843rd AAA Battalion "wings" of S/SGT Stephen R. Oley

[rathbonemuseum.com]

The 725 men of the 843rd AAA Battalion had an interesting time of it in WWII. Arriving in India in 1944 as an air mobile (then designated as A/T or Air Transport) anti-aircraft unit designed to fast-follow rough and ready air strips built in recently occupied territories. Their initial work began attached to the 10th AF flying into Myitkyina, Burma to protect recently created airfields. They remained in North Burma until November 1944 when they were reassigned to the 14th AF and flown across The Hump to Western China where they were to protect newly created B-29 fields of the 20th AF. There they stayed until the war ended when they were flown back across The Hump to Calcutta and then eventually to the US in December 1945.

 

At some point in China, the men of the battalion had unofficial wings made up to mark their unique air transport AAA status. They were a combination standard army pilot with a coastal defense insignia overlayed on top. There are versions of this wing with the Chinese chop to indicate silver content. These are not as finely finished as others. Note, there are copies of these very rare wings circulating as well.

 

The group below all belonged to Stephen R. Oley who began with the battalion at its origination in Camp Stewart. He enlisted in 1942 out of Glassport, PA. His wings typical of Chinese design and manufacture. Along with the wings are two CBI patches, a Chinese made CATF patch (probably meant to be 14th AF) and their unique Air Transport patch. Along with these came 40 issues of the Jackal Juice Journal, the reunion newsletter of the 843rd. 

 

[bschwartz]

Awesome grouping and a very rare wing.  Loving the patches as well.  Great stuff.

[LuftStalg1]

Theses wings have been around for a while and you see them now and then for sale.  It is great to finally know the story of them with this well documented group.  Would really love to find a picture of one of them wearing the wing!  Great stuff, thanks for posting!

[vintageproductions]

I believe there was an article many years ago in the Trading Post about these wings and I think there were photos of them being worn.

[flytiger]

Super group. Learned something from this display so it's never too late for that! Thanks for the articles!

 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

2 hours ago, vintageproductions said:

I believe there was an article many years ago in the Trading Post about these wings and I think there were photos of them being worn.

here is a post that references the TTP article from JFM 2013 

 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

An article in an old reunion newsletter written by the former commander of the 843rd AAA Btn, COL Lloyd A. Corkan.

 

 

[pfrost]

I saw you dug up my old threads of my wings. I have one of those wings and until your super duper wonderful grouping, I had heard much lore but seen little proof.  Now, the proof is there!

 

What is interesting to me is that it still isn't clear who actually wore the wings.  Clearly these were something that was thought up in the CBI. It remains unclear to me if they were worn by a few of the pilots assigned to moving this group about (the airborne part of the equation) or for the "air crew" part of the units that were loading and unloading the equipment.  I suspect that the transport pilots moving the equipment came from squadrons in the 10th, 14th, or 20th AAF and I doubt that the 843rd had any dedicated pilots assigned to them, but there may have been a few (perhaps in a liaison role).  That S/Sgt Oley had this wing, I wonder if it was a souvenir or something rather than a worn insignia.  Again, it is hard for me to imagine a non-pilot NCO wearing pilot wings, although one could argue that they may have been rated for an aircrew wing.  I suspect that there is much still to be learned.

 

My best guess was that these wings were worn by USAAF types assigned to the unit to facilitate movement, recon, and defense of the air bases.  One can imagine a cohort of pilots who were working on with the 843rd brass to liaison with the various components of the air transport and organization of the unit, so it always seemed reasonable that the wings were worn by them. But now I have my doubts and may have been more widespread.  Still, the USAAF was pretty jealous of their flight wings and wouldn't have been pleased if any old group was appropriating their bling!  Look what they made the paratroopers do to THEIR badge.

 

I believe i have seen 3 different versions of this wing. Here is mine.  There are some fakes as well.  My guess would be that these wings were "picked up" in both India and China as the unit moved about.  I think mine and Tod's wings may be Chinese made.

 

Great score Tod.  I saw the auction probably 1 minute after you bought it. 

 

P

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Reading the reunion newsletters, the Jackal Juice Journal (JJJ), has been a great source of "As it happened" diary history of the unit's memorable moments. One 
I have been searching for is, how did this first-of-its-kind air mobile AAA unit design and create a wing insignia? Where was it made? Was it official? Thankfully after reading through a number of issues i got my answer. If you know what it is to find first person information like this, then you know what a needle in a haystack effort it is with usually less than satisfactory results. But not this time.

 

It turns out that the unit's commander, Col. Lloyd A. Corkan, desired a unit insignia and tasked a member of his staff, Intelligence Sergeant John E. Thomas, in 1944 to come up with a design that would exemplify their unique combination of airborne anit-aircraft. Thomas worked with a Cpl. Charles Bamberger, known as an accomplished artist, to create the design. Their design was based on a standard pilot wing base but with coastal command-type cannons superimposed over the shield. They submitted it to Col. Corkan who was pleased and subsequently sent it on to 14th AF HQ (the parent unit they were assigned to after moving from Burma (10th AF) to China. 14th AF HQ approved the design and the enterprising Thomas found a silversmith in Chengtu (Chendu) who fashioned a die per their design. Per Thomas, it cost $20 in 1944 dollars to produce and he had 150 of the insignia made. Given there were over 700 men in the battalion, only a few received the insignia. 

 

So the wing is an official unit insignia (per 14th AF HQ approval) but took this unique form vs. a standard DUI. Photos of the pertinent JJJ issues for reference.

 

 

[cwnorma]

Tod,

 

Priceless primary reference!

 

Chris

[manayunkman]

I love learning new things and this was pure gold.

 

 Thank you for taking the time to post this.

[Brian Keith]

Great thread!

BKW

[rustywings]

I can’t agree more with Chris’ and  Manayunkman’s statements posted above!  Absorbing this 843rd’s AAA “Jackal Juice Journal” print was like a walk backwards in time! Just terrific documentation for that historic unit! 

 

Tod, thank you for sharing your latest fact-finding printed acquisition! 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Thank you guys for your appreciation. It means a lot. 

[pfrost]

Pretty cool, but I do still wonder about this.  I sounds like the 14th HQ approved a unit designation design (like on a flag or squadron patch) but I wonder if the insignia was approved to be worn as a device like a set of wings?  Its almost like the silver wings were just made as souvenirs for guys who wanted them. Cool stuff.

[rathbonemuseum.com]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:30 PM, pfrost said:

Pretty cool, but I do still wonder about this.  I sounds like the 14th HQ approved a unit designation design (like on a flag or squadron patch) but I wonder if the insignia was approved to be worn as a device like a set of wings?  Its almost like the silver wings were just made as souvenirs for guys who wanted them. Cool stuff.

I read it as this was an official unit insignia. In the Trading Post article, there is a bush jacket featuring a cotton embroidered version of the wing worn over the pocket. That would seem to indicate they were worn the typical wing way. 

[Big Iron]

On 12/27/2021 at 6:40 PM, pfrost said:

<SNIP>

 

Still, the USAAF was pretty jealous of their flight wings and wouldn't have been pleased if any old group was appropriating their bling!  Look what they made the paratroopers do to THEIR badge.

 

<SNIP>

What did the AAF make the paratroopers do to their wings? I know this is an old thread, but these sorts of things intrigue me.

[pfrost]

Allan H would probably have the correct answer to this quesion, but IIRC when Yarbrough designed the wings, he had to make them smaller than the pilot wings. 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Here are a couple of examples of the 843rd AAA Bn wings being worn. Even though they were not regulation qualification wings given by the War Department, Army, or Army Air Force, they were approved by 14th AF HQ to wear as unit devices and the men clearly wore them like wings. Illustrated below is a bush jacket made in India and the second is an enlisted service coat belonging to Sgt Alexander M "Joe" Penner of B Battery of the 843rd.