Some of the 4th FG and a lot of A-2s

[B-Man2]

Great photo Greg. I know matching colour with a period photo on a computer screen is always difficult but that A-2 from where I'm sitting is exactly the same colour as my new AVI Bronco

I does look similar to the Bronco in Brett's review pictures. Kind of a light seal, or dark russet - my favorite shade! These knits appear to be a tad lighter, though.

Oh No!!
Now you guys have gone and done it.....The AVI police are on the way!!

 

[Pilot]

Amazing photos...
thx to all contributers for sharing...

 

[Greg Gale]

Paul Morgan and his nicely patched A-2:

 

[Brettafett]

Some more 4th FG photos...

 

[Greg Gale]

That last A-2 is a weird fit, not sure why...is that Blakeslee and his RW? That would explain the boxyness.

BTW: Does anyone have photos of WW2 patches of the 335th or the 336th?

 

[B-Man2]

Great photos! They must be early war pictures or the wartime censors have been at work because there’s not one patched A2 in the group photo.

 

[Brettafett]

Yeah, I wondered if it was the wind blowing from the left... Although his cap is still on

 

[Smithy]

That last A-2 is a weird fit, not sure why...is that Blakeslee and his RW? That would explain the boxyness.

BTW: Does anyone have photos of WW2 patches of the 335th or the 336th?

Greg, that is Blakeslee, I think Brett has it right and there's a good, stiff breeze making the jacket look like that.

Great photos! They must be early war pictures or the wartime censors have been at work because there’s not one patched A2 in the group photo.

The 4th guys really didn't seem to be terribly into marking their jackets Burt. Sure there's the odd one but they're the exception rather than the rule.

 

[B-Man2]

I went back and reviewed the photos in this thread, your right , for the most part there aren’t any patches on their jackets. Pretty unusual for the time don’t you think? I wonder if there were operational or unit orders advising against it?

 

[Smithy]

I think maybe it has something to do with the RAF traditions which ran deep in the 4th. That's the major thing that sets them apart from the rest of the 8th AF. Even the young guys coming in kept up the traditions and using the lingo that the old boys from the Eagle Sans used.

 

[Greg Gale]

334th fs: is that an RAF roundel patch?

 

[Greg Gale]

Life at Debden:

 

[Smithy]

334th fs: is that an RAF roundel patch?

It does look like that Greg. I think it's probably very similar to the patch/badge Carl posted with the boxing eagle over a RAF style roundel. I'll have to have a look in the books but I wouldn't be surprised if he's therefore a former Eagle.

 

[Brettafett]

Was going to post this at some point. 4FG Dubow 1755. Patch and back painted.
Notice the mid-brown cuffs. I may be totally wrong, but I recon those could be period replacements, they look pretty worn.
Love that rich mid brown chocolate coloured leather. Hard to find among todays repro manufacturers...
Jacket belonged to Lt James Ayers of the 334th Fighter Squadron. Ayers is officially credited with seven ground kills and one victory in the air. (although plane shows more victories.. perhaps these were unconfirmed...)

 

[Smithy]

Great photos Brett. That A-2 belonged to James W. Ayers from Tulsa, Okla. His usual mount was P-51B 43-6518 with 334 Sqn.

I've been thinking about stencilling the linings on my A-2s and I think I might make some stencils tonight - got nothing better to do

 

[Greg Gale]

Now THAT's a 50 mission crusher cap!

 

[Brettafett]

Did you ever get one Greg? If you find a 'budget' version, looking for the light coloured summer version, let me know.

 

[Brettafett]

Going back to sleeve length, I found this one of James Howard and pilots of the 354FG... Look at the guy on the far right .
That could not have been comfortable.

 

[Smithy]

That's like that big unit from the Doolittle Raid. His were half way up his arms too!

I actually wonder how much time these guys noticed it and even thought about it. When you're busy flying an aircraft (war flying too not just tootling around doing a bit of a pleasure flip), navigating, watching out for bandits and then all the visceral experiences of combat, possibly things like this were so inconsequential that they may not have even thought of it. I agree to us they'd drive us round the twist and all our forum mates would be ragging us about gorilla arms but for these guys I suspect there was little thought paid to it.

 

[Brettafett]

Yup, there was a war on etc... But if he was paying top dollar for that jacket, you can bet he'd complain.
I actually wonder if there was a certain contract that made really short arms...