Anything having to do with the Air Force during the 1930's and 40's.

HI Texas

Just the USAAF or any Air Force?

Ie: RAF, Luftwaffe and so on.....

All the best
Mark

You just jogged my memory. I have packed away someplace a leather jacket with sheepskin lining, very, very heavy. In any event, I purchased it years ago from an estate sale. The woman who sold it to me was in her 40's & told me it belonged to her father who was a pilot during WWII.

When I first got it I tried to research the label, seemed to get noplace & packed it away. I really have no way of authenticating her story & wasn't sure how to list it. It certainly looks old enough to be authentic but what are looks? LOL I should drag it back out I guess & make a decision on how to list it, at least get some pictures done. The thing weighs a ton I can't imagine anyone walking around in it. I saw another jacket sell on ebay a couple years ago that sure looked just like this one but the label was different? All I recall now is the mfg was USA maybe Wisc or Mn (?)

Sounds like an interesting research project - if he belonged to a famous unit could add big bucks onto the value of the jacket. If you can find makers label that can be easily traced and verified too.

All the best
Mark

I'll try to get a chance later today or tomorrow to pull it out & start again trying to trace it. I actually purchased it from an estate sale in NY where I no longer reside so no chance of getting back to where I bought it. At the time I wasn't selling & bought it thinking one of my sons would like it but both said about the same thing "I'm never cold enough for this jacket!", LOL so into the closet it went. I just hung onto it because I was so impressed by the quality (and I'm a natural born packrat).

Let me know how you go and hopefully soon texas-treasures can join in.

Cheers
Mark

I'm not 100% on this, but I believe during WW2 there was no USA "Air Force" per se. It was the "Army Air Corp". It was seperated into the 2 after the war.

My dad had 1 of those sheepskin lined jackets too. He was part of the "flying sargents" program. He was about 1/2 way thru flight training when they washed him out because 1 eye wasn't up to snuff. (I have the same eye problem) So then he went thru the mechanics program and served in England on the B17s.

I wore the jacket when I was in my 20s and riding a little motorcycle to nite school in the winter. (no decent parking around the school) Kept me nice and warm.

Carol

edited to correct air force to air corp

Well, if you are really lucky it may be an 'Irving' flying
jacket - originals are worth a lot but more than likely a
US fliers jacket still nice though. My speciality in militaria
is more British and German WW2 gear but we can always
do some searching if you get some pictures.
I haven't loaded any military stuff onto Bidz yet as it is undergoing
a severe makeover as I was very sick for 8 months this
year but recovering well - certainly keeping about 4 programmers
and myself busy around the clock at the moment.

Speak soon
Mark

http://www.acmedepot.com/keepemflying/jack_gal.shtml

This is a page that may be helpful.

Unfortunately I don't think it's complete as the 1 I had didn't look quite like any of those shown. Of course I'm going from a 30+ year old memory as the jacket is long gone. But I do know mine had the stretch on the cuffs and the waist and was sheerling.

Carol

Nice little reference there Carol - should help I reckon.

Mark

You are right, it didn't become a separate arm of the services until the 50's, I believe.
Son is AF, strategic air control-early warning and deployment or something like that. Anyway, he is decorating his new office in air related memorabilia (already has a jacket) so we're looking for air related posters, etc for the office.
I did find him a set of great old wall maps with both the European and Pacific fronts on them-not air related, but so cool for the walls!

While it might not be "authenitic WW 2", an option that might be easier to find would be movie posters, specifically movies about the Air Force. There are plenty of great WW 2 movies but there are other later movies like "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Stuart.

Just a thought.

Carol

There were two air services during WWII, one was the army air corps, which lasted until 1941, when it became the USAAF (US Army Air Force), which would later (1947) become the USAF (US Air Force).

Hope that helps!

Are you still looking for items? I have a set of air force flight gloves. These are the kind that plugged into the suit somehow to be electric.