Allied Bomber Gear | Bomber Jackets

When Allied Pilots and Crewman took to the sky during the air war against the Axis, they wore a wide variety of flight gear. Yes, they wore the Type A2 Bomber Jacket or the widely used Type B3 Bomber Jacket (also known as B3 Shearling or Sheepskin Jacket), but they also wore underneath and along with those jackets lots of other gear.

Such as the B6 Flying Helmet that featured leather ear-cups for the earphones. In Europe, over this shearling helmet usually went the Mk VIII Royal Air Force Goggles that were so popular with both British and American flight crews. The Brits just made a super pair of goggles and the young Americans knew a good thing when they used them. Attached to the helmet was the T30 throat microphone that was later plugged into the wire-plugged airship communications aboard the aircraft. Later, Americans went to the B8 Orange Tinted Shield Goggles which allowed a more expanded view.

Warmth was a critical factor for both bomber crews and fighter pilots, especially since the high flying gallants faced temperatures as low as 65 degrees below zero with open windows and unpressurized cabins. To combat the freezing air, many crews used the A4 Summer Flying Suit, and sometimes, adding over that the newly designed F1 Electrically Heated Suit, along with its lead plug which used the planes electrical system. Only then did the A2 Bomber Jacket go on.

However, that was just helping a pilot or crew member get started. Over the feet when the Pattern 1940 RAF flying boots (if you could get a pair) and the B3 Life Preserver (May West) that strapped over the shoulders, between the legs and around the waist.

Then you could try to fit into the issued B7 Back Pack Parachute and its heavy weaved harness. The adjustable harness was tricky at best. It ran both between your legs with a strap for each legs, and over your shoulders. Here, the Pilot or Crewman had to be careful as the harness came together around the waist. With the Life Preserver on and secured, the crew member had to make sure to run the heavy harness underneath its front so as not to impede the wide chest snap. Do it wrong, and you were going to cause yourself serious trouble if you had to bail out over the water. Many A2 Bomber Jackets had a little whistle attached to the clip of the collar; it could come in real need if you floating in the water, looking for other downed crewman, or just plain help.

Later, Pilots and Crews also wore the An-6514-1A Chest Parachute.

After all that fixing, now you could put your H1 Emergency Bail-Out Oxygen Bottle in your boot shaft and grab your A9 Shearling Gloves. Afterward, you looked at the table just to be sure you picked up your Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, or Camel Cigarette and your Army Air Forces book of matches. Some used Hammer Head Matches.

Most bomber crews used the A8B Oxygen Mask that was fitted with leather straps. It did not need to be attached to any helmet and included a funny looking expanding bladder. Sometimes, the Mask had trouble with condensation from normal breathing and it could display dangerous freeze issues at high attitude. Men who were coming down with a cold were often grounded due to having to use this mask. Coughing and wheezing into it tended to stop-it-up and the wearer could suffocate due to lack of air.

Later, some Bomber Crews were issued the F2 Heated Flight Jacket. It looked something like a cross between the Type A2 and B10 (discussed later), but it was a wool-shelled jacket with heat elements running throughout the body and sleeves. It also sported a light-colored imitation fur collar, most collars were cream in color, but other variations were issued. The F2 was accompanied with the F2 Heated Trousers and the F2 Black Felt Boots and Heated Gloves. Now the airman had all sorts of heat wires and plugs hanging from his clothing. The Life Preserver was updated to the B4 Life Vest.

The F2 Heated Flight Jacket and Trousers were made for use with the new upcoming B10 and B15 Bomber Jackets that were to replace the Leather Bomber Jacket of old.

All throughout the war, there was another leather style of bomber jacket that was most popular with high altitude flight. This was the Shearling B3 Flying Jacket or B3 Sheepskin Bomber Jacket. Made of Shearling (soft wool never separated from the skin) the B3 keep many a crewman and pilot from freezing in the cold higher elevations. They were also worn with the B3 heavy trousers. They were issued all around to Army Air Corp, U.S. Navy, and Marine air crews. The B3 was often slipped over the other types of flying suits for that finishing touch of extra warmth. Sometimes, the B3 Shearling Bomber Jacket was worn over the A2 Bomber Jacket. In today’s market place, most B3 offered are a replica and not close to the real thing made during the war. The Type B3 is the closest to the original today as far as mass marketing goes, unless a manufacture makes a true copied ‘retro’ model that comes very expensive, more than what most can afford (around $1000 or even higher pending on manufacturer, some cost around $2,500).

Though the B3 Shearling Bomber Jacket was heavily issued during the entire war, a different model of sheepskin flight jacket emerged. Many Bomber Pilots switch to the new AN-J-4 Shearling Flight Jacket. The An-J-4 featured more arm and waist protection against wear with horsehide leather supports. Crawling in and out of the forward flight deck pitted leather against metal and usually metal won that conflict. As a result, extra supports were sewn on and this new creation was called the Type AN-J-4 Flight Jacket. Many photographs of flight crews gathered before their bombers on the flight deck show many of the regular crew members wearing B3 Bomber Jackets and their Pilot and Co-Pilot with their AN-J-4 Flight Jackets.

High casualties over Europe brought bomber air crews the M3 Flak Helmet, made to fit over the B3 leather helmet. And a kind of rudimentary early model Flak Vest made by the British Wilkinson Company.

Soon, the B10 and the B15 Flight Jackets or B15 Bomber Jackets, were in huge demand. Made of a wool and nylon blend, the two bomber jackets proved as warm and much lighter than the old Leather A2 Bomber Jacket. Both the B10 Bomber Jacket and the B15 Bomber Jacket went with the new F3 Heated Flight Suit and A9 alpaca lined flying trousers. With this went the A6 Lined Flying Boots.

Strikingly, common sizes during the war was chest sizes 30 inch to 42 inch. Back then, the man who sported a barreled 42 inch was a customer you might not want to mix with.

Curiously, the B10 and B15 Bomber Jacket Models were to be the main forerunners for other jacket styles made of nylon and other blends for the civilian jacket market.