Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 310A:
Description
WWII 351st Bomb Group Painted A-2 – ID’d GoldFish Club. Outstanding original WWII U.S. Army Air Forces Type A-2 leather flight jacket associated with T/Sgt. Willis Hickman, a B-17 flight engineer and top turret gunner who served with the 510th Bomb Squadron, 351st Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force from RAF Polebrook, England. The jacket retains its original wartime construction and contract label identifying it as a Type A-2, Drawing No. 30H1415, Aero Leather Clothing Co., Beacon, New York, size 40, and is distinguished by extensive period-painted combat artwork, mission markings, crew references, and one of the more unusual personal insignia we have encountered on an A-2.
The reverse is dominated by the hand-painted phrase "Special Delivery, " a stork carrying a bundle, a field of yellow bomb symbols, and a central U.S. star-and-bars motif inscribed "Neal’s Boys." "Special Delivery" should not be interpreted as the name of Hickman’s aircraft. No aircraft by that name is documented among those he flew, and the phrase was almost certainly used here in the period sense of "delivering" bombs to the enemy. The inscription "Neal’s Boys" is far more specific, referring to Hickman’s pilot, Lt. Alfred Neal, and the combat crew that flew together during Hickman’s tour.
T/Sgt. Hickman enlisted in the Army Air Forces in February 1943 and by July of that year was at Amarillo Army Air Field training in B-17 maintenance. This was during the period when the B-10 fabric flying jacket was becoming standardized, replacing the earlier A-2 for many flight-training personnel. A-2s nevertheless remained highly prized by combat airmen, and second-hand examples circulated widely among Eighth Air Force crews. That historical context is particularly relevant here, because the artwork suggests this jacket may already have had an earlier service life before Hickman acquired it. The consignor believes the "Special Delivery" nose-art style painting at the top of the back may relate to the jacket’s original owner, while Hickman retained that artwork and added the more personal crew and mission symbolism associated with his own combat service.
Hickman arrived at Polebrook in the spring of 1944 and was assigned to the 510th Bomb Squadron as Top Turret Gunner and Flight Engineer. His recorded mission list is available through 351st Bomb Group records. The jacket carries 27 painted bomb symbols, while the Group credits him with 26 missions, one of which was aborted and therefore may not have counted toward the 25-mission tour requirement then in effect. This discrepancy is entirely plausible in the context of contemporary combat accounting and personal jacket art.
Hickman flew on numerous B-17s rather than a single assigned aircraft. Four missions were flown aboard three different unnamed aircraft. Fifteen missions were flown on B-17G "Mollie Mule, " 42-107124, call sign TU-F, one of the Group’s great survivors, credited with an extraordinary 85 missions before returning to the United States and ultimately being scrapped after the war. He also flew four missions on "April Girl II, " 42-38038, and single missions on several other named aircraft.
One of the most historically significant of those sorties came on 29 May 1944, Hickman’s fourth mission, aboard B-17 "Papa’s Passion, " 42-39853. The aircraft was so badly damaged by flak and/or enemy fighters that Lt. Neal was forced to ditch in the North Sea. The crew survived, was rescued, and returned to Polebrook within approximately 48 hours. That episode is represented on this jacket by the extraordinary hand-painted Goldfish Club insignia on the left sleeve. The Goldfish Club recognized airmen whose lives had been saved by emergency flotation equipment after being forced down at sea. Here, the fish and parachute motif is not decorative fantasy; it directly reflects Hickman having been fished out of the sea after the ditching. Painted Goldfish Club insignia on A-2 jackets are extraordinarily uncommon, and this example is especially evocative because it ties directly to a documented combat incident.
Hickman and Neal’s crew quickly returned to operations. They resumed flying on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and Hickman flew an intense sequence of five missions in seven days beginning on D-Day. His combat record therefore spans some of the most demanding days of the air war over Europe, including sustained missions in support of the Normandy invasion.
The "Neal’s Boys" inscription on the back reinforces that this jacket was not simply associated with one bomber but with a combat crew identity. The jacket tells the story of a gunner-engineer who flew repeatedly with the same men across multiple aircraft, survived a North Sea ditching, completed a heavy combat schedule, and carried those experiences literally on his back. That layered history makes the jacket especially compelling: the bomb tallies, crew reference, aircraft associations, Goldfish Club motif, and evidence of a likely prior owner together create a deeply personal record of Eighth Air Force service.
The jacket remains in well-used wartime condition, with expected age, wear, creasing, finish loss, knit deterioration, and surface abrasions consistent with long service. These condition features are visible in the photographs and contribute to its character as a genuine veteran-used garment. The original Aero Leather contract label remains present, and the jacket retains the distinctive wartime Talon zipper and other period construction details.
The consignor will provide additional identification information, research, and supporting historical material relating to Hickman, Lt. Neal, the 510th Bomb Squadron, and the aircraft associated with this jacket. Taken as a whole, this is a remarkable WWII A-2 with documented crew associations, multiple known aircraft connections, probable dual-owner service history, and an exceptionally rare painted Goldfish Club insignia tied to a real North Sea rescue. Hickman earned multiple Air Medals and the DFC.
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