38Driver Posted June 22, 2017 Share #1 Posted June 22, 2017 Another lucky accident. I was trolling eBay looking for bits for my ETO/MTO pilots when this popped as a Buy it now. The seller had it listed as an Ike jacket, but I knew what it was the second I saw it. Lots of US Airmen were issued British battle dress in the Desert and this is a great set. With the RAF wings on the right, there wasn't second wasted in hitting the button to buy it. Turns out it belonged to a 79th FG pilot who was with them for 80 missions in the desert and into Italy flying P40s and P47s. Depending on the source he either shot down 2 or 3 German planes and won the DFC and numerous Air Medals. He returned home safe but sadly was killed in a car wreck in 1946. His wife never remarried and died in 2015. The seller bought two trunks that were in the attic that contained all his wartime stuff. She'd been listing it in bits and pieces the last 8 months and this was one of the last things. Wish I'd seen the rest of it. Oh well this will have to do Just a bit of fighter pilot heaven for me. I can't figure the RAF wings as he wasn't with the RAF. My assumption, that like many of the first USAAF pilots to get to the Desert, he flew orientation combat flights with one of the RAF P-40 squadrons and' won his wings' that way. Either way it's way cool to have them sewn on this jacket along with his USAAF wings. Needless to say, one of my pilots had a change of uniform! Found an image of the guy in the 1946 Group book "The Falcon" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberwolf Posted June 22, 2017 Share #2 Posted June 22, 2017 Very nice! I saw this pop up and was gonna snag it but you beat me to it! lol! Great find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 22, 2017 Share #3 Posted June 22, 2017 Nice one D !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1canpara Posted June 22, 2017 Share #4 Posted June 22, 2017 Very cool indeed! Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 22, 2017 Share #5 Posted June 22, 2017 THey are cool Have one from a local 15th AF pilot that was issued a wool jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Driver Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted June 22, 2017 When it showed up today I was showing my wife, who has always tolerated my WW2 aviation hobby very well. My little guy wanted to try it on. I was reminded that while the movie "Red Tails" played loose with the history, they did go out of their way to get the uniforms right. One of the guys wears one of these battle dress jackets at times in the film. I'm really happy with this set. Sure wish I'd seen the other bits when they were first being listed way back when. Gotta wonder what else was in those trunks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted June 22, 2017 Share #7 Posted June 22, 2017 absolutely fantastic brother! Man what a snag! And its great that it researched out. Pays to be diligent! I bet your little buddy looked sharp in this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted June 22, 2017 Share #8 Posted June 22, 2017 Very cool! Thats a great find. Not easy to get these days. You should ask the seller if there's anything else around. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 22, 2017 Share #9 Posted June 22, 2017 His tan uniform sold back in April.He had a lot of air medals and a DFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Driver Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted June 24, 2017 This full size GI Joe stuff is really a disease! I only recently got an RAF Type D flying helmet. It's clearly a USAAF used helmet as it has the correct hook for American Oxygen masks. It's well worn and shows the dirt and sweat of the MTO. While it's probably a bit large for my pilot, it's the more appropriate version. Added some B-3 gloves too. I'd give him an RAF Mae West but it would cover the jacket which I don't want. Looks about ready to walk out to his fighter I think. Somehow I've gone from my ETO 8th and 9th AF pilots to instead having an MTO 12th AF B-25 bombardier and a 12th AF P-40/P-47 Fighter Pilot. Go figure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 24, 2017 Share #11 Posted June 24, 2017 Turned out real nice D ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Driver Posted June 25, 2017 Author Share #12 Posted June 25, 2017 Well much to my chagrin, as I was hoping to keep more bits together, someone really wanted his Ike jacket for a price I couldn't afford to top. Oh well, this will have to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted June 26, 2017 Share #13 Posted June 26, 2017 Yep....lost me at 150 since I really wasn't sure if jacket was named Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted June 27, 2017 Share #14 Posted June 27, 2017 Great catch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Driver Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share #15 Posted July 4, 2017 Sorry to bump this, but wanted to share something the gal who had this uniform also had. It arrived in the mail today. It's the silk escape map with Italy on one side and Libya on the other. No doubt a fitting compliment to the DAF uniform Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doinworkinvans Posted July 4, 2017 Share #16 Posted July 4, 2017 No need to be sorry to keep posting on a thread like this! We all love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waltz41 Posted July 5, 2017 Share #17 Posted July 5, 2017 Great find! Nice you got a little extra to it too now. And your life size GI Joe looks perfect, you really do a nice job on them........so much so you got me thinking about getting one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted July 5, 2017 Share #18 Posted July 5, 2017 I think I've got the same map from my 57th fg guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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