Knit Collar on an A-2?

["Skeet" McD]

Hello All,
Allow ignorance to stand rampant:

I was speaking with my 90YO father today; he served with the AAF during WWII. I asked him "if he was issued a leather jacket" when he completed pilot training. He immediately said "yes, an A2 jacket" and said that it was issued when he arrived at pilot training. He had it all through the war "until it fell from my back" before being discharged in 1945.

He described it as having no markings except for the label stating it was GI (no serial number, no name label, etc.), with ribbed waist and cuffs...but also with a knit collar of the same material. He said "most ones had leather collars, but mine was knit." (As an aside, the man who trained him as a pilot had one with slits for collar stays in the leather collar--like on a dress shirt--and used them; private purchase?)

My father is still quite sharp, and I doubt very much he's wrong on the detail of the knit collar. Question to those of you who know: is this a known contractor variant, or did my father get something OTHER than an A2?

Thanks in advance, as I have no doubt the answer is out there among you cognoscenti....

"Skeet"

 

[Papa M]

Sounds like it might have been an A1.

....and God bless your Dad!

 

[Tokyo Jones]

It does indeed sound like an A-1, which were issued in WW2 in limited numbers until the middle of the war. Great pics over at Goodwear Leather. The fact that it seems to have fallen apart while still in service strengthens my suspicion, as A-1s were made of capeskin, which doesn't last as well as horsehide, or cowhide, or goatskin, or...

Indeed, it might have been a vintage jacket when your father wore it. A-1s began production in 1927, but were superceded fairly quickly by the A-2.

 

[newsboy]

Ask him if it had buttons or a zip?

 

["Skeet" McD]

Ask him if it had buttons or a zip?

Thanks to all who've been kind enough to reply! As stated before: I'm VERY ignorant on these matters.

Newsboy, he volunteered: didn't have to ask. Zip.

"Skeet"

 

["Skeet" McD]

Sounds like it might have been an A1.

....and God bless your Dad!

Dear Papa M,
Thank you for your benedictions. For what it's worth, here's the short version of his service, from the Remembrance/Veteran's Day thread; perhaps you might enjoy it:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=901139&postcount=5

"Skeet"

 

[Edward]

Is it possible that there was a cross-over period when the A2 was being introduced, during which old A1 shells were completed for issue, but factory installed with a zip in place of the original button design?

 

[Tokyo Jones]

The only cross-over I've ever seen is an A-1 with an A-2 style shirt collar and hidden buttons. It is essentially an A-2 with buttons, and thus as a cross-over, the wrong way 'round for our little mystery. Of course, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been an A-1 finished with a zip.

Similar jackets were made in the civillian market in the thirties (see Goodwear's "Electra" as a latter day example). Perhaps it was a private purchase jacket that somehow found it's way to Skeet's father?

 

["Skeet" McD]

The only cross-over I've ever seen is an A-1 with an A-2 style shirt collar and hidden buttons. It is essentially an A-2 with buttons, and thus as a cross-over, the wrong way 'round for our little mystery. Of course, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been an A-1 finished with a zip.

Similar jackets were made in the civillian market in the thirties (see Goodwear's "Electra" as a latter day example). Perhaps it was a private purchase jacket that somehow found it's way to Skeet's father?

Dear TJ,
I have no knowledge of procurement during WWII...but from what I know about the American Civil War--in the beginning of wars, QMs will grab whatever is available, contract regs be damned. So, on the face of it, that's a good suggestion--and the picture you reference is suggestive. I'll have to ask my father about the pockets (i.e., buttons?).

But, by the time my father got into the Cadet Corps it was the second half of 1943:
http://www.me.com/gallery/#100014/RLM_CadetApplication

and I would expect that the pipeline for military goods was in pretty good order by then? For what it's worth, the place he was issued "whatever it was" was Clemson College, in South Carolina.

Again, thanks to all of you for your thoughts.

"Skeet"

 

[derleicaman]

Any pictures of your dad wearing the jacket while in service?