Opinion 13th Bomb Squadron M43 Field Jacket

[Dimitri]

Hi all,

I recently acquired this m43 jacket belonging to the 13th bomb squadron. No name to the jacket, however what I can make out is that he served in the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces due to the patch, something I rarely see. Nonetheless this brought up the question I have about when did pilots in the second world war use field jackets? This is not the first time I've seen pilot marked field jackets, M41 and M43, however can't find any information on when they were used. As well I'm not sure about the authenticity of this jacket. I'm sure the m43 is original, however it might be a put together? Furthermore it also came with a 82nd airborne four pocket, however I'm not sure if there is a connection between the two items. Can anyone give me their opinion on it or more information? Thanks!

[Eagle mtn]

While I cannot give a supper detailed assessment on the originality of the jacket as a whole, I can say that it doesn’t give me a great feeling when i look at your pictures. The patches look a little newly added to me, especially the Mediterranean patch.

As far as aircrew wearing field jackets, i feel like it was fairly common, but they usually wore their flight jackets somewhat as a status symbol. I’ve seen and owned a few field jackets with squadron patches and seen many period pictures of them as well.