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WWII OSS Jedburgh Group


FT.Monmouth1943
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FT.Monmouth1943

Here is a small group belonging to one of the other brothers, 1LT J o h n  E.  M c G o w a n. Included in the group is his Jedburgh wings, Airborne Command patches, photos of him when he was enlisted and as an officer, his honorable discharge certificate, and lastly his Bronze Star certificate for his actions as a Jed. His Jed wings have some moth damage to them, but I think being ID’d and having photos of him in uniform more than makes up for it. Also not pictured is a letter to his parents from 1945 inviting them to the presentation of a BS medal to John. I will get pictures of that up soon.
 

- Jakob

 

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What does the BS say?

 

Does it mention him being OSS?

 

Any idea how he transferred from Bombardier to OSS.

 

Any pictures of him wearing the SF wing?

 

A very interesting group.

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FT.Monmouth1943

From what I found while researching, he was a part of Jedburgh team TONY. His codename was Quarter, and he was dropped in with Maj Robert K Montgomery  (Dollar) and Cpt Lucien Paris (Ecu) by Carpetbaggers Stinchcomb's crew on the night of August 17 1944, which aligns with the date on the BS certificate. They were dropped at La Bigorlière, 4 km NE Beaulieu sous Parthenay – DZ Pauline (46 35 N, 00 11 W) – BG Operation Harold 3 (source: http://www.801492.org). 

 

- Jakob

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FT.Monmouth1943
9 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

What does the BS say?

 

Does it mention him being OSS?

 

Any idea how he transferred from Bombardier to OSS.

 

Any pictures of him wearing the SF wing?

 

A very interesting group.


I waited to show those pictures until the end because after some research, I am not sure anymore  if the AAC picture and bombardier wings are his. I haven’t been able to find much on him online, but I do know that he had 9 brothers, and 8 of them were old enough to serve during the war, and the youngest one went on to serve later, so those wings could very well be from one of them. I originally thought the AAC portrait was of him because of the resemblance, but on the back it is addressed to him (Lt John  E  M c G o w a n), so I’m starting to think maybe one of his younger brothers closely resembled him and sent him the photo(?) I honestly don’t know yet, but there is a lot of research potential here.

 

- Jakob

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
9 minutes ago, Adrian6256 said:

Im new to understanding OSS, but are these the same wings? was it enlisted men who wore them on the right shoulder?

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What you have circled there is a British parachute brevet. The British para wing and the OSS wing are two different pieces of insignia. British troop wear the parachute brevet on their right shoulder (left as you look at it). Americans wore foreign badges- wings, etc. over the pocket of their right chest. That is what you are seeing in the photo. An American wearing a British award in the spot prescribed by uniform regulations.

 

The SF wing was identified as a unit insignia, so was worn on the wearer's right shoulder. 

 

I hope this helps.

 

Allan

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2 minutes ago, Allan H. said:

What you have circled there is a British parachute brevet. The British para wing and the OSS wing are two different pieces of insignia. British troop wear the parachute brevet on their right shoulder (left as you look at it). Americans wore foreign badges- wings, etc. over the pocket of their right chest. That is what you are seeing in the photo. An American wearing a British award in the spot prescribed by uniform regulations.

 

The SF wing was identified as a unit insignia, so was worn on the wearer's right shoulder. 

 

I hope this helps.

 

Allan

 

Great clarification thank you Allan. A cool grouping for sure. 

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