was the A2 leather jacket ever worn by tank crewmen?

[green papaya]

Ive seen old photos of WWII GI's wearing the cotton "tanker" jacket in combat, but would they have worn a leather A2 flyer's jacket?

in the movie "Kelly's Heroes" a tanker wears a leather A2 flyer's jacket and pilots leather skull cap with ear phones

seems like the A2 would make a good tanker's jacket since it would be fire resistant.

 

[jake431]

Ive seen old photos of WWII GI's wearing the cotton "tanker" jacket in combat, but would they have worn a leather A2 flyer's jacket?

in the movie "Kelly's Heroes" a tanker wears a leather A2 flyer's jacket and pilots leather skull cap with ear phones

seems like the A2 would make a good tanker's jacket since it would be fire resistant.

It was never issued to a tanker by the US Army, but that doesn't mean there weren't any tankers wearing them, if you know what I mean...

-Jake

 

[Doctor Strange]

Remember that the A-2 also functioned as the symbol for the elite position of aircrew vs. regular army. My dad was in the Air Corps (first as groundcrew and later doing photography) and he *envied* "those gorgeous jackets that my flyboy buddies had". Outside of flying personnel and Air Corps officers, it's likely that only senior officiers had the clout to get and wear A-2s. But probably a few managed to slip into the hands of other army personnel too.

BTW, I seem to recall that Donald Sutherland's jacket in Kelly's Heroes is a very poor excuse for a wartime A-2 - I think it's more of a 70s bomber jacket.

BTW2, I did get my dad an A-2 of his own a few years ago in recognition of his old Air Corps service! (A cheap Bradley Associates repro with many wrong details - chocolate cowhide, too-large pockets and collar, synthetic lining and knits, current zipper... but he pronounced it to be "exactly" like the jackets he recalled. So much for the accuracy of memory!)

 

[Forrestal]

My Dad was a tank commander with the First Armored Division in World War II. He spoke quite a lot about how the cotton tank jacket was special to the tank crews. They wore their division patch on the front of the jacket instead of on the sleeve, I think. He would never have worn an A-2.
About 5 or 6 years before my Dad passed away, I bought a tank jacket from the Cockpit Catalogue Co., with the 1st armored division ?¢‚Ǩ?ìOld Ironsides?¢‚Ǩ? patch, and gave it to him?¢‚Ǩ¬¶?¢‚Ǩ¬¶he thought it was a great gift.
Just my $0.02
Regards,
Forrestal

 

[green papaya]

General Douglas MacArthur would often wear the A2 flyer's jacket

I think he also wore a USN G1 flyers jacket with mouton collar?

 

[MikeyB17]

The A-2 was never issued to tank crews, but as has been said, I wouldn't be surprised if some tankers got hold of them through a bit of horse trading. Paratroops were often seen wearing AAF flight jackets-see 'Band of Brothers'. It's true, Oddball's jacket in 'Kelly's Heroes' is a feeble excuse for an A-2-press studded epaulettes and all! The AAF flying helmet is real though! Although tankers weren't issued A-2's, pilots were issued tankers-particularly P-38 pilots who froze in A-2's before the introduction of the B-10.

MB17

 

[Bill O'Rights]

I did get my dad an A-2 of his own a few years ago in recognition of his old Air Corps service! (A cheap Bradley Associates repro with many wrong details - chocolate cowhide, too-large pockets and collar, synthetic lining and knits, current zipper... but he pronounced it to be "exactly" like the jackets he recalled. So much for the accuracy of memory!)

Point is...he was happy. And somehow, I think, it meant more to him than an original A-2 ever would.

 

[nightandthecity]

I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of tankers wearing A2s but I couldn't pinpoint one at this moment. But I briefly owned an A2 that had belonged to a British tanker. He was given it by a pilot in the 12th Air force. He also said that a photo of him wearing it in his tank appeared on the front cover of the BBC "Radio Times" in 1945. As Doc says, it had elite status, so I'm sure some US tankers must have got hold of them too.

 

[alden405]

also winter combat jackets and trousers ended up being used as flight clothing by fighter pilots in the MTO as the winter combat suit was less bu;ky than the shearling option

 

[MrBern]

B of Bs

The A-2 was never issued to tank crews, but as has been said, I wouldn't be surprised if some tankers got hold of them through a bit of horse trading. Paratroops were often seen wearing AAF flight jackets-see 'Band of Brothers'. It's true, Oddball's jacket in 'Kelly's Heroes' is a feeble excuse for an A-2-press studded epaulettes and all! The AAF flying helmet is real though! Although tankers weren't issued A-2's, pilots were issued tankers-particularly P-38 pilots who froze in A-2's before the introduction of the B-10.

MB17

Theres a De Trez book on paratrooper Forrest Guth, who died recently.
Tho he was a corporal, he used his spare cash to by an A-2 while on leave in the USA. I believe it wouldve been a civilian knock-off.

I once met an old army machinegunner who told me he wanted good sunglasses but they were only available to the officers in the PX. He saved up the cash & asked an officer make the transaction. When the officer balked, the machinegunner simple said he would be able to sight planes easier with sunglasses, so the officer immediately got him th aviators.

The boys had a way of working things out.

 

[Edward]

BTW, I seem to recall that Donald Sutherland's jacket in Kelly's Heroes is a very poor excuse for a wartime A-2 - I think it's more of a 70s bomber jacket.

You're not wrong! Even as a complete A2 novice, I spotted how wrong it was when I last saw the film a year or two ago. I presume, back in those days before accurate repros were available the way they are now, it was a case of lack of a more suitable option, as ell as, perhaps, a notion of 'noone will ever notice...'. Personally, I preferred the Wehrmacht(? Or was itg Gestapo?) officer's jacket he ends up with, that looked a touch more accurate!

 

[Story]

in the movie "Kelly's Heroes" a tanker wears a leather A2 flyer's jacket and pilots leather skull cap with ear phones.

Describing Oddball as just 'a tanker' is like calling the Mona Lisa "some artwork". He is iconic amongst the modern 19 series folk.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_v94HclVn6hA/SmEJA4DZ5fI/AAAAAAAAHug/cAHLp1PTB5Y/s400/Donald+Sutherland.jpg

/ Woof woof.

 

[DutchIndo]

I think the Movie just reflected the times it was made. For instance Psy-Ops, Odd Balls Tank with Loud Speakers. I'm sure they had some type of Psy-Ops back then but it was more of a Korean / Viet-Nam thing.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

It was never issued to a tanker by the US Army, but that doesn't mean there weren't any tankers wearing them, if you know what I mean...

-Jake

Indeed. I'm sure there was some horse trading, and miss-appropriating going on there. At the end of Kelly's Heroes, one of Odd Ball's crew, is wearing an SS Panzer jacket, that he got from the German tanker.

My girl-friend's father, was a pilot in the CBI theater. When the family asked him where his jacket was, he said that he "lost" his A2, when he was some place he shouldn't have been.

The Germans did issue leather tanker jackets. Leather would be suitable for inside a tank, just as it would inside an airplane. Leather is water resistant (wont soak up those flammable liquids), flame resistant, and abrasion resistant. Perhaps the tankers would seek out leather jackets, rather than the issued cloth ones. The Sherman tanks had a reputation for catching on fire, due to the gasoline engine, rather than the diesel powered German tanks.

 

[DutchIndo]

Funny thing about this subject is more soldiers sought "Tanker Jackets" than Tankers seeking A-2s. It was popular with AB troops believe or not. Shermans were known as "Ronsons" after the Cig lighters.

 

[FinalVestige79]

Well, the only infantry unit to ever be issued the A-2 was the First Special Service Force. Thats proven. I forget the reference now, I'll dig it up when I unpack.

As for "procurement" there was a thriving black market in the Armed Forces in WWII...a GI could get anything if he knew the right people and had enough of the right stuff or something worth trading. That being said...the AAC and the Regular Army did not work together as closely as to allow these trades to happen. The AAC was mainly located to the rear in most situations with the GIs on the front. The Air Corps followed the GIs movements and in most cases stayed in England while the GIs were on the continent. And also the fact that these A-2s were under the control of the individual supply officer in charge of doling out the stuff to the airmen.

The reason you see regular infantry with tanker jackets and even the tanker bib trousers (Winter Combat Trousers) is because there was a high level of interaction between the armored guys and the mud crunchers. You don't see that degree of interaction with GIs and airmen.

That being said...it was a big war, with millions of people involved...if you say it didn't happen it probably did. This instance just has a smaller chance of occurring.

Not to kill the Kelly's Hero's fans, but the authenticity of Kelly's Heros is like...the authenticity of Miracle at St. Anna, its just not there. Just because it was in a really entertaining movie...doesn't means it happened. The odds of a GI trading with a German...that he didn't previously kill are very small....they were enemies.