SethPepper
New Member
That is my Great Uncle Warren Semple's jacket. He was shot down over Orange.
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Original Dubow 27798
- Thread starter Lorenzo_l
- Start date
ShanghaiJack
Well-Known Member
@SethPepper
By chance, could you share with us photos
of your Great Uncle wearing the jacket?
I'd love to see them for sure!
By chance, could you share with us photos
of your Great Uncle wearing the jacket?
I'd love to see them for sure!
Lorenzo_l
Well-Known Member
I will be posting part 2 of the jacket's review, centred on jacket's owner, later this week.
Lorenzo_l
Well-Known Member
Part 2. The man in the jacket
2.1 W. E. Semple
As mentioned in the first post, the Dubow 27798 was very likely issued to Warren Everett Semple (Norwalk, CT, July 11, 1916 – June 15, 1944, despite the nametag on the jacket reading " W.D. Semple"), a P-38 pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, which flew out of a number of places, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Italy during WW2:
Semple in on the second row from the front, second from left (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
There are very few photos of Semple while serving in the ETO. This is the best that I have been able to source:
The keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed, when comparing this image with the image of the jacket in Part 1, that the nametag in the image appears to be larger than that on the jacket. It is hard to match the patch in the image and that on the jacket (Photo Courtesy of The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, New Windsor, NY)
Lt Semple was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal (8 times) and Purple Heart Medal and was credited with 2 air victories. More information on Lt Semple's awards and air victories can be found here: http://raf-112-squadron.org/14thfghonor_roll42_43.html
Lt Semple was shot down over Orange, southern France, on 15 June 1944. It is not clear whether he was shot down by german fighters or anti-aircraft artillery. According to the website: https://norwalkctheroes.org/2020/07/29/first-lieutenant-warren-everett-semple-u-s-army-air-force/ , "On June 15, 1944, Semple and the rest of the 49th Fighter Squadron formed up for the flight home. It was then they noticed Semple’s P-38 was not among them. The last person to see Semple’s aircraft was 2nd Lt Donald Luttrell who stated, “it is my belief that Semple was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire.”"
Lt Semple is buried at Plot B Row 9 Grave 3 of the Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
French historian Nico Courtine, who lives in southern France, held a ceremony to dedicate a plaque monument in honour of Semple at a traffic roundabout in August 2016 at the north end of the city of Orange, in southern France. He also dedicated a memorial to Semple and other fallen US airmen at Plan de Dieu a Travaillan, just north of Orange. More pictures and the story of the ceremony here: https://norwalkctheroes.org/2020/07/29/first-lieutenant-warren-everett-semple-u-s-army-air-force/
2.2 Other jackets and patches of members of the 49th Fighter Squadron:
Roger Latham, 49th FS. The patch looks quite similar to that on Semple's Dubow in Part 1. (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
Ed Baquett and Jim Zingg. Baquet is wearing a B-10 with the 49th FS's patch (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
2nd Lt Donald Luttrell, wearing an A-2 with the 49th FS's patch. There are very good images of Lutrell's jacket, including the patch and the same image above, on page 169 of Maguire and Conway's "American Flight Jackets" book. From the image in the book, the patch looks remarkably similar to that on Semple's Dubow. The book states that the patch is typical of insignia made in Italy. The 49th was based in Triolo, Italy, so it is likely that both Lutrell's and Semple's patches were made in the same place, if not by the same person.
There are pictures of another 49th FS pilot's A-2 jacket (Rocky Clark) on page 92 of Maguire and Conway's "Art of the Flight Jacket", showing what looks like a Dubow with a patch very similar to Semple's jacket. Interestingly, Clark's jacket also has a painting of a P-38 on the back panel which, although bigger than that on Semple's jacket, looks quite similar. Made by the same artists perhaps? Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce the images from Maguire and Conway's books, as they are copyrighted.
Knowing something about the man whose issued jacket I am now the caretaker of makes the experience very special indeed. Ever since I got the jacket I tried to find as much about Lt Semple as I could, including getting in touch with Mr Tony Asterita, the curator of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website, who kindly allowed me to reproduce the pictures on his website for this review, and Nico Courtine, the French historian. At some point, I intend to visit Semple's memorial in Orange as well as his grave Draguignan. Both are within driving distance of where I currently live.
All the pictures in this review were reproduced with permission.
*If you want to know more about the 49th Fighter Squadron Association, here is a link to the website: https://49thfightersquadronassociation.com/
2.1 W. E. Semple
As mentioned in the first post, the Dubow 27798 was very likely issued to Warren Everett Semple (Norwalk, CT, July 11, 1916 – June 15, 1944, despite the nametag on the jacket reading " W.D. Semple"), a P-38 pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, which flew out of a number of places, including Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Italy during WW2:
Semple in on the second row from the front, second from left (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
There are very few photos of Semple while serving in the ETO. This is the best that I have been able to source:
The keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed, when comparing this image with the image of the jacket in Part 1, that the nametag in the image appears to be larger than that on the jacket. It is hard to match the patch in the image and that on the jacket (Photo Courtesy of The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, New Windsor, NY)
Lt Semple was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal (8 times) and Purple Heart Medal and was credited with 2 air victories. More information on Lt Semple's awards and air victories can be found here: http://raf-112-squadron.org/14thfghonor_roll42_43.html
Lt Semple was shot down over Orange, southern France, on 15 June 1944. It is not clear whether he was shot down by german fighters or anti-aircraft artillery. According to the website: https://norwalkctheroes.org/2020/07/29/first-lieutenant-warren-everett-semple-u-s-army-air-force/ , "On June 15, 1944, Semple and the rest of the 49th Fighter Squadron formed up for the flight home. It was then they noticed Semple’s P-38 was not among them. The last person to see Semple’s aircraft was 2nd Lt Donald Luttrell who stated, “it is my belief that Semple was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire.”"
Lt Semple is buried at Plot B Row 9 Grave 3 of the Rhone American Cemetery in Draguignan, France.
French historian Nico Courtine, who lives in southern France, held a ceremony to dedicate a plaque monument in honour of Semple at a traffic roundabout in August 2016 at the north end of the city of Orange, in southern France. He also dedicated a memorial to Semple and other fallen US airmen at Plan de Dieu a Travaillan, just north of Orange. More pictures and the story of the ceremony here: https://norwalkctheroes.org/2020/07/29/first-lieutenant-warren-everett-semple-u-s-army-air-force/
2.2 Other jackets and patches of members of the 49th Fighter Squadron:
Roger Latham, 49th FS. The patch looks quite similar to that on Semple's Dubow in Part 1. (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
Ed Baquett and Jim Zingg. Baquet is wearing a B-10 with the 49th FS's patch (photo courtesy of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website*)
2nd Lt Donald Luttrell, wearing an A-2 with the 49th FS's patch. There are very good images of Lutrell's jacket, including the patch and the same image above, on page 169 of Maguire and Conway's "American Flight Jackets" book. From the image in the book, the patch looks remarkably similar to that on Semple's Dubow. The book states that the patch is typical of insignia made in Italy. The 49th was based in Triolo, Italy, so it is likely that both Lutrell's and Semple's patches were made in the same place, if not by the same person.
There are pictures of another 49th FS pilot's A-2 jacket (Rocky Clark) on page 92 of Maguire and Conway's "Art of the Flight Jacket", showing what looks like a Dubow with a patch very similar to Semple's jacket. Interestingly, Clark's jacket also has a painting of a P-38 on the back panel which, although bigger than that on Semple's jacket, looks quite similar. Made by the same artists perhaps? Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce the images from Maguire and Conway's books, as they are copyrighted.
Knowing something about the man whose issued jacket I am now the caretaker of makes the experience very special indeed. Ever since I got the jacket I tried to find as much about Lt Semple as I could, including getting in touch with Mr Tony Asterita, the curator of the 49th Fighter Squadron Association's website, who kindly allowed me to reproduce the pictures on his website for this review, and Nico Courtine, the French historian. At some point, I intend to visit Semple's memorial in Orange as well as his grave Draguignan. Both are within driving distance of where I currently live.
All the pictures in this review were reproduced with permission.
*If you want to know more about the 49th Fighter Squadron Association, here is a link to the website: https://49thfightersquadronassociation.com/
ShanghaiJack
Well-Known Member
Fantastic...!!!
Brettafett
Well-Known Member
Fantastic read. Thanks Lorenzo.
Exactly Steve!
