Unknown WWII Combat Outer Garment.

[patches]

Came across this one just before, an odd looking coat/jacket seen on the left man, light weight seems, shoulder loops, non standard cuff and pockets, any ideas?. Photo caption follows.

Aleutian Islands Campaign, June 1942 - August 1943. Battle for Attu, May 1943. Alaskan scouts stand by on deck of USS Heywood (APA-6) ready to go ashore in landing boats off Attu, Aleutian Islands, May 11, 1943. Left to right: Sergeant T4 B. Moriwaki and Staff Sergeant D. Spaulding. These scouts work with Army Intelligence. Moriwaki is an American-born Japanese and is used as an interpreter

[patches]

A close up of pockets and shoulder loops.

[Allan H.]

I would say that this is a private purchase jacket and not GI issue. Great photo BTW.

Allan

[patches]

6 hours ago, Allan H. said:

I would say that this is a private purchase jacket and not GI issue. Great photo BTW.

Allan

Thanks Allan, perhaps it is, don't think it's Navy, but the other guy, Spalding, he seems to be wearing a Foul Weather jacket of some type, this one looks non standard too, not like an Army or a Navy type, see the zipper, the Navy ones had draw strings, the Army, galoshes type snap buckle thingamabobs.

[huntssurplus]

Amazing photo! I don't think it is private purchase though. Looks to be the Experimental version of the m1943 field jacket. If you look at Shelby Stantons book, it fit the deal with the exposed buttons and epaulettes along with the poplin looking material. And I believe the Battle of Attu would fit the timeline of the jackets testing. As well as the environment in which the battle was fought would make sense as a testing ground for the jacket.

Here is another thread on it: 

 

And here are some scanned pages from Stanton's Book. 

Hunt

[patches]

Well I'll be, that's what it looks like for sure, Good Job Hunt. The guy wearing it has his cuffs turned up added to the unusual appearance, as if it had broad buttoned cuffs, as we see this experimental jacket had straight cuffs with buttoned tabs. We can also make out that the lower pocket flap that is visible has button is unbuttoned, you can make out the button hole.

[huntssurplus]

45 minutes ago, patches said:

Well I'll be, that's what it looks like for sure, Good Job Hunt. The guy wearing it has his cuffs turned up added to the unusual appearance, as if it had broad buttoned cuffs, as we see this experimental jacket had straight cuffs with buttoned tabs. We can also make out that the lower pocket flap that is visible has button is unbuttoned, you can make out the button hole.

Thanks patches! Yeah looks like it definitely is an experimental m1943. I'm guessing the sleeves are rolled up like they are because the jacket is a bit too large for the Alaskan Scout wearing it. Stanton even recalls in his book that soldiers complained the early m1943 jackets were too large.

Hunt

[patches]

4 hours ago, huntssurplus said:

Thanks patches! Yeah looks like it definitely is an experimental m1943. I'm guessing the sleeves are rolled up like they are because the jacket is a bit too large for the Alaskan Scout wearing it. Stanton even recalls in his book that soldiers complained the early m1943 jackets were too large.

Hunt

On further research, The Nisei, a GI, an interpreter, and is not an Eskimo Scout,  but attached to the recon unit called the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional),, that will Scout the landing area of Attu I assume.Tech 4 Moriwaki was attached to this unit strictly as an interpreter, S/Sgt Spaulding on the other hand, is one Donald Spaulding and was a member of this unit

 

[huntssurplus]

"Castner's Cutthroats". i believe they were also referred to as Alaskan Scouts. 

Hunt

11 minutes ago, patches said:

On further research, The Nisei, a GI, an interpreter, and is not an Eskimo Scout,  but attached to the recon unit called the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional),, that will Scout the landing area of Attu I assume.Tech 4 Moriwaki was attached to this unit strictly as an interpreter, S/Sgt Spaulding on the other hand, is one Donald Spaulding and was a member of this unit

 

 

[patches]

3 hours ago, huntssurplus said:

"Castner's Cutthroats". i believe they were also referred to as Alaskan Scouts. 

Hunt

 

You are correct, and here's their Unit Roster.

http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html

The one guy there you'll see Earl Acuff would be awarded Three CIBs, in Korea in 1952 as one of the commanders of the 1st Bn 17th Inf, 7th Inf div, and in Vietnam in 1968 as one of the commanders of of the 3rd Brigade 1st Inf Div.

[huntssurplus]

2 minutes ago, patches said:

You are correct, and here's their Unit Roster.

http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html

The one guy there you'll see Earl Acuff would be awarded Three CIBs, in Korea in 1952 as one of the commanders of the 1st Bn 17th Inf, 7th Inf div, and in Vietnam in 1968 as one of the commanders of of the 3rd Brigade 1st Inf Div.

Nice roster list! Hopefully at some point I can find some items belonging to members of this unit. Definitely rare stuff!

Hunt

[dustin]

That is a great image in a few ways,

The guy on the right appears to be wearing an early generation US Navy rain parka as seen here. Being a mountain nut from way back, its cool to see the Yukon pack board but especially the medical pack attached.

[patches]

3 hours ago, dustin said:

That is a great image in a few ways,

The guy on the right appears to be wearing an early generation US Navy rain parka as seen here. Being a mountain nut from way back, its cool to see the Yukon pack board but especially the medical pack attached.

Another good spot, wasn't seeing these in a Navy search,  just the ones with the drawstring enclosures.

[robinb]

The jacket in question has cropped corners on the pocket flaps. The pic of the experimental m43 has square corners.

[huntssurplus]

The jacket in question has cropped corners on the pocket flaps. The pic of the experimental m43 has square corners.

I saw that too. There were multiple variations of the experimental M1943 coat as mentioned by Stanton in his book. Multiple other uniform items have those types of pocket corners, I’m guessing it was just another variation.

Hunt


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[dustin]

I was corrected by a more keen eye than mine in that those are not QMC Yukon packboards but a civilian type, same goes for the bags attached. I wonder if the jacket is civilian as well?

[patches]

For the sake of argument I don't think these pocket flaps are Clipped Cornered, the Yellow incircled one shows Squared, the other side flap appears mussed up making it's corners seem cornered.

[huntssurplus]

12 hours ago, patches said:

For the sake of argument I don't think these pocket flaps are Clipped Cornered, the Yellow incircled one shows Squared, the other side flap appears mussed up making it's corners seem cornered.

 

Good eye patches! I think it is safe to say that the identification of experimental M1943 jacket is relatively sound. Great photo for sure!

Hunt

[kammo-man]

After the battle
Market garden
Shows double buttons on the cuffs on cover


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