A2 Bomber Jacket 
Worn By World War II Heroes

 

 

 

       The A2 bomber jacket is an iconic symbol of machismo, heroism and style that stems back to the Second World War and even earlier.
       It was brought in as a replacement for the A1 bomber jackets worn by U.S Army Air Corps from the late 1920s. The A2 was fairly similar in design to the A1 as it was made from brown horsehide leather with knitted wristlets and waistband, but replaced the buttoned fronts with a zipper. 

First A2 Bomber Jacket

        This military issue also known as flight jackets were commonly used through to 1943 when B10 and B15 types were provided to new units.
        However, to this day this particular A2 bomber jacket is always associated with the US Air Force during the Second World War. This style of flight jacket has continued through the years though with movies such as Top Gun helping to keep its profile well and truly alive.

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        The beauty of these leather jackets is not just how stylish they look, but they always have been and continue to be practical and hard wearing.
        Made from horse hide, goat hide or cow hide the jackets were available in different colour tones including seal (dark brown to almost black) and Russet (pale red brown to medium brown).
        During the war they were generally lined with silk before later having a cotton lining.

A2 Bomber Jacket Unique

        The A2 bomber jacket was distinct from other leather jackets through the additional features such as the snap flap patch pocket on either side. To deter men from keeping their hands in their pockets these did not have hand warmer compartments. Keeping your hands in your
pockets was deemed unfit for military personnel.

        Other features of the leather jacket were a shirt-style snap-down collar, shoulder straps as well as knit cuffs and waistband. The back was constructed from a single piece of leather to limit any stress on the garment.
The bottom line is they had to be hard wearing, warm and comfortable to meet the demands of wartime for US pilots.

Bomber Jackets and the Movies

        The practicalities and stylish nature of the jackets have also helped keep them in fashion for several decades now, although movie stars like James Stewart and Tom Cruise and others help to sell even more of them.
        Seeing one of your heroes in the movies wearing an A2 bomber jacket will always be incentive to buy one of them. Many of these movie stars are merely portraying real life heroes who happened to wear the jackets in the course of their national duty.

         Ultimately tens of thousands of A2 bomber jackets were issued between 1931 and 1944, and whilst the original A2 bomber jacket examples are quite rare now they can still be found.
        Their value has increased over time as the demand for war time memorabilia has increased in recent years, with some original A2s fetching up to $5,000 in auction. There are about 50 of these iconic flight jackets on display in the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

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 A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

A2 bomber jacket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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