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

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Capt. Earle Carlow (Skowhegan, ME) of 335 Sqn. Joined 335 on 22 January 1943 and was with them until 21 March 1944 when his Mustang was damaged strafing an aerodrome in France and had to bail out and was made a POW. Earle escaped though on 7 May 1944 and via an epic journey returned to the UK via Spain on 10 June 1944.

 

[Pa12]

Gonna say, the Horween I have on my Poughkeepsie is certainly nice and soft and I certainly buck the trend when it comes to trim jackets, have alway preferred a loose fit with room to layer
There is a few now who have Horween leather from John, be interested if they think the same or if fortunate maybe can compare a Horween A2 next to Shinki or Italian leather which I think might be veg tanned?!

Gw bronco horween and gw 23380 Italian hh. Both 44. Right now the bronco is a lot stiffer, although it doesn’t have the wear of the rw yet.

 

[MauldinFan]

You want jackets that are trim fitting and "bespoke" looking.

Not me!
Maybe it's because early on (I started doing WW2 living history events at the age of 18), I wore A2s over a flight suit or WW2 uniforms (often, both), so tight-fighting never made sense to me for a flight jacket.
That, and active-duty experiences later on taught me you always want extra room for something underneath said jacket. So, I always like them with more room than to wear a T-shirt underneath, even though that's how I wear a flight jackets these days, more often than now.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

1Lt. Andrew Stephenson from LA, CA. A former Eagle with 133 Sqn, Stephenson served with 336 from the transfer of the Eagles to the USAAF until 26 December 1943. His Jug was 41-6573.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

For today's Dude I thought we'd have the guy who took over Stephenson's Jug (from the previous post) as his personal mount.

Here we have 1Lt. Peter Lehman from NYC, NY. He joined 336 on the 25 August 1943 and flew with them until he was sadly killed in a flying accident during a training exercise on the 31 March 1944.

The civvy jacket guys will love this, this is him wearing a non-issue leather jacket in front of a Jug...

 

[Smithy]

...I forgot to add that Lehman was the son of the Governor of NY. He also added an acronym to the Jug that Stephenson had when he took it over (along with the penguin in the tails artwork as seen above) which was "B.E.V.O.A.P.A.B.M" which meant 'Birds Eye View of a Pig's Arse by Moonlight'

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Capt. William "Brad" Hoelscher (Indianapolis, IN) of 334 Sqn. Hoelscher joined 334 on 12 August 1944 and was with the squadron until he was shot down by flak whilst chasing a Me262 jet on 25 April 1945. He evaded capture for 13 days which included stealing a motorcycle until he could escape back to Allied territory. He had 2.5 victories and scored another 1 during the Korean War.

 

[jack31916]

Dude of the Day...

For today's Dude I thought we'd have the guy who took over Stephenson's Jug (from the previous post) as his personal mount.

Here we have 1Lt. Peter Lehman from NYC, NY. He joined 336 on the 25 August 1943 and flew with them until he was sadly killed in a flying accident during a training exercise on the 31 March 1944.

The civvy jacket guys will love this, this is him wearing a non-issue leather jacket in front of a Jug...

Sorry to say but this is not a civvy leather jacket but more likely an early type M-1938 Parsons jacket, the predecessor of the M-1941 jacket

Regards from Jack

 

[Smithy]

Sorry to say but this is not a civvy leather jacket but more likely an early type M-1938 Parsons jacket, the predecessor of the M-1941 jacket

Regards from Jack

Thanks Jack.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

1Lt. John "Pappy" Lutz from Fulton, MO who as a former Eagle with 71 Sqn, flew with 334 from 16 September 1942 until 4 May 1943 when, on a withdrawal support mission, he had to bail out over the North Sea near Flushing due to a smoking engine. Sadly he was never found. RIP.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

1Lt. James Russell Jr., Bonham, TX from 335 Sqn. Flew with 335 from 4 April 1944 until 11 September 1944 when he was shot down and wounded in his P-51D and made a POW.

 

[Greg Gale]

Here's an epic photo of Jim Clark and his epic A-2: I guess it's a Monarch, but I may be wrong. Where's the wind flap, though? Or is that an ANJ-3?

 

[mulceber]

Must be a private purchase, since there's no storm flap.

 

[leper-colony]

Must be a private purchase, since there's no storm flap.

I spy an internal storm flap?

 

[mulceber]

Yep, but not anything like a Navy flight jacket's storm flap. Closer to what you'd see on a B-15.

 

[Greg Gale]

So we have a mystery jacket, it seems?

 

[ZuZu]

So we have a mystery jacket, it seems?

It's a civilan jacket made of goatskin with probably a Talon zipper and with the right pocket torn off. Very weird indeed but I doubt anyone can identify it. Maybe by going though old catalogs?

 

[Dumpster D]

Which pocket did they keep their sunglasses case?

 

[Greg Gale]

Joe Joiner from 336 Sqn turns 102 today!

 

[Brettafett]

Following the above, Col Joseph Joe Joiner.
Passed away Jan 10th RIP