uniforms and dads wings

[jarocki]

The man third from left was great grand father (I think), need help in identifying the uniform and era. The wings are SDS from WWII, the number is squadron, he flew B-21? In the Pacific.

 

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[pippinwhitepaws]

15th AF - 15th Air Force - WWII - World War II

allow me to modify this post...those uniforms do not appear to be US...perhaps southeastern Europe?
that was the AO of the 15th in WWII.

 

[jarocki]

The uniforms make sense, family heritage on that side is German. I suspected world war I.

 

[jarocki]

Thanks for the info.

 

[GpSnoopy]

U.S. Army Air Force - Aerial Gunner Wings

United States Army Air Force - Aerial Gunner

 

[jarocki]

I don't know for a fact, dad was a navigator, but that doesn't mean he qualified on a gun so if a crewman got hurt he could take over.

 

[BosnMate]

I don't know for a fact, dad was a navigator, but that doesn't mean he qualified on a gun so if a crewman got hurt he could take over.

He was probably qualified on a gun. If they came under attack from fighter aircraft, I'm sure the navigators battle station was on a machine gun. Probably top turret gunner.

 

[uglymailman]

I think top turret gunners on B 17's & B 14's were the flight Engineer.

 

[jarocki]

Dad was not in 17s or 29s, the one in between, 21s?

 

[Lafitte Deux]

Do you mean the B-24 Liberator?
If he was in the pacific theater, it was probably the B-26 Marauder or A-26 Invader.
But, I don't think the 15th was in the pacific.

 

[jarocki]

Sorry, yes, I was drawing a blank, he was in the 24. For years I have asked what islands or squadron he was in, always claimed he couldn't remember.

 

[uglymailman]

yea,my bad, b17's & b24's. There was also a twin engine b26 Marauder (?) but not sure if they had top turret or not. Jarocki mentioned w/? a B21. They only made one B21 and it never saw service in WW2.

 

[jarocki]

29's showed up near the end on the war.

 

[clovis97]

I am confused with this thread.

The 15th air force was stationed in Italy during World War TWO, and was responsible for the infamous bombing of Ploesti. They flew mostly B-24 Liberators.

The photograph is much earlier, and while I do NOT know uniforms, my hunch and guess is that they are German or Austrian, circa World War ONE. Check out the officer(?) hats neatly stacked on the floor in front of the table.

 

[jarocki]

The picture I found at dads house, could be my great grandfather, on that side of the family the heritage is German. Came to america around 1870. The wings are my dads, he was born in 1925 and served in ww2 near the end. He always told he bombed Japan. I know he was not flying 17 or 29's. He was a navigator.

 

[clovis97]

The man third from left was great grand father (I think), need help in identifying the uniform and era. The wings are SDS from WWII, the number is squadron, he flew B-21? In the Pacific.

I think another issue that is confusing that the wings shown in the picture are WWII USAAF aerial gunner wings.

The WWII navigator wings were different:

United States Army Air Force - Navigator

 

[jarocki]

The man third from left may be my grand uncle, my grandmothers brother. If mom was born in 25 my grandmother could have been born around 1890-1900. If that is grand uncle born during same time frame would make it ww1,

 

[clovis97]

Are you sure that those wings were issued to your dad during his service?

Is there a chance that he transferred from the 15th Air Force to another bomb group or air force that was stationed in the Pacific?

Is it possible that the wings shown in the photo were kept as a keepsake from someone else? Did he pick up those 15th wings as a memento?

Have you gotten his service records from the National Archives? When you do, that will answer your questions absolutely.

 

[jarocki]

Don't know, it is the only thing I ever found that had an insignia on it. I just assumed they were his. He did some training in AZ before heading over, my understanding AZ was his last place stateside.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

lots of pilots trained in arizona...many fields...
the top set of wings is memento material, the center pin also..the last pair appear to be original.