(ArtKramr) wrote in message ...
Every flier in the group was issued sheepskin pants and jacket, quilted long
Johns, electric suit and 4 pairs of gloves. They were issued to us in England.

Thanks for the info. It's interesting (at least to me) to hear about
stuff like this. I've heard of guys getting all new gear before they
ship out, and guys getting equiped when they reach their theatre. I
guess there was no set system of who would get what, when or where.

The clothing you describe would only be worn in summer. And we were never
issued a parka of any kind. It would have been useless. Imagine a chute harness over a parka for example.

I've seen photos and the harness fits over them. I'm sure they would
have been a pain, but they did issue B-7, B-9 & B-11 parkas to aircrew
for flight use. The B-11 got lots of use later in the war, and was
issued to everyone from glider pilots to heavy bomber crews.

During the bitter record setting winter of 1944 (
Battle of the Bulge) we flew in the sheepskins and after the missions we kept
them on and slept in them to keep from freezing.

I can only imagine how harsh the conditions were. Did you ever get
warm? I had a great uncle in the 101st during the Battle of the
Bulge. Unfortunately he died before I was born so I never got to hear
of his experiences.

The electric suits were of
limited use since if it was really cold on the ground you couldn't bail out in
an elctric suit. You would freeze to death. Also the electric suits had "hot
spots" in them. After a while they would burn under the armpits and behind the
knees and elbows and they had to be turned off until those areas cooled. And by
the time they cooled the rest of you was shivering. So you would fly missions
in an electric suit turning it on and off and on and off all the way out and
back.

Do you know what type you were issued? Your comments echo exactly
those I've heard and read about the one piece F-1 blue bunny suits.
Sometimes they wouldn't work at all and other times they'd burn you.
They were better left off and just used as another layer of clothing.
The two piece F-3 suit supposedly fixed those problems of hot spots,
breaking wires, etc. and was worn under the B-10/A-9 combo to protect
you if the electric suit failed or you bailed out. Seems like heavy
bomber crews just about always wore an F-3 suit from late summer '44
onward and they were used extensively during the Korean War too by
Invader and B-29 crews.

Thank you for taking the time to discuss this stuff with me. I really
appreciate it. If I could bother you with one other question which
I've always wonder about (but nothing is ever written)... what was
life like between missions? i.e. What responsibilities would aircrew
have between missions? What did they do to fill up the day when they
weren't flying?

Thanks,

~Michael