POST-WAR RE-ISSUED ROUGH WEAR 23380 TYPE A-2 (B-26 INVADER)

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Gents,

It’s been awhile but today I wanted to share a re-issued A-2, made by Rough Wear contract 23380. This is one example of only 12,000 made under this specific contract awarded in 1941.

This jacket was most likely worn in WWII and re-issued in the post-war, possibly during the Korean War.

Inside liner shows also names and initials from the two previous owners: “JC BRYANT” and “R.A.B 816208”.

The condition is great. The leather is extremely supple and the poly-acrylate lacquer has started to flake off over the years developing an amazing patina, giving that “been there, done that” look.

The knits are original to the jacket. Both cuffs have some holes but they don’t compromise the performance when wearing the jacket.

Original M-41 Crown zipper working perfectly.

Left chest shows ghost stitchings from 2 different name tags removed at some point.

Left shoulder depicts a color printed U.S. AIR FORCE logo.

The back depicts a beautifully hand-painted USAF B-26 Invader dropping a bomb.

Say no more guys, hope you enjoy it!

Regards,
Jorge

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

And of course, the fit pics....

 

[Brettafett]

That is a seriously insane jacket Jorge.

 

[SuinBruin]

Great googly moogly, another amazing addition to the collection. If only it could talk, the stories that jacket would tell....

 

[ausreenactor]

Outstanding. Is this featured in one of the references?

 

[Saint-ex]

 

[Silver Surfer]

ahhhh, yes recently of greedbay. I gave it some thought myself, but decided to let it pass. ya got your self a very nice rw, at a super nice price, Jorge. congrats.

 

[Tom Bowers]

beautiful and much much rarer than an as issued WWII jacket

 

[mulceber]

A great one, as usual, Jorge!

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Thank you guys! I gotta admit that painted jackets are my weakness.... I wish I have had more info about the original owner, but the B-26 is good enough for me.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Outstanding. Is this featured in one of the references?

Not this one, as far as I know it came from an estate sale many years ago. I’ll try to investigate a bit more though....

 

[Smithy]

Ball. Hit. Out of the park.

Just stunning Jorge once again.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

ahhhh, yes recently of greedbay. I gave it some thought myself, but decided to let it pass. ya got your self a very nice rw, at a super nice price, Jorge. congrats.

I totally agree with you Vic! It was sold last year for almost twice on an auction (I was following it that time, but got outbidded last minute. This time she made her way to me.

 

[blackrat2]

That’s another nice looking jacket Jorge
Was it in better shape than you imagined when it arrived or do you buy knowing that the occasional one is “not as described “

 

[MrBlue]

This might be a stupid question, but was the jacket re-dyed when it was re-issued?

 

[mulceber]

No stupid questions, @MrBlue. Yeah, in 1943-44, the USAAF decided they didn’t like having this wide variety of colors in their flight jackets, and didn’t like how grimy russet jackets could look after scrambling around in a plane, so they ordered that all jackets that hadn’t already been issued should be re-dyed a uniform dark seal color. There was still a lot of variety in color, but most of the re-dyed jackets were almost black, like McQueen’s jacket in the Great Escape.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

That’s another nice looking jacket Jorge
Was it in better shape than you imagined when it arrived or do you buy knowing that the occasional one is “not as described “

In this specific case I had detailed pictures from the first owner (VLJ member), and the condition matched with the ones listed on ebay, so I had a pretty good idea, but honestly it exceeded the expectations in condition and fitting.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

This might be a stupid question, but was the jacket re-dyed when it was re-issued?

Hi Mr Blue

@mulceber couldn’t explain it better. So, yes this A-2 was re-dyed. The poly-acrylate lacquer has started to flake off over the years developing that “been there, done that” look.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

beautiful and much much rarer than an as issued WWII jacket

Speaking of that @Tom Bowers @mulceber @MrBlue , I happen to have both examples of the RW 23380, so here is a pic to compare them: issued (top) vs. re-issued (bottom)