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THE BLUE COMBAT BOX (under aviation wings in WWII)


BEAST
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Beside the usual tests (burn, UV, fading), how can you tell if the blue combat box on a uniform is original? If you have one on your uniforms, please post it for comparison. Thanks!

 

post-203-1190858434.jpg

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my guess is you're gonna see a lot of them all sewn on differently and cut differently, made of different materials, so comparrison won't be much help. this one looks a little lopsided and hand-stitched. I imagine most will be similar

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That one looks like all the others I have owned, it's really hard to tell. The ones I don't like have the factory embroidered yellow or gold border. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures.

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Here are a couple of photos of things I've kept as reference from items sold on eBay in the past. I have no idea why the red rectangle instead of blue or if this stuff is authentic.

post-1389-1190954426.jpg

post-1389-1190954443.jpg

post-1389-1190954459.jpg

post-1389-1190954479.jpg

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The combat box signified that the individual was an active AAF member in theater. I believe the story is that some GI's would get a pair of wings to wear in town to impress the ladies, even though they weren't actually in the AAF. The blue box was supposed to show that theperson was REALLY in the AAF. I don't know if thats true or not, but thats what I have heard.

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This is from the "HISTORY OF COMBAT SERVICE INSIGNIA" found at:

afehri.maxwell.af.mil/Documents/pdf/HISTORY%20OF%20COMBAT%20SERVICE%20INSIGNIAS.pdf

 

"During WWII Combat Crews were allowed to wear a blue cloth patch sewn on the uniform on

which aeronautical badges were worn. This was authorized to prevent non-aircrew members

from pinning on wings when off base to "impress the girls." USAAF Flight Badges were worn

by Members of the Eighth Air Force During WWII, research compiled by Harry D. Gobrecht,

303rd Bomb Group (H) Association Historian. This information was from a single internet

source and could not be verified by any military documents.

COMBAT CREWMEMBER QUALIFICATION BADGE

The Combat Crewmember Badge was established by the Air Force on 1 September 1964 and

worn by those personnel serving in positions in which they are accruing creditable service

towards the Combat Readiness Medal as outlined in Air Force regulation 900-48. This was a

qualification badge and not a medal; therefore it was not a permanent award. The Air Force

eliminated the Combat Crewmember Qualification Badge from wear in August of 1993,

addressing uniform accouterments to eliminate duplication, achieve standardization, and promote

an uncluttered appearance."

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The combat box signified that the individual was an active AAF member in theater. I believe the story is that some GI's would get a pair of wings to wear in town to impress the ladies, even though they weren't actually in the AAF. The blue box was supposed to show that theperson was REALLY in the AAF. I don't know if thats true or not, but thats what I have heard.

It wasn't to indicate they were really in the AAF, but if they were authorized wings. There seems to have been a problem with 8th Air Force ground troops pinning on wings while on a pass in the UK. The wings were supposed to impress the ladies more than being an ordinary "ground pounder", of some sort. From everything I've read on this subject, it was only done in the UK and at that, wasn't done 100% of the time.

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The majority of what I've read and seen is that it was to denote combat crew- not to separate themselves from guys just pinning their wings on, but to separate them from guys who were qualified, but had not flown in combat.

 

Do not be scared if you see one with yellow braid trim, it denotes lead crew and is a little more scarce.

 

Kyle

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Here is something along these lines:

 

post-182-1191027134.jpg

 

These are part of a P-51 pilot group I have recently obtained ( sorry for the reflection , I got lazy and didn't take it out of the frame). Both are Brit made, padded and really cool ! :D

 

 

 

Here's another one from a b14 I wish I hadn'd sold

 

post-182-1191027927.jpg

 

Also the reason I don't like the lead crew rectangles is that, I believe it is National Historic Sales, is making these up by the bail. I have never seen one on a uniform I personally have known to be good. Not saying there aren't ones on good uniforms, I've just never seen one

 

Paul

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my guess is you're gonna see a lot of them all sewn on differently and cut differently, made of different materials, so comparrison won't be much help. this one looks a little lopsided and hand-stitched. I imagine most will be similar

 

I think I posted a picture of this once before under a 9th Air Force thread but here are two pictures of an AAF fighter pilot's uniform with the blue wool felt rectangle behind the wings. It doesn't look all that "professionally" made and appears to have been cut from a piece of blue wool felt with a pair of scissors and stitched onto the tunic.

 

I'd also read all the info above regarding wear of the blue combat crew patch behind the wings as stated above. While the stated reasons seem plausible, I have no personal definitive info on the origin or wear of these. Anyway, below are two pictures of the blue rectalngle behind the wings of a named pilot's uniform.

 

post-1107-1191069838.jpg post-1107-1191069846.jpg

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  • 12 years later...
WWIIinterviews

Here are a couple of photos of things I've kept as reference from items sold on eBay in the past. I have no idea why the red rectangle instead of blue or if this stuff is authentic.

 

Did you ever find out what the red box is? Maybe flight leader into combat?

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