were actually a mistake. The Army ordered and/or received these red knits which were not the color they wanted but decided to use them anyway. The Army supplied all of the materials (hides, knits, hardwear, lining, even labels) to the manufacturers who then cut the patterns and assembled the jackets.

This is very interesting. Is there documented proof that the USAAF provided all the materials to all the manufacturers? I would have thought many manufacturers would have sourced their own leather, lining material, zips, snaps, and knits following the military spec for A2s. In the UK it seems the materials for Irvins were sourced by the makers, not the Air Ministry.

 

[Mac]

Likewise, I'd always assumed manufacturers sourced their own materials to produce jackets to fulfill their contracts. I figured Aero, a big sportswear company before the war, had decided to use rust knits the co. had on hand. If the Army was supplying materials to manufacturers, why would they supply only Aero with rust knits (for at least two contracts)? Would the Army really be that involved during wartime? Not arguing against the theory, just find it surprising. Opens whole new speculations about wartime contracts. "Hey, let's send all these purplish knits to Poughkeepsie."

Back to my original query...I've also seen post-war pics of Aeros with rust knits. Given the number of Aero contracts, and the number of surviving jackets with rust knits, I'd wondered if anyone had seen a wartime color photo of such a jacket being worn. O.K., I was hoping someone might have and post a pic. I'll keep looking, and I'll post one if I find it.

Cheers,
Mac

 

[CBI]

Perhaps John Chapman can chime in a bit as he was telling me all of this in re materials, etc. Sounds like he has the background info on all of this. I thought it was all very interesting.

 

[bseal]

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/gw ... ages3.html