351st Bomb Group 309th Squadron Jacket help

[Cpl. Punishment]

So a few weeks back, an older gentleman who is a customer at my work told me about how he had his father's WWII flight jacket with all of the painting. The old man told me that he had no use for it and that he would be wanting to sell it to me (he knew I was a collector).

 

Two days ago, the man called me and said that he would like me to come out and see the jacket, and when i arrived at his house, needless to say, my heart was racing. The painting on the jacket was only slightly faded and retained his 509th squadron painted emblem on the front, 8th AAF painted patch on the left sleeve shoulder, the name of his B-17 "Raggedy Ann", a painted B-17 and 35 yellow painted bombs for his 35 missions.

 

The leather, however, was not in the greatest shape. There was heavy mildewing in areas on the front of the jacket, and some mold. But not terribly.

 

Question is, how may I safely clean the mold and mildew from the jacket and keep it from re-appearing? I am not one to use any sort of conditioners on my collection so any ways of proceding to clean off the mold without hurting the jacket or value would be appreciated.

 

Thanks! I am picking the jacket up on Monday and will post pictures then! It looks like an A-2 but it is fur lined (and it isn't an A-3). I havent seen many like it.

[phantomfixer]

Looking forward to seeing a sheepskin lined A-2...

Not an expert on mold removal..but what I have done in the past...is soft rag.light use of mink oil and warm water..dampen the eag and wipe mold off and air dry

[hbtcoveralls]

short answer is that leather can be cleaned and conserved

be very careful as it sounds like it's a civilian jacket and not a real wartime jacket, hope I'm wrong

Tom Bowers

[Cpl. Punishment]

Thanks guys! Im very excited about the jacket! I havent seena jacket like this before, but everything with his documentarion seems to check out as he peovided me with copies of his obituary which details his service as well as wartime articles of him. The jacket looks just like an A-2 but with like a sheep skin lining. The jacket is definitely period ans shows lots of wear and age. I normally would be very cautious but being that this belonged to the mans father and he had his dress uniform as well which checked out, i feel confident in this jacket.

 

If anybody has a fur lined A-2 id love to see pictures! The son said after the war, his dad never really talked about his service. His son told me that his dad once went to a reunion and when he got back he said "talking to those guys, you'd think that the most important thing they ever did was in the war." And that the war didnt seem to bother him much.

[Cpl. Punishment]

 

 

short answer is that leather can be cleaned and conserved

be very careful as it sounds like it's a civilian jacket and not a real wartime jacket, hope I'm wrong

Tom Bowers

 

Do fur lined A-2's exist? Everything seemed to check out and all the papers seemed correct and being from the son, i assumed the jacket original as it does look period. However, do period fur lined A-2 or A-2 look alike jackets exist?

[Cpl. Punishment]

I hate to comment so much, but from what i have seen, the jacket looks like a painted G-1 jacket. At the time i wasnt sure what to look for but the jacket had the waste band and cuff bands like the A-2 and the collar was fur and along the inside by the zipper there was a green type lining and the rest was fur. For $250 i feel like i could be onto something but i definitely will take your word being cautious as this is not my field of expertise.

[hbtcoveralls]

Get some pictures and we'll help id the jacket

Very few guys actually kept their original A-2 jacket, most turned them in.

What you find is that many years later men who had served would try to recreate their ideal wartime jacket

They would purchase the nearest thing and have it painted, and if he had it done in the 80s (when reunions started getting big around the time of the 40th anniversaries) the jacket would be 30 years old.

I know of no wartime fleece lined A-2 style jackets, I'm concerned that you have a veteran's jacket but not the one he wore during the war

Value might be less than 100.00 in that case depending on how nice it is

Tom Bowers

[Cpl. Punishment]

Get some pictures and we'll help id the jacket

Very few guys actually kept their original A-2 jacket, most turned them in.

What you find is that many years later men who had served would try to recreate their ideal wartime jacket

They would purchase the nearest thing and have it painted, and if he had it done in the 80s (when reunions started getting big around the time of the 40th anniversaries) the jacket would be 30 years old.

I know of no wartime fleece lined A-2 style jackets, I'm concerned that you have a veteran's jacket but not the one he wore during the war

Value might be less than 100.00 in that case depending on how nice it is

Tom Bowers

Thanks again! I think from what i have found through my research, the jacket looks like the pre-G-1 jackets. Like the army air corps version of the m422 jackets. Ill definitely be careful when purchasing. From all that i saw the jacket and paint did look period however, ill be taking another look before purchasing.