Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 283:
Description
WWII U.S. Army Air Forces Enlisted Man’s M-1939 Wool Greatcoat with Brass Great Seal Buttons, AAF Shoulder Insignia, and Interior Ink Stamp "E-2670" Offered here is an original World War II U.S. Army Air Forces enlisted man’s M-1939 wool overcoat, a substantial double-breasted greatcoat retaining its early-pattern stamped brass Great Seal buttons and a period-applied AAF winged-star shoulder sleeve insignia at the left shoulder. The interior neck yoke bears repeated ink laundry/service stamps reading "E-2670" along with a partially legible size marking, tying the coat to an individual airman whose full identity cannot be established from the surviving markings alone; no separate published biography accompanies the piece, and the story of its wearer rests solely in this stenciled service number and the branch insignia sewn to the shoulder. The M-1939 overcoat was the standard-issue heavy winter garment for U.S. Army and Army Air Forces personnel in the opening years of the war, cut from 32-ounce olive drab wool melton to be worn over the service uniform, wool shirt, and field jacket in cold-weather stations both stateside and overseas. Its double-breasted front, notched lapels, and buttoned rear vent – a holdover from the horse-cavalry era – reflect Quartermaster Corps pattern design carried into the mechanized war. The retention of bright stamped brass Great Seal buttons, rather than the olive drab plastic buttons adopted around 1942 to conserve strategic metal, places manufacture of this example in the early war years, a detail collectors of U.S. wartime outerwear look for when dating unmarked QM contractor coats. The AAF shoulder patch – the winged star and prop-and-wings device on a blue disc – identifies the wearer’s branch assignment to the Army Air Forces at a time when ground and flight personnel alike were issued the standard wool greatcoat for base and garrison duty. The coat displays the expected two rows of stamped brass Great Seal buttons at the front closure, notched lapels, slash hip pockets, and a partial tan cotton-twill lining through the shoulders, back vent facing, and pocket bags, with a fabric hanging loop intact at the collar. The AAF shoulder insignia is machine-embroidered on wool felt with a blued-wool border and remains firmly stitched to the left shoulder. A small yellow paper or fabric tag is pinned above the left breast pocket, its printed details not legible in the photographs. Interior ink stamps in the yoke read "E-2670," repeated at least twice, along with a faint additional size/inspection marking above. A solidly original, early-brass-button AAF greatcoat, its interior ink stamp "E-2670" a quiet trace of the airman who once wore it into the cold.
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