TBMflyer Posted April 2, 2007 Share #1 Posted April 2, 2007 I'll get this one started by showing a 100th BG gunners group I picked up in a trade a few years back. The group has his blouse and shirt, medals, photos, order and some odds and ends. First is the tunic and shirt. Standard 4 pocket with combat blue patch, English-made 8th and nice gunner wings. The shirt is almost as nice with a 'stubby' 8th and English-made embroidered wing. Enjoy, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share #2 Posted April 2, 2007 Here are the close-up of the shirt, the medals and insignia and his 'crash' bracelet with his name and squadron number, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted April 2, 2007 A closeup of the back of the Air Medal and GCM. The Air Medal is wrap brooch and has a large silver OLC, the GCM is numbered? Last is a picture of the a/c they flew most of their missions on "Heaven Can Wait". Sgt Moncure flew 35 missions over Europe. Enjoy, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 2, 2007 Share #4 Posted April 2, 2007 A closeup of the back of the Air Medal and GCM. The Air Medal is wrap brooch and has a large silver OLC, the GCM is numbered? Last is a picture of the a/c they flew most of their missions on "Heaven Can Wait". Sgt Moncure flew 35 missions over Europe. Enjoy, Mark. Mark The engraving on the AM does not look quite right. Is it hand or machine? I cant tell from the pic. Did it come from the vet or a dealer? It GCM looks like it is stamped with the vets service # . Machine engraving on the bracelet concerns me too. It should have been done by hand if from the war years. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share #5 Posted April 2, 2007 Kurt, the guy I got it from got it from the vet. I'm not a medal expert but it looks like other Air Medal's I have. As for the bracelet I never even thought about it. It feels right to me so I'll keep it. Thanks for the input, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 3, 2007 Share #6 Posted April 3, 2007 Kurt, the guy I got it from got it from the vet. I'm not a medal expert but it looks like other Air Medal's I have. As for the bracelet I never even thought about it. It feels right to me so I'll keep it. Thanks for the input, Mark. The type of machine engraving on the bracelet was not available during WWII. That style is something you dont see until the 50's or later. He could have had it done himself as a souvenir years after the war. I do not think he wore it engraved that way during the war. Is the engraving on the AM hand or machine? It should be hand engraving. Its hard to tell from the pic. The format is correct ( Rank/name/AC ) . Was he a POW? Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom2001 Posted April 3, 2007 Share #7 Posted April 3, 2007 The type of machine engraving on the bracelet was not available during WWII. That style is something you dont see until the 50's or later. He could have had it done himself as a souvenir years after the war. I do not think he wore it engraved that way during the war. Is the engraving on the AM hand or machine? It should be hand engraving. Its hard to tell from the pic. The format is correct ( Rank/name/AC ) . Was he a POW? Kurt Hey Kurt, Nothing wrong with privately engraved medals, especially condidering the airman survived the war, and wasn't a POW. I expect to find either unnamed medals, or privately engraved ones as shown here. Not sure when machine engraving started commercially, so I'll bow to the "experts" on the subject of the ID bracelet. If the guy flew all 35 missions, one thing that is missing from the group is a DFC, which would have been awarded automatically after his 25th mission. There's no medal, and no ribbon bar on the uniform, so I'm guessing he didn't complete 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 3, 2007 Share #8 Posted April 3, 2007 I dont know if I would say I was an " expert " on all engraving , but one thing I did do when researching my OMSA article on WWII Purple Heart engraving styles was to spend a lot of time in antique stores looking at other engraved items and especially trophys ( because they are dated ) . I did that to see what was being done commercially during the war. If you look at engraved trophys that date from WWII and earlier, all the ones I have seen are hand engraved. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 3, 2007 Author Share #9 Posted April 3, 2007 Guys, the vet was not a POW and flew 35 missions. None of his crew were awarded the DFC, they flew their missions after the automatic DFC period beginning in Aug. of 1944. Tom, I'll bring the medals to the next show to show you. As for the bracelet, it was in the group when I got it. Thanks for the input, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 3, 2007 Share #10 Posted April 3, 2007 Guys, the vet was not a POW and flew 35 missions. None of his crew were awarded the DFC, they flew their missions after the automatic DFC period beginning in Aug. of 1944. Tom, I'll bring the medals to the next show to show you. As for the bracelet, it was in the group when I got it. Thanks for the input, Mark. Do you know how many Am's total he received? You dont see these late war groups as often . I had one similar to this where the guy received an AM with 6 OLC's . Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share #11 Posted April 4, 2007 Kurt, the guy had the Air Medal with 5 OLC. From the letters I got from the crew, they were all awarded this combination, even the pilot. It seems you really had to do something to get a DFC in late '44 or '45. Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 4, 2007 Share #12 Posted April 4, 2007 Kurt, the guy had the Air Medal with 5 OLC. From the letters I got from the crew, they were all awarded this combination, even the pilot. It seems you really had to do something to get a DFC in late '44 or '45. Mark. Thats for sure. I dont think I have owned an 8th AAF DFC awarded in 1945 for service in 1945. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted April 11, 2007 Share #13 Posted April 11, 2007 Mark, Is it possible to see some close ups of the front and back of the wing? Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share #14 Posted April 11, 2007 Mark, Is it possible to see some close ups of the front and back of the wing? Thanks John John, are you talking the wing in the frame or the one on the tunic? Let me know, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted April 11, 2007 Share #15 Posted April 11, 2007 Mark, The one in the frame sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBMflyer Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share #16 Posted April 12, 2007 Mark, The one in the frame sorry. John, here are the front and back of the requested wing. It is a simple c.b. Sterling aircrew, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted April 13, 2007 Share #17 Posted April 13, 2007 Thanks for the time and effort in posting the photos! jOHN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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