An attractive dark brown leather, issue jacket with dark brown elastique hem and cuffs. The jacket has a single, functional front zipper with collar snaps, and a hook and eye fastener at the throat. The jacket was made by Poughkeepsie Leather Coat Co., and has a small size tag underneath the label (size 44). The exterior leather is still supple and exhibits minor wear with some noticeable scuffing and flaking along a few of the edge seams, and on the shoulders and sleeves. The hem and cuffs exhibit almost no fraying, however there is heavy wear to the leather at the back of the collar, and even a few spots where the leather has worn through entirely. The jacket is embellished with a large, sewn 711th Bomb Squadron unit patch on the left breast, and owner's painted owner's nickname: “SKIPPY.” The patch has faded slightly with age, but is otherwise in excellent condition. An embroidered felt 8th Air Force patch is present on the left shoulder, and a heavily flaked US flag patch on the right. The back of the jacket is extensively embellished with a dark blue riband at the top with “LuLu BeLL” in yellow gothic letters, the 8th Air Force insignia flanked by “flak magnet,” and 65 mission emblems underneath. The paint is in fine shape, slightly crazed and flaked along the riband, and worn through on the mission tally, but everything is still visible and legible. The interior of the jacket has a lightly worn, intact brown linen lining with some darker stains, and a small right angle cut on the right side near the hem. A fairly recent handwritten note found in one of the pockets identifies the original owner of the jacket as one William W. “Skippy” Lee. The 711th Bomber Squadron was one of four squadrons in the 447th Bombardment Group (Heavy), and flew missions out of Rattlesden, England from late 1943 until the end of the War in 1945. This is a spectacular hand-painted 8th Air Force A-2 jacket.
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