Posted by MyBomberJacket.com on 5th Jul 2017

The Type A-2 Leather Flight Jacket

The Type A-2 Leather Flight Jacket, also known as the bomber jacket’s history date back to World War II. The

jacket got first standardized to be worn by the U.S. Army Air Force officers as soon as they completed their basic flight training during 1931. This jacket was a symbol of an airman’s first-class status and therefore had to be decorated with pride. As a sign of pride, the jacket had to be decorated with their rank badges, regiment patches, and detailed sewing or painted artwork. The back of the A-2 jackets was made using a single piece of horsehide leather which was by then considered the best canvas for pin –up girls. Also, after each successful mission, these jackets could be further decorated with cartoon characters or bomb decorations.

The Type A-2 jackets came as a successor after the A-1 that got adopted in 1927. However, as soon as the Type A-2 replaced A-1, several features that were in the initial jackets were changed. For example, the buttoned fronts and pocket flaps with zips were eliminated. Also, the A-1 had hidden snap fasteners which were also removed in the next edition; however, the very early A-2 still had pocket buttons. The A-1 jackets had a stand up knitted collar that button closed. Nonetheless, this was displaced in the new A-2 jackets, which had a shirt style collar made of leather, and a hook-and-eye latch at the throat, and hidden snaps at its points. Further, stitch down shoulder straps was included in A-2 jackets. These were manufactured in different sizes, which were at the time ranged in even numbers, from size 32 to size 54.

Design and Manufacture of the A-2 Jacket

At this period, the 1930s through to the 40s there were many manufacturers of these jackets and every manufacturer would vary their style slightly from the original design. However, all the A-2 had to be manufactured in a certain way, example, every jacket must have had a snap-flap patch pocket on both sides, and which did not have hand warmers compartment, as these were considered not fit for the military bearing. Each must have had a shirt-style snap-down collar, epaulets or shoulder straps, waistbands and knit cuffs, it had its inner lining made of cotton or silk, and had leather hang strap. There was also the military spec tag which must have been attached slightly below the back collar. The reason why the back was constructed using only a single piece of leather was so that it could limit stress on the garment.

The original A-2 jackets are far much different from the modern ones as they were trim loose fitting as opposed to the current loose-fitting ones. They were meant to fit even the thinnest of soldiers and were to be worn over the shirt or on top of a shirt and the flight suit. Many of the flight jacket’s linings were sown with maps of the mission areas, and could be used for navigation on land in the event of a shoot down.

If you navigate to the National Archives you will view some of the photos of the A-2 jackets that were worn by U.S. Army pilots, gunners, the bombardiers, radio operators and the navigators of the 401st Bombardment Group and each of them has the nickname of the wearer’s trustee aircraft. This jacket was accredited as ‘The Best Damned Outfit in the USAAF’ the 401st crewed the B-17 Flying Fortress in up to 254 missions in Europe and earned the two Distinguished Unit Citations and about 12,000 individual awards and decoration. The manufacturers of the A-2 jackets grew in number over the period 1930s and 1940s, and all of them demonstrated high-quality work, artistry, and also fit characteristics.