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ID Help? USAF patched early "G1" Jacket


mach_761
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I am trying to piece together the history of this jacket, with what little information I have on it. I am hoping to identify the maker of the jacket and whether it is an M-422, M-422A, etc, which will be difficult with the tag and liner missing. I have narrowed down some details about it, I will list those below.  I know that it is immediately a strange sight because it is a USN jacket with a USAF/USAAF patch, but it came directly from the family and I believe it was worn this way. I think the jacket was modified, and the cleanly removed liner almost makes me think it was worn without a liner? Or maybe a planned restoration that never happened? One big oddity is the leather extensions of the zipper flap are gone and zipper has been moved up, making me think it was worn without the knit on the bottom.

 

-Conmar zipper type used in 1940s, does not appear to be changed.

-No pencil pocket.

-Real mouton collar with sharp corners.

-No USN punched in zipper flap.

-No USN painted on collar.

-3x Red bakelite? armpit/sleeve vents/grommets.

-Pre-1950 12th FS patch.

-Reddish brown tinted liner.

 

Any direction or insight would be appreciated for this one. If I can figure out the manufacturer or at least exact type of "G1", I'll be able to use that to narrow down the years of his service. I have that his last name was Swafford, from the state of Georgia and possibly lived in Ohio or West Virginia later. Family does not remember his first name, and I have not found rosters for the squadron yet.

20201214_122559.jpg

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Have you tried the Vintage Leather Jacket site? They used to have many members who specialized in such jackets though it was kinda becoming reduced to more of a fashion show of least expensive repros when I was last there. Still there are very knowledgeable military jacket collectors there.

Dave

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I haven't tried posting it on the VLJ site, I planned to post it there as well. The patch is embroidered and then sewn on, I forgot to post the close up pic. Seems to be an extremely rare patch, I used to have a mint one and traded it to another collector. I'm not positive if these embroidered unofficial patches were WWII used or 1946-1950, or both.

20201214_122656.jpg

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The above thread has good examples to compare to...could it be a AN-J-3A, with a AAF unit patch? this would have a white/silver US under the collar...

great looking jacket/project

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Thank you for the link, I have read through that thread but have not found a match yet. Lot of jackets with identical features but nothing as a 100% match. I am thinking possibly AN-6552 or AN-J-3 but I'm not sure if those usually had the pencil pocket or US/USN on the collar. I also read that it was common practice for guys to remove tags in issued jackets and claim they were private purchase, so that they could be taken home. Makes me wonder how difficult it would have been to remove the painted letters on the collars.

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I believe you were allowed to keep one jacket - winter or summer weight. This would be the latter and explains why so many A-2s ended up with their vets. For this reason I doubt messing with a jacket was really necessary.

I had never heard about the labels and certainly not about the collar markings. May I ask where you heard this?

Dave

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Dave, I think that was on the Vintage Leather Jackets forum. Have been reading through threads on there hunting for info. You mentioned JC, is that a member here?

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Yes. If you posted it there and several members didn’t jump on it to say what maker and contract it was, I’d be surprised. Then again I cannot say who is active there anymore. There were very knowledgeable members but it grew to be many newer members with different ideas and a new enthusiasm. It changed and many left over the typical internet toxicity. I left a few years ago when WWII and other vintage jackets were no longer the primary interest. 

Sorry, I learned to ID period originals but not the details that let me ID all specific makers and contracts as many could do.

Dave

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/14/2021 at 12:39 AM, dmar836 said:

Yes. If you posted it there and several members didn’t jump on it to say what maker and contract it was, I’d be surprised. Then again I cannot say who is active there anymore. There were very knowledgeable members but it grew to be many newer members with different ideas and a new enthusiasm. It changed and many left over the typical internet toxicity. I left a few years ago when WWII and other vintage jackets were no longer the primary interest. 

Sorry, I learned to ID period originals but not the details that let me ID all specific makers and contracts as many could do.

Dave

 

I did post it there as well but not much luck. Still looking everywhere to find this guy's full name so I can find any other info about him, but even less luck on that front. Not giving up though!

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