(Photo credit: Margaret Bourke White / LIFE Magazine). Fighter pilots especially favored RAF helmets, oxygen masks, and life preservers due to how much more comfortable they were. The use of RAF equipment was common among aircrew, especially early in the war due to either shortages or inadequacies of the issued gear. In the photo of the crew with the plane T/Sgt Reed can be seen in the front row viewers far right wearing this very jacket Technical Sergent Neal E. Reed of the crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress Hells Belle. Both crewmen also are sporting RAF-type MK VII goggles with flip-down sun visors. This is an exceptional A2 leather flight jacket issued to a T/Sgt Neal E. Tuesday marks 80 years since a now-famous raid struck the heart of Germanys operations during World War II. It remains one of the warmest and most insulating bomber jackets ever made. The bomber was vital to the crew’s comfort as the crimp of the sheep’s wool created insulating air spaces, naturally retaining heat and absorbing excess moisture generated by the body. Aviators in WWII bombers came to rely on their B-3 jackets as they often flew for 8-9 hours in unpressurized cabins, where air temperatures could drop to more than 60 degrees below zero (-53 Celsius). Made by a number of contractors, details vary widely on these jackets, but most had several things in common. The helmets, jackets, gloves, pants and boots were made of leather (sheepskin) with wool linings. First produced in 1927 and decommissioned in 1931, the A-1 was a vital first step in the creation of the iconic flight jacket. Explore Johnny Duncans board 'WWII Bomber Jackets' on Pinterest. Even in summer it got as cold as -40 degrees F.
It covered the mouth and nose and also had a rebreather bag attached to concentrate the oxygen for enrichment.īoth crewmen wear the famous B-3 type shearling jacket. See more ideas about wwii bomber jacket, wwii bomber, leather flight jacket.
The A-8B was a constant flow oxygen mask, patterned after the original design by Boothby, Lovelace, and Bulbillion (the mask was originally known as the BLB mask). The mask is an early A8-B type used by bomber crews mostly from before the war up to about 1943 when it was phased out by more modern systems. The first crewman is wearing the RAF Type B flight helmet (famously used during the Battle of Britain), and the second crewman is wearing a USAAF B-6 type shearling helmet. Two fliers of the 8th Bomber Command clad in high altitude flying clothes including sheepskin coats & helmets, oxygen masks and sunglass goggles, at airdrome in southern England.ĭuring World War II, the now-legendary VIII Bomber Command (often referred to as the Eighth Air Force) served as the principal American force assembled to attack Germany from the air.įor several critical years in the early and mid-1941s, B-24 and B-17 bombers-the Flying Fortresses-from the “The Mighty 8th”, often in tandem with Royal Air Force fighters, crossed the Channel and hit strategic towns and cities in Nazi-held Europe.
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