Nice period photos of A-2's

[Micawber]

A couple of original 8” x 10”’s i just received.
Some of the A-2 fitting will craze some of you !

View attachment 22707View attachment 22708View attachment 22709

Oh dear oh dear, the nitpickers would have a field day regarding fit if someone posted images of themselves wearing a repro jacket like some of those.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Notice the 4 RAF pilots in the second photo Burt ......?

 

[Smithy]

Great photos. What I find interesting is the RAF officer in the first photo wearing an A-2 and the 3 RAF officers wearing A-2s in the second photo.

I know that several RAF types were attached to Greenville as instructors during the war so there's a good chance that these men are just that.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Spot on Smithy.
One of my colleagues had a father who was an RAF B-24 pilot in WW2 in the Pacific. He did flight training in the US so got USAAF & RAF wings. No idea about an A-2 though....

 

[Smithy]

The only RAF guys I know who got US flight jackets were those on exchange with US squadrons for flying experience, were instructors (like these chaps) or had bartered them from a US servicemen (this is pretty rare but I have an occasion in some of my things regarding an A-2 in this manner).

The only RAF administered units flying off British soil to wear A-2s were the Norwegian ones and especially 331 and 332 Sqns. They were issued them at Little Norway in Canada during flight training via a procurement deal for flying clothing and kit brokered by the Norwegian government in exile, and flew with them operationally during the war. It's the only use of A-2s at a unit level within the RAF during the war.

 

[B-Man2]

God 3 of the RAF guys look so young. I think Smithy is spot on. The US and UK had for lack of a better description, what is known in the military as “ cross pollination” or exchange programs. This seems to be the case in this photo. They would have been fitted with US jackets and kit the same as many US pilots were in the UK with British Kit.
I’m not talking about the Eagle Squadron Pilots but rather the US pilots we look at everyday who happen to be wearing UK helmets, mosquito boots , British life jackets and easy escape parachute harnesses with the twist and click release feature etc.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Not an A-2 ..... i’m sure there’s a story of how this guy got an Irvin. Eagle guy Smithy ?

 

[Smithy]

Don't know the fellow nor the pic sorry. In terms of the 4th FG there's quite a few photos from their early days of them wearing Irvins which they had been issued whilst member of the RAF as Eagles.

That jacket looks to be a later war example due to the panel configuration - the Irvins you tend to see former Eagles wearing in the 4th are the 2 or 4 panel examples - so perhaps this one in the photo was obtained through cross service experience later in the war.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Tim, is it multi-panel or are those electrical lines ?
Either way, you are right, an early BoB pattern it sure ain’t

 

[Spitfireace]

Yes, weird panels even for a 44

 

[Edward]

381st Bomber Group Ridgewell England WW2
- Front Row : L to R
1. Pilot Leonard E. Zapenski -Chicago Il POW
2. 2nd Pilot 2nd Lt Othmer G Widash - Los Angeles Ca
3. Nav . Me --Dave POW
4. Bomb. 2nd Lt Robert Van Buskirk - San Diego Calif. POW
Standing L to R
1. Eng. Sgt William E. Webb W. Palm Beach Fla
2. A. Eng Sgt Hamilton B. Harper Winston- Salem NC
3. Radio O. Sgt George J Pastre Pasadena Ca POW
4. Sgt Peter Kudviavitz Jr Springfield Vt ENG
5 A. Arm Sgt James E. Wilson Hillsboro Oregon POW
6 (Not Shown) Cpl Donald a Harness St Louis Mo POW

 

[B-Man2]

Whenever you see photos like this, you forget that there’s a back story and sometimes it’s not a happy one .

 

[Brettafett]

Standing
2. A. Eng Sgt Hamilton B. Harper Winston- Salem NC
Looks like he's wearing an Eastman House Catch-22 jacket. Look at that collar!

 

[Micawber]

Tim, is it multi-panel or are those electrical lines ?
Either way, you are right, an early BoB pattern it sure ain’t

Looks like a wired jacket.

 

[Carl]

Not very clear . But when i get the photo.in hand ill scan it .
303rd Bg 427th BS crew completed 34 mi

ssions (?)

 

[pathdoc2]

Another of my favourites. Don Lopez, 23FG, Flying Tiger Sharks... Wearing his Star A-2 (russet) patched up nicely.
View attachment 8690

I read Don's book; Into the Teeth of the Tiger back in the late 80's, really enjoyed it. I've recently met a good friend of Don's named Sid Moore from Australia. The man is a huge source of good info.

 

[Edward]

You can tell who's wearing the Russet in this bunch!

Captain Tucker and crew of the 92nd Bomb Group beside the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Seymour Angel", England, 7 December 1943.

 

[Edward]

Lucky Graki serial # 41-34854 coded RJ-N had one of the most distinguished careers of all the Marauders in the 323rd Bomb Group, 454th Bomb Squadron. Having survived the war, it completed 197 combat missions at wars Its first mission was on July 16, 1943 against the Abbeville Marshaling Yards, France. It participated both in the D-Day bombing and the very last mission of WWII the 454th flew to the Erding Airdrome in Germany on April 25th, 1945 to take out the airport and the Me262’s based there.

 

[B-Man2]

Cool photo and story Ed.

 

[Edward]

I want to be THIS guy!