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USAAF Captain Portrait with Royal Yugoslav Pilot Wing


rathbonemuseum.com
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rathbonemuseum.com

Very unusual portrait of a USAAF Captain wearing a Royal Yugoslavian pilot badge. It is hard to make out his DIs. He shows three campaign stars on his ETO but no victory medal so probably during the war. Picture was by a famous portrait photographer, Gabor Eder, who had is studio on 5th Ave in NYC.

 

The question is, was he affiliated with the Yugoslavs before the war or did he perform some duties with the ex-patria forces in England or Yugoslavia and was awarded the wing?

 

Do you know who he is? Do you know what the DIs are?

 

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I can't help you, but it sure is a beautiful picture and your website is simply great!!

And I see on your site that you are already linked up with fellow forum member Bob Schwartz and are linking his website. :thumbsup:

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Interesting might be there flight enginner badge, there seems to this star device centered on the badge he's wearing , on this officer do we see any U.S, AC wings? it does seem so.

post-34986-1344714956.jpg

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His DIs look like those of the Ninth Air Force.

 

post-9199-1344725463.jpg

 

(picture stolen from ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Crest-DI-9th-Air-F...m-/390412978517)

 

As far as I know there is no direct link between the 9th Air Force and Yugoslavia.

 

But here is what I found on another site: http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/yug/air/w2y-air.html

 

" Royal Yugoslav Units

A small grouop of Yugoslavs was constututed as a Royal Yugoslav unit and served with the U.S. 15th Air Force in the Mediterranean. President Roosevelt personally presented them their B-24s (1942). They were not assigned targets in Yugoslavia."

 

So maybe it's the 15th Air Force DI.

 

post-9199-1344725456.jpg

 

(picture also stolen from ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...=true&rt=nc)

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I would say 15th Air Force. Many Yugoslav pilots and crew trained and flew missions withthe 15th during the War. The badge with the star is the Royal Yugoslave Air Force Navigator's wing(hence the star).

The DIs look to be 2nd Bomb Group.

By the way, neat photo!

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rathbonemuseum.com

Thanks for the comments.

 

I am pretty sure the badge is a pilot wing because of the two highlighted "humps" at the top of the center device (eagle shoulders) and the highlighted object to the lower right (eagle head). The navigator star would not have that kind of highlight pattern.

 

He does not wear a US wing at all so he is not US Army flight rated (!). Which is odd. So all I can figure is that he was a pilot in the Royal Yugoslav air force in a prior life or he worked with the Yugoslav air force in some capacity and got the wing as an honorary badge.

 

YUGPilot424Front.jpg

 

Tod

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Cobrahistorian

9th AF is entirely possible. The 9th was in the MTO through Fall 1943 prior to being transferred to England. The 57th Fighter Group (originally with the 9th and later with the 12th AF) operated extensively over Yugoslavia in late 1943 through Spring 1944. I just wrote a bunch about it in my latest book.

 

Jon

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9th AF is entirely possible. The 9th was in the MTO through Fall 1943 prior to being transferred to England. The 57th Fighter Group (originally with the 9th and later with the 12th AF) operated extensively over Yugoslavia in late 1943 through Spring 1944. I just wrote a bunch about it in my latest book.

 

Jon

 

But would operating over Yugoslavia necessitate the awarding Kingdom of Yugoslavian Flight Badges ? Depending on the mission, maybe Yugoslavian Valor decorations awarded by a grateful Yugoslavian Gonvernment in Exile, but Yugoslavian Air Force Qualification Badges ?

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rathbonemuseum.com

Typically a foreign flight badge is given by active foreign flight personnel as gratitude for direct help in flight operations. So usually they are given to other active duty US flight personnel (makes sense). The US recipient would not be able to wear the award unless a commanding officer officially approved the wearing of the award (unlike a foreign award which I believe needed higher approval - like state dept or air force command).

 

The only other possibility is that he actually won the award earlier as flight rated Yugoslavian (Croat, Serb, Bosnian, etc). And I have to say, he looks exceedingly American and not that Slavic. But who knows.

 

Tod

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Cobrahistorian
But would operating over Yugoslavia necessitate the awarding Kingdom of Yugoslavian Flight Badges ? Depending on the mission, maybe Yugoslavian Valor decorations awarded by a grateful Yugoslavian Gonvernment in Exile, but Yugoslavian Air Force Qualification Badges ?

 

Nope, wasn't saying that. I'll have to doublecheck, but there were a couple missions where US C-47 units flew to Yugoslavia and perhaps the Navigator badge was awarded then. I don't think they were still 9th AF at that point, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Could be from Operation Manhole or its follow-up Operation Bunghole (yes, that was the name of the operation).

 

Tod, the book has been out since February. It's in Osprey Publishing's Combat Aircraft series; P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force. I covered Operation Manhole/Bunghole slightly, since the 57th Fighter Group provided cover for the flight.

 

Jon

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Nope, wasn't saying that. I'll have to doublecheck, but there were a couple missions where US C-47 units flew to Yugoslavia and perhaps the Navigator badge was awarded then. I don't think they were still 9th AF at that point, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Could be from Operation Manhole or its follow-up Operation Bunghole (yes, that was the name of the operation).

 

Tod, the book has been out since February. It's in Osprey Publishing's Combat Aircraft series; P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force. I covered Operation Manhole/Bunghole slightly, since the 57th Fighter Group provided cover for the flight.

 

Jon

 

I GOTTA YA, unbelievable code names for those two operations :disgust: :w00t:

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I said it earlier, but it may have been missed in my original post. Look up the WWII 2nd BOMB GROUP DIs online. They look identical to the one this officer wears on his shoulders. He is 15th Air Force.

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  • 5 years later...

Hi guys,

Here are two photos showing 15th Air Force officers in Italy wearing the Yugoslavian pilot badge. The second photo shows General Nathan Twinning Commanding officer of the 15th AF.

post-15129-0-09383800-1509805974.jpg

post-15129-0-43005000-1509806082.jpg

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