US Army Air Force Bomber Flight Suit of World War 2

Blog: (autoshowcasepro...)
ASP PRESENTS:
A history lesson of what US Bomber Air Crew wore during World War 2.
Special thanks to the Army Air Corps Historical Association:
(www.aafha.org)
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Thanks for watching! Sound off in the comments below!
TAGS
US Army Air Force, US Air Force, World War 2, Bomber, Flight, Suit,
WW2, B-17, flying fortress, B-25, Army Air Force, Lancaster, super
fortress, ball gunner, Luftwaffe, B-29, Enola Gay, Boeing, Army Air
Corps Historical Association, history, bomber crew, pilot, gunner, 8th
Air Force, Medal of Honor, Stuka, Stuka Dive Bomber, P-47 Mustang, Bf 109, parachute, flak jacket

[@lawrencegoldstein2681]

I am an 8TH AF veteran.....I went through all of the conditions as an Radio operator...during the period Nov 1943 to March 1944. We volunteered for flying duty.....for the flight pay.......little did we know what we would be exposed to. Survival was critical......8 to 10 missions was the average....as a crew we did 25 !!!!! Goldie

[@raider_militaria]

Lawrence Goldstein Thank you for your service.

[@seanlambert-knight4735]

Wow

[@Bluelinechevy82]

Thank you for your service, you have no idea how much you are appreciated!

[@deltaflyer9078]

Thank you very much for your service, I really appreciate it.

[@viking90706]

Mr Goldstein, My Grandfather was in letters of correspondence with then Senator Harry Truman, pleading to allow the German Jews transit to America 1938, the letter of correspondence is in the library of congress. God-bless to you and yours SIR!

[@Mach1rulz]

My father who stood 5'5 was a tail gunner on a 17 and as a teenager in the 60s I'd put on his leather/wool fight suit to shovel snow in the winter. Kept me toasty warm. I was clueless about the suit and never ask. Thanks for making the video, I learned alot about the suit and the experience my dad had wearing it.

[@therandomplushchannel4520]

That’s amazing! I have my great grandpa’s cap he most likely wore on his B25, but still that story is neat! Those jackets, if you wanted one but didn’t have one, costs $400+! Very lucky!

[@kirstybrough2957]

all young bomber crews showed guts and courage each time they went up. respect to them all. kids nowadays really dont know how different it all could of been withought them. strength,& honour

[@keepinitclassy8931]

Mrs. Kristy I couldn't agree with you more. Most of my fellow classmates and friends do not realize how much it took and its impact today

[@dawnbarringer9127]

Your so right. My Grandfather was a Bombardier Piolet Capt WWII . He was in his early 20's flew 15 missions. He gained 2 Bronze Medals for Flying Air in the invasion of the Allusions Islands.

[@Entity282]

Luckily I'm one of the younger ones(under 16) who knows what these men did! Even if these men don't come back home, they will be honored! And the country their fighting for does everything to find out what happened to them! These brave men on both side deserve honor for what they did! My fargrandpa(ifk if its correct how its written) was a gunner on a Junkers Ju 88G-6 and crashed in September 1944. He was a Oberfähnrich and had several awards like the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse or the Frontflugspange in Bronze. After his crash his comrades tried for several days to find him and found a crator with the Ju 88. He died on impact on the ground. These men deserve so much honor, its not even possible to give that much.

[@worldwarwill1278]

Great comment! If you know his FULL name, place of birth and date of birth I could possibly find out more information about him.

[@joevoit4884]

I watch old combat footage and it amazes me how brave these boys no scratch that, men were. There were 16 yr olds who are more courageous then some people twice that age. Its really heart braking to see how soft and delicate a good majority of the population has become.

[@samuelaguilar5349]

"That's nice..." Is that the best you could say to that story?!

[@DaughtersofOrion]

What else can you say to that story?! I mean…

[@gilbertogonzalezr9353]

Wow!! Quite a story about the flak jacket!! “Life is a gift”. Too bad many of us in younger generations take it for granted ignoring the sacrifice others made so it can continue as a “gift”. Great video, great presentation, great host and a very well preserved military artifacts so we can learn our history in its true essence!

[@stephengreen2116]

I like this dude he should have his own tv show

[@stephengreen2116]

Those guys had balls the size of watermelons to do that day after day. That was real courage .

[@HistoryCollectorsForum]

stephen green Thumbs up on your comment!

[@___xxshanexx___3593]

***** all they have to do today is hold a reticle over the target for few seconds and press a button back then you had open the bomb bay doors and look through scope and calculate how heavy the bomb is plus the weather conditions and how fast the plane is going good grief

[@mohdazhar113]

,

[@ConnorPatrickNolan003]

My great grandfather was a waist gunner on the B-17 Miss Minooky out of RAF Rattlesden. 447th Bomb Group. 709th Bomb Squadron. He flew over 30 missions before getting wounded by a piece of flak

[@nickster1716]

I watched this video and now I'm getting a bunch of this gear as my Airsoft load out. Amazing story and great history mini lesson

[@reddevilparatrooper]

Holy shit!That old gunner was serious when he said that a piece of FLAK with his number on it and matched the last digits on his dog tag.That is some scary shit!Majority of 19 year olds now would not experience something like that unless they did serve in combat now.WWII had their share of youngsters who were 19 year olds or younger.If they survived and lived to have children and many grandchildren is truly a blessing.Cool video,very sobering even if im drunk watching this...

[@LordWham]

Back in 85, one of my high school friends father's SGT. H. (an old guy for dad) had served in the U.S. Marine Corps in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and Grenada. Out of all the wars, the experience that frazzled him the most took place in 45. A dud Japanese mortar fell through his tent, landing between him and his buddy. He claimed the numbers on the shell matched the numbers of both of their tags...

[@chumccurry1765]

Christopher Wham Really good story, perhaps best comment I have read on KZbin. And, I am So glad your friend's father made it!

[@lindacase6861]

As a member of AAFHA (the group shown in the video), I wish to extend my thanks to Chris for sharing his time and talent to produce this video. It’s our mission to honor our veterans and such a pleasure to serve them and our community at the shows we attend. See you next year at Greenwood Lake and also at WWII Weekend in Reading, PA as well as other historical venues.

[@JoshMaxPower]

RIP (2006) my father, Lt. Stanley P. Friedman, bombardier in the 8th Air Corps, 1943-45. 36 missions and "not a scratch on him." His best words imparted to me about life after wartime when facing difficulties: "If I can get through the war, I can get through this."

[@behindthespotlight7983]

There’s a terrific book about a man who survived his B-17 pretty much disintegrating on a training flight over Alaska. He carried a decent knife & matches in his pockets. Without both he would not have made it. The book reiterated numerous times that he bailed without his gloves. Given the number of pockets they had to work with I’d have built the best cross loaded survival kit possible. Probably include a few C rations. A flask of liquor. Definitely 1 or 2 of the bandage/ABC powder/morphine syrette combos. KZbin has a couple period training videos that teach how B-17 & B-24 crews bailed out & dealt with waterborne landings. Their supplies, rafts, everything they needed to stay alive were lashed nearby to the work stations & required several seconds of mindful, diligent work to procure and prepare to deplane. The survival supplies were fairly comprehensive but they were stowed in either wooden crates or waxed canvas duffels that look to have weighed upwards of 100 pounds. When we see those terrible pieces of footage with the bombers shot in half and spiraling there’s no way a Navigator or Radio Operator could keep it together long enough or well enough to don a chute and prepare rafts or survival equipment. The highest rate of KIA or casualties in the entire US Army was the crewmen in the 8th Air Force running the bombing runs over Germany, Romania and other deep Reich targets. Theirs was more dangerous than Submariners or Paratroopers.

[@deltaflyer9078]

Very nice video, my great aunt taught the B25 bomber pilots and gunners in Florida, they had to drop balls in to a bucket from 30. 000 ft, they would need a lot of precision for that! But most of them succeeded.

[@romansroad2007]

My dad was in WW2 All those men did what they had to do back then and service our country for out freedom today. Kids now think nothing of how many people did what they had to do for our future of the USA. God Bless Them All......

[@Entity282]

Its not really true. Some under 16( like me) know what these men did. And 99% of the time these men fought for their country. My fargrandpa was a gunner on a Ju 88, a experienced one. He paid with his life for the protection of his country(Germany)

[@ChattingwithMarkStise]

This was very interesting, I loved the opening and the information was great, I NEVER found myself bored.

[@coreyhansen4241]

Hi, Chris. My name is Corey, and I just watched your video on the flight gear that was used in world war 2b by the b17 bomber crews . I have a keen interest in ww2, I am proud to be a member of world war living history here in Canada. I've met 2ww to veterans who fought in the skies over Europe during ww2. One of them was a bomber crew member, the other one was an aviator in the royal Canadian air force. The veteran I met when I volunteered with the vets, was the father of my ex Deputy commanding officer in my Canadian air cadet squadron. He told me about about when he flew on a bomber as a bomber crew, he was a waist gunner. He passed away a little while after we met, but I'm proud to have met him, and I'm even more proud to have served in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets under his son. I have a ww2 b3 bomber jacket, just like the one you have in your video. I portray a member of the 1st Canadian parachute Battlion, but I also want to portray a bomber crew member as well as a paratrooper. I've got 2 pairs of the khaki tan pants, plus a ww2 army tan dress shirt and a matching tie to go with the shirt. Any way, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. Where are you located in the states? Corey. Corey Hansen from Canada.

[@bjw4859]

The courage these young men showed humbles me, I had no idea how great the losses were, the movies always show only the odd bomber going down, may they find peace at last.

[@jacksonlundquist1674]

my grandfather was a navigation on a B -24

[@blizte3]

that hell of story from survivor and man god had that man in his protection

[@warplanner8852]

Good briefing, major, and helluva 50-mission crush on that head gear, old son.

[@lindsaygelle9993]

This guy is awesome. I wish there were more videos of him. Like many comments have already written, I too could just listen to him for hours.

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Amazing Video Great Production for The Age Incredible Examples, Presentation and Descriptions Thank You

[@RoboTekno]

Wow, awesome job by this historian. I could listen to his presentation for hours. Definitely a passionate guy :-) Although I wish this camera man was a bit more excited when he talked to him... >:-\

[@rustyshackleford5066]

this guy is a great speaker!

[@cdjhyoung]

My father was a 26 year old pilot with the 492nd bomber group, landing in England on June 5, 1944. He flew 10 bombing mission before his group was dissolved after, what he believed, was a mid air accident that killed all the crews from his group. His, and two other crew had stood down that day. After he passed away, the truth was told that his bomber group designation was taken over by the OSS (CIA of the time) to use as an spy unit and all the other crews were secretly assigned to other units. My father finished the war flying radar and radio jamming missions. The crew chief on his plane once told me that they had to carry my father out of the plane after most mission because he was so exhausted. My dad was 5ft 5 inches, and hardly weight 125 lbs. at this point in his life. He gave it his all, as did the rest of these men. He never knew that the men he flew with in other crews had actually survived the war. As brave as these men were, many of them spent the rest of their lives with horrible PTSD, as did my father.

[@worldwarwill1278]

Amazing story, thank you. If you have any photos of your father during his service, I’d love to see them, maybe make a video.

[@gwenhanzlik2198]

This was a very informative video. I had no idea those flak jackets were that heavy! I am writing a book about a B-17 gunner and I definately will include those facts. Thanks for sharing this!!

[@BeachsideHank]

Dad was a tail gunner on a Fortress, he said those electric suits were always short circuiting and painful. He was shot down in a "G" model, but flew earlier versions too and said the G was the most comfortable- as it were- thanks to the waist guns having windows that cut way down on the airstream blowing down the fuselage and exiting through his position, it was like a wind tunnel there. The tail gun was the most remote position of the whole ship, you were separated by the tail wheel and lots of camera gear, it was a tight crawl back to the rest of the crew stations for takeoff and landing. He was in fact shot out of the sky, did suffer injury upon landing in a tree and was imprisoned by the Luftwaffe who had responsibility for captured allied airmen his treatment was fair he said since there was a mutual respect thing at play there, he was lucky- some crewmen were summarily shot if it was the Waffen SS who caught you, and too, locals were known to lynch crewmen as revenge for the bombings. It needs to be known that the Luftwaffe high command were horrified when the execution of 50 of "the great escape" was made known; it was the Gestapo acting on direct orders from Hitler who did the deed. Hitler wanted all recaptured to be executed but Goering pleaded with him that the allies could and would take reprisals against German captives they held, so he relented for a "lesser" number.

[@worldwarwill1278]

Amazing story, thank you. If you have any photos of your father during his service, I’d love to see them, maybe make a video.

[@andresst17]

bring it back and we'll give you a new one... oh gosh

[@ssww3]

Who ever was a bomber or any family member's who were a ww2 bomber. You guys are mad lads, the uniforms and gear are crazy

[@deltaflyer9078]

I have a family member that served in a B24, other family members flew in Waco gliders and C47s.

[@joekurtz8303]

Grim reaper - no joy Almost bought that type of flak vest in a thrift store 45yrs ago..2 piece set,steel disc inserts are like gator skin scales & slightly overlap.

[@DOGG0]

Amazing presentation

[@nickgarcia7415]

that gunners story about his number is kinda chilling

[@primus482]

ww2 bomber crews were ballin' in another dimension

[@romansroad2007]

They called it Army Air core. I believe not Air Force back then .

[@thomaspatrickparker6648]

Yep. Army Air Corps. The Air Force was formed after WWII.

[@4Bobay]

The U.S. Air Corp until June 1941. After that the U.S. Army Air Force until 1947.

[@Entity282]

Bobay Fett You forgot the USNAF(US Navy Airforce)

[@Gogy1987]

Thank you for this.

[@mickaeltamion6221]

Superbe 👍👍👍 sacré équipements

[@MoistDredd]

At 6:26 how am I going to bring back the parachute if im dead? 😂😂😂

[@mediarolf]

Guy, did someone spit a bubble gum on your head? Is that supposed to be a cap? Impossible!!!

[@BulletproofPastor]

Victor seems a bit stiff. I bet his O2 isn't working. Maybe after this video he got a better job modeling clothes at Macy's?

[@r.k.shyamraajvarthanan7604]

Aermica good morning in us air force ww2 well super 👌👌🇺🇸🇺🇲🛩️🛩️👍🏻

[@TrailTribune]

Amazing stuff...just goes to show how great the great generation was. I don't know how those guys did what they did.

[@ethanfogarty402]

In multiple of these video's I've seen chris or ASP sounds very rude

[@omarmunir5954]

Yeah he sounds like an entitled brat. Also at the end if the story he probably had the worst response to an amazing story ‘that’s nice’, no man that story was incredible and you acted like you’re too cool or whatever.

[@werdnaja5762]

So the german flak round serial number matched his dog tags that’s crazy

[@kimi9813]

Great video :) I love this suite :)

[@NandoPalmira]

So the flak hit him so hard in the chest that the numbers on his dog tag was engraved on the shrapnel?

[@jesswilliam5346]

No the shrapnel was from a piece of a. plane or something and is serial number happened to match the last four digits of his dog tag

[@daneilfranklin]

The Flak Shell's Serial number was the same as his military serial number.

[@jacobtheballer215]

My great uncle was a gunner in a B-17 during ww2 his plane got shot down and the Germans captured him he was a POW for 2 years all he ate was potato skin

[@pouroddacloudcloud9544]

I think the army air force is way cooler than us air force, I find it weird the USMC, air force (came from the army) and navy have fixed wing attack aircraft and transport but the army

[@chumccurry1765]

Good video, good story!

[@garyhubbard1973]

Yes it was 25 missions, but then they put it up , so I heard correct me if wrong?

[@Chuckles..]

Sounds like some of them didn't make it back due to exposure and lack of oxygen.

[@briancooper2112]

Crew wore shuts on backs not stomach

[@TheHornedOne81]

Lvl IIIa vest is about 7 pounds. And it's Kevlar, not Mylar. But good info otherwise.

[@johnnylee5664]

也是製服的一種！

[@Newbpwng]

nice story

[@Thenotfunnyperson]

Not on oxygen for 10-12 hours.

[@user-yp9nz6bs9q]

Who is this guy?

[@racheldoesacrylic4089]

i respect and pay homage to these bravest of people who did what they thought was right and good for their country and home or for whatever reason / its just that the powers that be and rule over us are so evil and corrupt when you look into history and why wars were started in the first place the running cord that rope them all together is power money and greed and no empathy and no conscience that these wars bring on a populace the suffering is hellish alot of these people who are in power are related . Can you imagine in england when the 2nd world war was on they knew the royal family was german yet they were sending millions to their deaths ? when you do research into alot of aspects of the world wars it dawns on you history is telling you another story people were kept in the dark but paid the price the highest price of all//god bless

[@johnnylee5664]

以前 美軍第八航空隊 用的裝備！

[@johnnypopper-pc3ss]

Who are the a-holes who thumbs down a video like this ??!! SMH... 😡😡

[@iaffrayliillii704]

Krauts

[@Thenotfunnyperson]

This guy is not accurate about a lot of things.

[@briancooper2112]

Aircorp not airforce

[@alanheath7056]

Hi got WW2 USNavy flying trousers started to crack can i save them with a cream or just patch as want them for this winter.Thanks

[@jensrb50]

Get a good leather cream but please don't wear them .You can get excellent reproduction these days. The best 1:1 replicas are from Eastman but expensive .If you want a great alternative go get them from noble house from Germany 500€ for a pair of sheepskin trousers

[@jensrb50]

For the crack you can glue a thin sheet of sheepskin or other leather on top of it of stich it together

[@alanheath7056]

@@jensrb50 Hi bought a second pair for 40 dollars so a kind lady is given me a big tin of dubbin so can do both pairs.I freeze during winter so they are cheaper than copy's then that's strange They are so cheap there are lots on eBay but never see copy's your talking about

[@jensrb50]

@@alanheath7056 I never see them here in Germany .I would buy one asap to display one . Apply the cream in thin layers multiple times .

[@alanheath7056]

@@jensrb50 Hi go on eBay com find a cheap good pair ask seller will he ship then ask him to come down in price as then duty comes down and ask for cheap delivery as well .

[@jackinthebox3316]

How does the leather crack?

[@worldwarwill1278]

It’s a natural material so will dry out over time unless it’s maintained with some kind of ‘dubbing’.... You can see it happening with ww2 German equipment, even with things like post war US m1 helmet liner sweat bands.

[@Raphaeluberzor]

Don't ever compare WWII and the modern wars, it's totally different, so quit comparing blindly completely unrelated wars.

[@Raphaeluberzor]

Kyle Patterson I understand what he means but it's a bloody shortcut. Those wars are completely unrelated, after wwii, wars took a very different stand than before. The nuclear deterent, post cold war super powers, civil wars and limited operations to secure economic assets and ressourceful allies. Grow an opinion before insulting people you twat

[@larryragin6379]

don't disrespect the serviceman, by using fake bomber jackets

[@captainkapalot9644]

Larry Ragin real ones are expensive and rare.

[@calholli]

That's one hell of a propaganda story.. whether it's true or not

[@Januscs006]

It's not right to disrespect servicemen who have given everything, or the people who go out of their way to honor that sacrifice.

[@woodychadwick9834]

Young people know nothing about this.

[@itsbritneytwitch2774]

Woody Chadwick I do.

[@woodychadwick9834]

I like the fact you know what I saying. However I live in a soup of idiots.

[@raider_militaria]

I know a lot about this stuff. Im 13 years old.

[@bkg4869]

I’m 15 and I know this

[@User-lx2ye]

Actually, me and my buddy (we are 11-12) are quite interested in ww2 and know a good amount of things about ww2.

[@stuffguy6664]

its interesting the US did not have a air force until after ww2 1947.

[@stuffguy6664]

marines are the first seals then..?

[@hunterwilliams3314]

+stuffguy666 Yeah pretty much. Have you ever heard of the Marine Raiders? They were more bad ass than the SAS and SEALS are today.