WWII Aero Leather A-2 Flight Jacket 42-15142-P, Named Urich, 306th Bomb Group B-17 Bombardier Papers, Size 40

A 1942 Aero Leather A-2 with its red knits, the name URICH inked inside, and papers naming Flight Officer Russell C. Urich, a decorated B-17 bombardier of the 306th Bomb Group at Thurleigh.

The Type A-2, 1931 to 1943

The Type A-2 was made Standard on 9 May 1931, after service tests that began in September 1930. Built to specification 94-3040 and labelled to drawing 30-1415, it was described in the Army Air Forces Class 13 catalogue as seal brown horsehide leather with knitted wristlets and waistband. For a generation of American airmen it was simply the flight jacket.

The great wartime contracts came in 1942. That same year General Hap Arnold stopped further leather orders in favour of cloth jackets, and on 27 April 1943 the A-2 was reclassified Limited Standard. The jackets made in 1942 were the ones that went to England with the bomb groups of the Eighth Air Force, and many of the men who wore them over Germany wore no other.

Aero Leather of Beacon, New York

The label reads Type A-2, Dwg. No. 30-1415, A.C. Contract Order No. 42-15142-P, Property Air Force, U.S. Army, Aero Leather Clo. Co., Beacon, N.Y. Order 42-15142-P was signed on 28 March 1942 and produced through that year, with an estimated 50,000 jackets made. With its sister orders 18775 and 21996 it formed one of the largest A-2 programmes of the war, issued in both seal and russet.

Every contractor worked to the same drawing, so the character collectors recognise in an Aero jacket comes not from any departure from the specification but from the leather, the cut and the finish. Seal brown Aero jackets often wear through to a warmer russet at the seams and high points, and the red knits frame that colour in a way that has become a signature of the maker.

Aero jackets are known for their solid, substantial leather and for the rust-red knits that collectors associate with the maker. This example keeps those red knits, apparently original and without holes. Today Aero 15142 is among the most closely reproduced A-2 patterns in the world, a measure of how highly the original is regarded.

Flight Officer Russell C. Urich

Inside the back of the lining the name URICH is written in ink. The jacket comes with photocopies of two newspaper clippings. The accompanying papers name Flight Officer Russell C. Urich, son of Mr and Mrs R.C. Urich of South Potomac Street, Hagerstown, Maryland. The principal clipping, from The Daily Mail of Hagerstown dated Thursday 22 February 1945, is headed 'F-O Russell Urich Wins Another Honor As Fort Bombardier'.

It reports that he had been awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster to his Air Medal, announced by Colonel James S. Sutton, commanding officer of the veteran 306th Bomb Group in England, for meritorious achievement as bombardier of a B-17 Flying Fortress in sustained combat over enemy territory. It describes him as a veteran of many daylight attacks on Germany, including raids on synthetic-oil refineries in the Hamburg-Harburg area and tactical strikes on bridges, supply centres, marshalling yards and communications in support of the ground offensive. A Hagerstown High School graduate of 1935, he had worked for the Western Maryland Railroad before entering the Army Air Forces in April 1941. The link between the jacket and these papers rests on the name in the lining; the papers are copies, not originals, and the lining's originality should be confirmed in hand, since the inked name is only as early as the lining that carries it.

The 306th at Thurleigh

The 306th Bombardment Group flew from RAF Thurleigh in Bedfordshire and was among the longest-serving heavy bomb groups of the Eighth Air Force. On 27 January 1943 it led the Eighth's first mission to Germany, against Wilhelmshaven, and lost no aircraft. On 21 April 1943 it lost ten aircraft and a hundred airmen. At Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943, Black Thursday, only eight of its eighteen bombers returned. It earned Distinguished Unit Citations for the attack on German aircraft plants on 11 January 1944 and for Big Week, 20 to 25 February 1944.

Sergeant Maynard H. 'Snuffy' Smith of the 306th received the first Medal of Honor awarded to an enlisted airman, on 1 May 1943. Princess Elizabeth named one of its B-17Fs Rose of York, and Glenn Miller's band played at Thurleigh on 14 July 1944. The 306th was the first Eighth Air Force group to reach 300 missions and flew 341 in all, the last on 19 April 1945. Its story became the basis of the film Twelve O'Clock High.

The Bombardier's Seat

In a B-17 the bombardier rode in the Plexiglas nose, the most exposed position in the aircraft, operating the Norden bombsight on the bomb run and manning the nose guns against head-on fighter attacks. An Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal recognised a further period of sustained operational flying, and the clipping places Urich among the crews sent against Germany's synthetic-oil industry in the final winter of the war.

Further research is open and worth pursuing: service records and the 306th Bomb Group's own archives may yet confirm crews and missions. We present what the papers say, and nothing beyond it.

Why Japan Collects the A-2

Collectors in Japan have studied Aero A-2s more closely than almost anyone, and an Aero 15142 is the pattern that many Japanese collectors measure all others against. To hold an original from that order, with its red knits intact and a name in the lining that leads to a Mighty Eighth bombardier, is to own the reference point itself rather than a reflection of it.

Japanese collectors have also led the way in valuing named and documented jackets, because a name turns a contract jacket into a biography. An Aero 15142 from 1942 is a fine thing on its own. An Aero 15142 that the accompanying papers connect to a bombardier of the group behind Twelve O'Clock High, flying against oil targets in the last winter of the war, carries a weight of history that a reproduction, however exact, cannot.

The Piece

The leather is supple and full, with the dense, substantial handle typical of Aero, its seal brown finish wearing gently towards russet at the high points. There is some cracking inside the collar, across the back and at the shoulders, none of it structural. The Talon zip with leather pull runs fully, the rust-red knits appear original and unholed, and the cotton lining is a bright mustard with URICH inked across the back.

The contract label is crisp and legible, size 40. The photocopied newspaper papers accompany the jacket. It is an excellent example of the most celebrated A-2 contract of the war, made more compelling by a name that the accompanying papers connect to a decorated bombardier of one of the Eighth Air Force's most storied groups.

We recommend that any buyer treat the identification as a starting point. The name in the lining and the photocopied clippings point in the same direction, and the next steps, service records and the 306th Bomb Group's archives, are clear. Should research confirm crew and missions, the jacket's story will only deepen; even as it stands, it is a fine Aero 15142 with a name and a documented man behind it.

Details

• Type: Type A-2 flight jacket
• Maker: Aero Leather Clothing Co., Beacon, New York
• Contract / label: A.C. Contract Order No. 42-15142-P (March 1942), Dwg. No. 30-1415
• Era: 1942
• Leather / shell: Seal brown leather wearing to russet
• Hardware: Talon zip with leather pull
• Lining & knits: Mustard cotton lining (originality to be confirmed); rust-red knits, apparently original
• Decoration: Owner's name URICH inked on back lining; photocopied 1945 newspaper papers naming F/O Russell C. Urich, 306th Bomb Group
• Tagged size: 40
• Measurements: Shoulder 44.8 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 53.5 cm · Sleeve 62 cm · Length 65 cm

Condition

• Light cracking inside the collar, on the back and at the shoulders; wearable.
• Thread breaks at the right rear shoulder and on both epaulettes; easily re-stitched.
• Talon zip opens and closes fully.
• Red knits without holes, apparently original.
• Lining colour is bright; original fitting to be confirmed in hand.
• Documents are photocopies, not originals.
• Faint vintage odour.

Condition grade AB on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The label, contract and size tags, leather, stitching, zip and hardware, paint and insignia are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Keep on a broad wooden hanger away from light and heat, condition the leather sparingly, and store the papers flat in an acid-free sleeve.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.

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