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What is going on in this WWII Pilot Portrait?!


carbinephalen
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carbinephalen

I'll let the photo speak for itself. US/Prop & Wings collar insignia but an anomaly on the hat and the wings on his chest. Any ideas forum folks?

 

post-14217-0-91855100-1459311126.jpeg

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hbtcoveralls

some sort of instructor uniform? Civilian under contract to the Air corps? The wings don't appear to be standard AAF style wings either

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  • 3 weeks later...

I found this image, don't know what to make of it, at first it reminded me of this post, as the wings might of looked similar to the ones in the opening post, but as we see they're not. It appears to be an American Airlines pilot (see sign on wall in back), still curious on the USA, I guess civilian Airline workers wore this if they flew in to cities of Occupied Germany post war.

 

 

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Berlin, March, 1947: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's wartime pet, Telek, enjoys a last moment of freedom before being caged up for the long flight to San Francisco. The Scottish terrier was on its way back to its current owner, WAC Capt. Kay Summersby; Ike's former secretary had left Telek with Lt. Gen. Lucius Clay when she returned home a few months earlier.

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respectingthesacrifice

The wings on the hat looks like French fighter pilot insignia, could it be a French pilot trained in USAAF?

Have a look on google by searching

Brevet de pilote de chasse armée de l'air française

 

Eric

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Here's one look, at the French/Free French AF officer cap.

 

post-34986-0-63846000-1461338096.jpg

 

True it looks kinda like it in regards to the span, but size is a bit small on the one in the OP, plus there's some kind of oval/ring like semi border.

 

Then there's the wings, not French, odd huh. Man if it wasn't for the Air Corps collar stuff, we'd all say a civilian airline pilot of a certain vintage, but the AC BOS stuuff negates that idear.

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  • 3 years later...

Rusty Wings identified this insignia back in 2010. Here is what he had to say- "In 1940, Georgia Air Service, Inc. contracted with the US Army Air Corps to teach "Primary" to flying cadets at two academies in Bennettsville, South Carolina and Jackson, Tennessee. Both flight academies were sanctioned by the CAA War Training Service. In 1942, Georgia Air Service changed its name to Southeastern Air Service...most likely because neither school was located in the State of Georgia"

See post number 204 in this thread in the wings section- .http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/71999-caawtscptflight-schools/page-9

 

Allan

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Thanks Allan. Would it be correct to say that after a certain point these instructors begin to wear U.S. Army Officer Uniforms with Air Corps BOS while just retaining their old caps?

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carbinephalen

Incredible reachback Allan!

 

Rusty Wings identified this insignia back in 2010. Here is what he had to say- "In 1940, Georgia Air Service, Inc. contracted with the US Army Air Corps to teach "Primary" to flying cadets at two academies in Bennettsville, South Carolina and Jackson, Tennessee. Both flight academies were sanctioned by the CAA War Training Service. In 1942, Georgia Air Service changed its name to Southeastern Air Service...most likely because neither school was located in the State of Georgia"

 

See post number 204 in this thread in the wings section- .http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/71999-caawtscptflight-schools/page-9

 

Allan

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I've taken the liberty of posting a period photo of an instructor from the Georgia Air Service which was originally posted by Russ in the other linked thread. In this photo, to me anyway, the instructor's uniform appears to be grey with a matching cap with dark blue or black band. I am assuming that it is grey based on the fact that grey was such a popular color for uniforms in the southern states well after the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression for my friends south of the Mason-Dixon line). The photo posted by Carbinephalen appears that the instructor is wearing a WWII Army officer's uniform. While he isn't wearing a US issued pilot wing, I am willing to bet that he was wearing it because he held a reserve commission in the army and thus was wearing the collar brass.

 

The only WWII veteran that I ever met that was employed as a contract flight instructor worked for the CAA/WTS and was a university professor. His uniform interestingly enough was a Naval Officer's uniform- double breasted and in black. He wore all of the standard CAA/WTS insignia on the uniform to include the wings even though he was never a rated pilot! He taught Meteorology! When I asked hi why he wore a navy uniform, he told me that he liked the black uniform better than the army green! So, it was evidently a matter of choice for him to wear the uniform that he preferred. Perhaps this is why Carbinephalen's photo shows a guy in dark OD?

 

Allan

post-151-0-68944200-1575203169_thumb.jpg

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Thanks for the explanation on the photo of the one wearing the Army uniform Allan, we can see the different uniform in rustywing's addition is clearly not wearing one, but a civilian, if you like airline type uniform.

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