WWII A-2 Flight Jacket Patch ID

Hi Steel and welcome. I have not seen that particular patch. I echo those above who recommended posting it in the militaria forum.

 

Any info you can gather would help narrow the search. His name could be found on a few sites, NARA, fold3 etc and might lead to the group or even squadron he flew with.

I'm taking a big guess and think possibly a heavy bomber group. The Hippo holding a bomb.

I gotta read more carefully, Rich already said that.

I blame Opana and his scotch recommendations !

 

14 minutes ago

462nd Bombardment Squadron.
Johnny Signor

The 462nd Bombardment Group was a very heavy bombardment group group that took part in the early B-29 campaign operating from bases in India and China before moving to Tinian to join the direct assault on Japan.


The group was activated on 1 July 1943 and joined the 58th Bombardment Wing as it developed in its bases in Kansas. This was a flat area well suited to the new bomber and was also close to the Boeing factory where they were being built. The 58th Bombardment Wing was destined for India, and made the move in March-June 1944, traveling via Africa. This was a major effort and did cost aircraft - of the first 150 aircraft dispatched five were lost and four seriously damaged - but it did mean that the B-29 groups were present at their Indian bases by the summer of 1944. The 462nd was in place by April, and began to use its aircraft to fly supplies across the 'hump' into China.


Their first mission wasn't long in coming. After all of the effort that had gone into the B-29 programme there was real pressure to start using the new bomber. The Japanese had also launched a major offensive in eastern China and XX Bomber Command was under pressure to help lift the pressure.


The wing's first mission was an attack on railroad shops on Bangkok, carried out on 5 June 1944. The aim was test out the new organisation and the new aircraft on a less difficult target than the Japanese Home Islands. This first raid was fairly chaotic, with aircraft over the target for over an hour and a half but fortunately there was very little opposition. Results were limited but only five aircraft were lost, none to the Japanese.


The first attack on Japan came ten days later. This was the first attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the Doolittle Raid of 1942, and required a maximum effort from everyone involved just to get enough supplies ready. The Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata was chosen as the target. The aircraft began to take off from their Chinese staging posts at 16.30 on 15 June, so that they would be in hostile airspace at night. The first bombs were dropped just before 23.38pm (China time) and 47 of the 68 aircraft that the wing had managed to get into the air reached the target area and dropped bombs. The Japanese were unprepared for an attack on the Home Islands - very few fighters appeared and the heavy flak was inaccurate. Sadly so was the Allied bombing and later photo reconnaissance showed that only one hit had been scored. The raid may not have been a great operational success, but it was a great publicity boost for XX Bomber Command.


The 462nd Bombardment Group spent eight months operating from India. During that period it attacked transport, naval and industrial targets across Japan, Thailand, Burma, China, Formosa and Indonesia.


In August the group took part in a mission to drop mines into the Moesi River on Sumatra, operating through a staging post on Ceylon. Many aircraft involved in this raid suffered from poor visibility, but eight aircraft from the 462nd flew under the 1,000ft cloud ceiling and dropped two mines each into the river.


The group won a Distinguished Unit Citation during this period for a return attack on the iron and steel works at Yawata in August 1944.


As the Americans advanced across the Pacific better bases became available and the difficult operations from India and China were abandoned. In April 1945 the 462nd moved to Tinian, from where it focuses most of its efforts on the Japanese Home Islands. It flew a mix of mining, strategic bombing and incendiary raids between then and the end of the war.


The group won two more Distinguished Unit Citations during this period, the first for an attack on the industrial areas of Tokyo and Yokohama in May 1945 and the second for a daylight attack on an aircraft factory at Takarazuka factory on 24 July 1945.


The group returned to the United States late in 1945 and joined Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946, but was inactivated ten days later.
462nd Bombardment Group


462d Bombardment Group (Very Heavy)
DUC: Yawata, Japan, 20 August 1944 – Awarded for a daylight raid against the iron and steel works in the city.
DUC: Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, 23, 25, and 29 May 1945 – Awarded for bombing industrial areas in the cities.
DUC: Takarazuka, Japan, 24 July 1945 – Awarded for a daylight attack on the aircraft plant in the city.
Stations: Piardoba, India, 7 Apr 1944-26 Feb 1945; West Field, Tinian, 4 Apr 1945-5 Nov 1945
Commanders: Col Richard H. Carmichael, 26 Aug 1943; Col Alfred F. Kalberer, 20 Aug 1944-unknown.
B-29 Operations of the Twentieth Air Force • Axis History Forum