SILVER WINGS, PINKS & GREENS JonA. Maguire ~RWINGS, ~&G E N S Uniforms, Wings & Insignia of USAAF Airmen in World War II Jon A. Maguire SchifferMilitary/AviationHistory Atglen, PA Acknowledgements Thisbookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutsignificantcon WendellHoppers, RalphJenks, Mike Nordin, BurtSheriff, Robert tributions from numerous sources. Special thanks to Ann L. Slusher,TimSmetana,JeffSpielberg(JSIndustries),JoeW. Stevens Wagner and StackpoleBooks for their help and permission to re andRonWillis. printportionsofthe1943and1944editionsof"TheOfficer'sGuide." A very special thanks goes to my wife, Rhonda, who put in Thisinformationisasignificantadditiontothiswork. longhoursdecipheringmyhandwritingandtypingthemanuscript. My friends John and Donna Campbell ofCampbell Archives (Alsoforputtingupwitharoomfullofmytoys.) opened their home and collection to me and provided numerous ThankstomyDadwhoalwayshasthetimetoanswermyend- contemporaryphotographs. lessquestionsabouthisArmyAirForceexperience. Thefollowingcollectorsand historiansopenedaccesstotheir ThankstoBobBiondiforconstantcounsel! collectionsand allowedoriginalpiecestobe photographedfor in SpecialthankstoJackIlfreyforkindlywritingtheforeword. clusion in this work: Martin Callahan, John Conway, John Cook, EveryefforthasbeenmadetogivepropercreditfortheWorld MikeDavidson, Dale Edwards, David Henderson,John Hopkins, WarII photographscontained herein, butin somecasesIwas not BillLinke, RickMarkel, PatMoran, Chris Oliver, MichaelJ. Perry, abletolocatetheoriginalphotographer.MyapologiesifIhaveover MickProdger,andMikeWhitson. lookedanyone. Manyadditionalfriends,includingWorldWarIIveterans,made Forthosewhowishtocontributetofuturevolumes,pleasecon contributionsalso. Theyinclude: F. PaulBowen, Tom Carmichael, tactmecourtesyofSchifferPublishingattheaddressbelow. MikeConner,GeneralGeorgeEade,DolphFarrand,DaveGoleman, Again, mysincerethankstoallwhocontributedtothiswork! For Sean & Megan Onfrontdustjacket:Lt.Col. OrisJohnson ofthe422ndN.ES.wearingatailormadeIkejacketwithallbullion insignia.(StegnerviaCampbell) Page1:Lt.JoeD.Maguire, C-47pilotofthe321stAirTransportSquadron,27thAirTransportGroup,wearing winterservicedressuniform, "SilverWings, Pinks& Greens." BookDesignbyRobertBiondi Copyright©1994byJonA. Maguire. LibraryofCongressCatalogNumber: 93-87477 Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced orusedinanyforms orbyany means- graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying orinformation storage andretrievalsystems- withoutwrittenpermissionfromthecopyrightholder. PrintedinChina. ISBN:0-88740-578-9 Weareinterested inhearingfrom authorswithbookideasonrelatedtopics. PublishedbySchifferPublishingLtd. 77LowerValleyRoad Atglen,PA 19310 Pleasewriteforafreecatalog. Thisbookmaybepurchasedfromthepublisher. Pleaseinclude$2.95postage. Tryyourbookstorefirst. CONTENTS Acknowledgements 4 Foreword 7 by Capt. JackHfrey (USAAF, Ret.) Introduction 9 Chapter I Uniforms & Insignia 11 Chapter II Wings & Other Qualification Badges 69 Chapter III Army Air Force Patches 119 Appendix 169 Bibliography 191 FOREWORD by Capt. Jack Ilfrey, (USAAF, Ret.) M ostallofour generation shouldrememberthe Lautersteins song from WWII "He Wore A Pair of Silver Military Clothiers Wings", whichcertainlydistinguishedusfrom other San Antonio, Texas Price list branches of the service. October 1941 The author has done a magnificentjob ofcollect ing and identifying all of these WWII uniforms, ITEM COST wings, and insignia ofthe USAAF Airmen, and the Blouse $ 52.50 Pinksand Greens 45.00 publisher is to be congratulated for this beautiful Pinksand GreensShirts 27.00 edition. Luxemburg Hat 17.50 In going through the book, the many color pic Green"F"Caps 3.50 PoplinShirt 3.95 tures and captions brought back great nostalgic 2 Ties 2.00 memories for me and events long forgotten, and I Shoes 10.00 learnedthingsIneverkneworrealizedbefore. Ifeel 6 Sox 3.00 Insignias 2.75 sure others will share that same experience. Wings 3.50 One amusing event that I can recall relating to Belt 1.50 our uniforms. After we P-38 pilots ofthe 94th "Hat 2 Bars 1.50 2 "M" Bars 3.90 In the Ring" Fighter Squadron completed th~ Bo TrenchCoat 39.50 lero Mission in July, 1942 (first mass flight of fight 2 Wings 2.00 ers across the N. Atlantic) we were stationed at the 3 Patches .75 permanent base, Kirton-In-Lindsey, Lincolnshire. Total $219.85 We were housed in the officers quarters and wined . and dined at the Officers Club. At first the staid and reserved English officers were shocked and amazed at the different combi nations of uniforms we appeared in - pinks and greens, flight suits, A-2jackets and several styles of head gear. They seemed to wear only one style, Royal blue blouse and pants. We got the impression we were being treated like Colonials. Thisbookwillbe a great guide to collectors, his torians, and memories for the veterans. We airmen were proud to wear our uniforms. Afterwe have all gone onto Valhalla,JonMaguire's book will be here, in perpetuit)T, for future genera OPPOSITE:JackIlfrey,94thPursuitSquadron,1stPursuit Group, LongBeach,California,circaFebruary1942,wearing tions to see the way we were. "Pinks&Greens." 7 INTRODUCTION T he purpose of this volume is to provide a pho tographic reference and record of the uniforms . and related insignia worn by the men of the United States Army Air Forces from 1941 through 1945. Some women's items are covered, but the pri mary focus is on men's uniforms and insignia. (The W.A.5.P.'s served with distinction, but technically were not in the Army Air Force.) The book is divided into three sections: uniforms andrelatedinsigniawornonthe uniforms; wings and otherqualificationbadges; and patches. Flyingcloth ing and equipment will be covered in a separate vol ume. With the kind permission of Stackpole Books, I have used sections of the 1943 and 1944 editions of "The Officer's Guide" to provide the reader access to the original uniform regulations. Severalchanges oc cUI'!edbetweentheseyears, whichIhave pointedout. (Itshouldbenoted thatchanges couldlikelybefound between any editions of the war years, but 1943 to 1944 was significant because of the addition of nu merouswingbadgesandrevisionsinouterwearregu lations.) Thisbookcovers officer'sandenlisteditems, both regulation and non-regulation. Itwouldbevirtuallyimpossibleto writethe"com plete" work on U.S.A.A.F. uniforms and insignia as variations surface constantly. I hope this work will provide the reader with a broad and solid overview of the subject. It is intended as a reference for collec tors and modelers, a recordfor historians, and abook of memories for veterans. The general format I have followed is to provide color photographs of actual items, as well as contemporary photographs of the items in use, accompanied by appropriate commen tary. My inspiration for this work came from growing up with the influence of my Dad, an Army Air Force pilot. As a small boy I would get out my father's "pinks and greens" from the hall closet and dream of the day I would be big enough to wear them (now I am too big!). Dad would always (and still does) take time to tell me stories of flying in England, France, and Germany. Wewentbackto Englandtogethersev eral years ago, which was a time I will always cher ish. Mom and Dad were part or a generation forced 8 INTRODUCTION 9 to grow up too fast and meet the challenge of war. I hope this book will in some way be a tribute to them and to all people of their remarkable generation. *** The studyofuniforms andinsigniaofanArmy atwar is a fascinating subject. Because of the pressures of war, regulations tend to be relaxed or ignored. Units growand change quickly. Primaryfocus is onthe chal lenge at hand. The Army Air Force is no exception! TheU.S. ArmyAirForceofWorldWarIIgrewfrom 1100 airplanes at the time of the attack on Pearl Har bor, December 7, 1941, to 80,000 airplanes by 1944. Approximately 2,400,000 men served in the United States Army Air Force in World War II. Clothing and equipping a Force of that size was no small task. It involved numerous industries across the U.S. and a number of allied countries. Officers were required to purchase their own uni forms. Some wore the finest money could buy, while others didwhatwas necessaryto getby. Thisresulted in tremendous variations in style, cloth, design ofin signia, and materials used in the manufacturing of uniforms, wing badges and patches. Flyers, by nature, tend to be veryindividualistic even flamboyant at times. This, coupledwith relaxed regulations, individual taste, supply problems, and regional variations, produced some very interesting uniforms andinsignia! Garmentslikethe "Ike" jacket and the bush jacket were created out of a desire for comfort and utility, relative to the theater of opera tion and the job at hand. The U.s. Army service dress uniform "pinks and greens" remains one of the sharpest uniforms ever wornbytheAmericanmilitary. Thevariouscolorcom binations of coat, trousers, shirt and tie authorized for wear, allowed the officer some individual choice about what he wanted to wear and still remain in uniform. The "50 mission crusher" service cap also allowed a vehicle for expression of personality. These components of the uniform, along with the pride associated with individual unit insignia, con tributed tothegreatespritde corp oftheUnited States Army Air Force!