blademan Posted April 20, 2022 Share #1 Posted April 20, 2022 Greetings, I ran across this grouping at a show this last weekend. The grouping belonged to 8th AAC b-17 navigator 1st Lt. Mathew I. Radnofsky. After just under 30 missions as a b-17 navigator in 1944, his ship was shot down by flak over Germany. There were only two crew members that survived, both parachuted into captivity and into POW camps. When Mathew bailed out, he lost all his survival gear and this effected the remainder of his life and shaped his future in ways he could not have seen. After recovering from flak injuries to his back, we was put into the general POW population and soon escaped and made his way back to friendly forces. He became member of the caterpillar and winged boot escape club. After the war, he received several college degrees a began his career designing better equipment for the airforce. In the late 1950s he got a job designing garments for the US Space program. He designed the blue outfits the Gemini astronauts wore before their missions. He later became head of Nasa's Crew apparel group. He lead his team to develop the Apollo 11 lunar space and Skylab space suites. He went by the nick name "The crazy Russian" from his Russian Jewish roots. His grouping includes his WWII class A uniform, wings, ribbons bars, caterpillar club , and winged escape boot patch. There are also items such as his wallet, copies of the official letters home, books, and other supporting documents. I think this is a wonderful grouping with WWII and Apallo program significance. Your comments are welcome. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted April 20, 2022 Share #2 Posted April 20, 2022 I would love to have a group like this. Go to that show again!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmar836 Posted April 21, 2022 Share #3 Posted April 21, 2022 Pretty cool. I assume you picked it up? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
268th C.A. Posted April 21, 2022 Share #4 Posted April 21, 2022 Great group, you just never know some ones accomplishments and life story....A very interesting group for sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted April 21, 2022 Share #5 Posted April 21, 2022 Great group and the story is the icing on the cake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperChief Posted April 22, 2022 Share #6 Posted April 22, 2022 Phenomenal group, especially given the story! Its amazing how these events shaped so many… Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #7 Posted April 22, 2022 Beautiful group! Its interesting he has a winged boot since he was a POW and didnt successfully evade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blademan Posted April 22, 2022 Author Share #8 Posted April 22, 2022 35 minutes ago, KASTAUFFER said: Beautiful group! Its interesting he has a winged boot since he was a POW and didnt successfully evade. I read he is obit as he escaped from the POW and back to the front lines and then back to England. Think that would explain the winged boot. The telegrams to the fsmiky included in the group also support he escaped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #9 Posted April 22, 2022 Here is his German KU report held in the National Archives. Even has his US Dogtag the Germans took from him. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147906600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #10 Posted April 22, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #11 Posted April 22, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #12 Posted April 22, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #13 Posted April 22, 2022 Here are the award cards for his AM and PH. I could not find a DFC card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 22, 2022 Share #14 Posted April 22, 2022 http://www.306bg.us/CORRESPONDENCE/r/radnofsky_matthew.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blademan Posted April 22, 2022 Author Share #15 Posted April 22, 2022 KASTAUFFER, Great info and help.Thank you! Thanks for every ones comments. For clarification, I did buy this grouping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglerunner88 Posted May 1, 2022 Share #16 Posted May 1, 2022 What a phenomenal grouping, congrats! That uniform would look fantastic on a mannequin torso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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