Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic A2 leather flight jacket issued to a member of the crew of a B-26 Marauder which was assigned to the 557th Bomb Squadron, 387th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force which was later transferred to the Ninth Air Force.
The left chest bears an original 557th Bomb Squadron hand painted full color Keller's Killers insignia which features a goblin with flaming background, two crossed bombs and drops of blood dripping from the teeth.
The right front chest has 62 hand painted yellow bombs (missions) all in very goo condition. The reverse of the jack bears a hand painted vibrant 557th Bomb Squadron goblin insignia with dripping blood fro exposed teeth.
Overall condition of the jacket is in very good. The leather is still supple and does not have any major cracking or damage. Size is approximately a US 42. The liner is original while the cuffs and waist band appear to be accurate replacements. The zipper is CROWN and fully functional. There is an original maker data tag but it is detached.
A truly amazing A-2 jacket with wonderful had painted art.
The squadron was activated as a Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombardment squadron in late 1942. It trained under the Third Air Force and deployed to European Theater of Operations in July 1943, initially being stationed in England and assigned to the IX Bomber Command.
It engaged in tactical bombardment of enemy targets in Occupied Europe initially from stations in England, then after D-Day it was moved to Advanced Landing Grounds in France and Belgium, advancing eastward as Allied ground forces advanced. It supported Eighth Air Force strategic bombardment missions over NSDAP Germany and Occupied Europe, striking enemy airfields to obtain maximum interference in Luftwaffe daytime interceptor attacks against heavy bomber formations returning to England. The squadron also participated in the Western Allied Invasion of Germany in March–April 1945, until the German surrender in May 1945.
The squadron became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe and demobilized personnel in 1945. It was reassigned to the United States as a paper unit, inactivated in November 1945.
The 387th Bomb Group flew just under thirty missions with the Eighth Air Force before being transferred to the Ninth Air Force in October 1943. The Group remained at Chipping Ongar, Essex after being reassigned and continued to hit targets in France. Subsequent to the Allied invasion of the continent, the 387th moved to Stony Cross in July 1944 and on to a series of bases in France. The crews flew from Clastres, north-eastern France, for the mission that resulted in a Distinguished Unit Citation for the Group, awarded for hitting transportation and communication targets at Mayen and Prum, Germany during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 to January 1945.
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