What sort of insignia (if any) were displayed on U.S. Airmen’s bomber jackets in WW II?
The answer is not of earth-shattering importance, but I’d like to know. I had a custom “skin” made for a game called “the Sims”. The character is a bear with a bomber jacket and a WW II-era wheel-hat (resembles a policeman’s or bus driver’s hat).
I’m curious if there are any insignia I need to add to the skin to make the jacket (or hat) more authentic. If they’re too small to be seen from a distance (say – 50 feet) I may not bother.
Links to sites showing any such insignia will be much appreciated.
Thank you, all.
–SSgtBaloo
P.S.: I don’t have a web site so if anyone wants to see it, someone will have to volunteer to post it on their own site. The image is a JPG, it’s 344x328 pixels, and the file size is 35.2 KB.
The standard issue A-2 leather jacket had no insignia. Pilots could, and often did, decorate them any way they liked. Knock yourself out.
Reproductions are still available for $200 or so, if you want to get into the mood. Actual WW2 vintage jackets, complete with whatever insignia, run into the thousands on eBay.
I suspect what you say for the A-2 goes for this one, but I’m not absolutely sure, This type of jacket is the one with the shearling collar and cuffs (and lining). It’s the type used by bomber crews on high altitude missions during WW II. I may try to reproduce some sort of nose-art logo on the back eventually, but I still am not sure wether the crewmembers wore collar insignia. Did they have their regular uniforms on underneath? If that’s the case I can see why they didn’t festoon the jackets with any insignia.
Thanks. I still haven’t found any sites to check this one myself.
–SSgtBaloo
“A boy carrying a cat by the tail is learning something he can learn no other way.”
– Mark Twain
From study WWII and the photos of the air crews, there were not that many, if any examples of bomber jackets with insignias, as most crew’s pride lay with the nose art. Now more fighter pilots did have insignias on their jackets, which continues today.
I had suspected that air crews did not use insignia on their flight jackets but wasn’t sure in the case of enlisted personnel. I guess the bear will remain rankless.
I’ve got Memphis Belle on DVD (Both the movie and the WW II documentary), plus tons of other WW II stuff as well (I’m not really a war buff, I just like that era, circa 1935-1945). When watching those kind of movies, I always get involved in the story and forget to check what I’m looking for. This is odd, because I’ll spot an INaccuracy or a continuity error in a mouse’s hearbeat .
“Not that many, if any”? I’ll have to dispute that. Vintage Aircraft Nose Art by Gary Valant has many photos of nose art painted on the backs of B-3 and A-2 jackets. I’d tell you how many, but my copy is still in storage.
Another common insignia was the Army Air Force insignia worn on the left sleeve. I believe originals were some sort of decal and were usually not painted.
FWIW, a “bomber jacket” – the heavy leather jacket with the shearling lining – is the B-3. The one without the lining that is usually associated with fighter pilots was the A-2. Of course, bomber pilots also wore A-2s, and fighter pilots sometimes wore B-3s. Personally, I’d like to have an original-pattern Irvin.
(Coming from a Navy family, I’ve always been partial to the G-1. Excellent quality reproductions – I can recommend those from Flight Suits Limited in El Cajon, CA – are expensive, and I turned green with evny when dad said, “Oh, I wore out three of those.”)
Damned if I remember. Getting the first cadet equipment issue was a “big deal” so I remember that. I suppose the B-3 was issued at the operational unit, but I don’t know.
At primary we also go a complete set of cold weather, sheepskin flight gear. Here is a picture ofme wearing mine. As far as I remember this is the only time I ever had it on. Of course, when I got to the bomb group in winter when it would really have been handy, there wasn’t any such thing to be had.
Reason #17 why you should be careful what you put on your flight jacket:
http://www.merkki.com/murderinc.htm
By the way, “Aristocrap” is a hilarious name for a combat A/C; captures an old school American attitude (that would never be allowed today, I’ll bet!)
From what I’ve read, during the WWII years it was popular among paratroopers, flight crews, and so forth to use a variety of dangerous or tough looking patches to advertise what demon fighters they were. The Death’s-Head logo of the Hells Angels MC had its origins in such a patch. According to Sonny Barger’s memoir, the brass didn’t seem to object to the lower officers and noncoms using such devices on their jackets.
David Simmons, you have my respect. You were part of a flight crew in WW II? My dad was a gease-monkey in the navy, got a Med. discharge for a broken eardrum or some such. All of my uncles were Army, and my mom worked (as a file clerk) at Boeing’s Wichita plant.
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