Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 332:
Description
U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Type G-1 Intermediate Flight Jacket, MIL-J-7823(AER), Contract N383s-88886, Size 40, by Werber Sportswear, Inc., with a stitched multi-piece leather 48-star American flag patch to the back panel. Offered is a Korean War-era U.S. Navy G-1 intermediate flight jacket manufactured by Werber Sportswear, Inc. under Bureau of Aeronautics Specification MIL-J-7823(AER), Contract No. N383s-88886, size 40. The jacket retains its original woven contract label sewn into the neck, and the back panel carries a striking hand-applied leather flag bearing 48 stars, the national pattern in use before the 1959 admission of Alaska and Hawaii. The jacket’s history is defined by the specification data stitched into the collar and the personalized flag itself, a form of self-expression common among naval aviation personnel of the period. The G-1 pattern evolved from the Navy’s earlier M-422A and AN-J-3A flight jackets as the service standardized its cold-weather flying gear in the years immediately following the Second World War. This example dates to the early 1950s, the height of Korean War carrier aviation, when the type was issued widely to naval aviators and air crew operating from Pacific Fleet carriers and shore stations. Werber Sportswear, Inc., based in Newburgh, New York, was among the most significant American contractors producing flight jackets from the Second World War through the early Cold War, and its G-1s are well documented in period photographs of naval airmen. The back panel’s flag, built up from separate stitched leather stripes and stars rather than a printed or stamped design, reflects the kind of individual customization aviators and ground personnel applied to mark a jacket as distinctly their own. The jacket is constructed of dark seal-brown goatskin with a mouton shearling collar, bi-swing action back, and knit wool cuffs and waistband. The front closes with its brass zipper, and two flapped bellows pockets retain their original leather-covered buttons. The interior neck label, still fully legible, reads Bureau of Aeronautics U.S. Navy.
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