Item:
ONSV5235

Original U.S. WWII Named Navigator 327th Bomb Squadron Uniform Grouping - Distinguished Flying Cross

Item Description

Original Items: One-of-a-kind Set. Thomas Joseph Murray ASN O-754932 was born on March 12, 1924. He grew up in Bridgeport, Connecitcuit and went on to graduate from Dartmouth College in 1944. His college years were interrupted by the Second World War, where he served in the Army Air Corps as a 1st Lieutenant Bombardier in the 8th Air Force, 92 Bombardment Group, 327th Bomb Squadron flying aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress. He flew an astounding 45 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the Air Medal with 3 oak clusters. A link to his obituary can be found at this link. This is a very well documented grouping and includes the following items:

- Aero Clothing Company size 36 A-2 leather flight jacket with an embroidered insignia patch of the 327th Bomb Squadron to the left chest. This patch is a RARE classic WWII United States Army Air Forces 327th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force Alley Oop comic character. The English-made embroidered patch shows a Tyrannosaurus Rex carrying artillery under each arm and is embroidered in red, yellow, and black detail. A caveman character is riding on the Rex’s back and wielding a bomb. Measures approximately 5" in width by 5 1/2" in height. The jacket is ink stamped TJ Murray on the interior. Jacket has a TALON zipper which is damaged but appears to be repairable, original liner, data label, and original cuffs and waistband. Overall condition is very good, with some areas of cracking, flaking and dryness.

- Tailor made officer four pocket jacket named to T.J Murray on the interior label and on a stapled name tag on the interior. Jacket excellent quality and in very good condition. Features medal ribbons: DFC, Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, American campaign and  European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, a set of pin-back sterling silver Bombardier Wings, lieutenant bars and Allied Air Force patch to left shoulder.

- London Hawkes & Company, 1 Saville Row tailors made Ike jacket with named label to the interior. Amazingly the original Hawkes & Co. paper receipt is also included named to 2nd LT T.J. Murray and dated May 17th, 1944. Jacket features bullion embroidered wings and lieutenant bars. Overall condition is excellent and it is of the highest quality.

- Khaki 4 pocket officer jacket in very good condition named to T.J. Murray.

- Distinguished Flying Cross in original case

- Air Medal in in original case

- Binder of original wartime documents and correspondence, some very interesting letters and paperwork in this binder, please see scans for all details.

- Copies of two original photos of Murray. Once with him wearing this very A-2 jacket with his crew in front of their B-17 and the other with his him in his 4 pocket officer uniform with his newly wed wife Mary.

- Multiple unattached medal bars, patches, insignia and much more.

The 327th Bombardment Squadron Activated as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb squadron in early 1942; trained by Third Air Force in the southeastern United States. As part of its training program, the Squadron flew anti-submarine operational missions. Deployed to European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England, one of the first squadrons being assigned to the command.

Initially assigned to RAF Bovingdon, squadron exchanged B-17Fs with the 97th Bombardment Group's B-17E aircraft. The 97th BG would move to North Africa and assigned to Twelfth Air Force as part of the Operation Torch landings. At Bovington, The squadron was directed to set up and operate the 1/11 CCRC (Combat Crew Replacement Center). The Squadron flew four combat missions beginning on 6 September 1942.

Moved to RAF Alconbury in January 1943 to re-equip, fly support missions to North Africa and train for combat. The 327th became the only to be equipped with the experimental Boeing YB-40 Fortress gunship from May through August 1943. The YB-40 was the bomber escort variant of the Flying Fortress, where the Y stood for "service test". It was developed to test the escort bomber concept for B-17 daylight bomber forces which were suffering appalling losses in their raids against German targets on the European continent.

Because there were no fighters capable of escorting bomber formations on deep strike missions early in World War II, the USAAF tested heavily armed bombers to act as escorts and protect the bomb-carrying aircraft from enemy fighters. Twelve of the 22 B-17F bombers modified to the YB-40 configuration were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation.

The first operational YB-40 sortie took place on 29 May 1943 against U-boat Sub pens at Saint-Nazaire, France.

Very early on, it was found that the net effect of the additional drag of the turrets and the extra weight of the guns, armor, and additional ammunition was to reduce the speed of the YB-40 to a point where it could not maintain formation with the standard B-17s on the way home from the target once they had released their bombs. The YB-40 could protect itself fairly well, but not the bombers it was supposed to defend. Consequently, it was recognized that the YB-40 project was an operational failure, and the surviving YB-40s were converted back to standard B-17F configuration or used as gunnery trainers back in the States. Squadron ended YB-40 operations on 29 July 1943. Was non-operational until 15 September 1943.

Re-equipped with operational B-17Gs and moved to RAF Podington on 15 September 1943. Began long-range strategic bombardment missions, primarily over Germany and resulted immediately in heavy losses. One of these missions was flown on Thursday, 14 October 1943, against the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt. For what was to become a famous mission called "Black Thursday".

Some of the notable successes of the squadron included missions against German troop contingents in Normandy after D-Day. On 24 July 1944, the Squadron participated in a raid that virtually destroyed the elite "Panzer Lehr" armored division outside St. Lo. Artillery positions were wiped out, tanks overturned and buried, infantry positions flattened and all roads and tracks destroyed.

Another notable success was a raid against the virtually indestructible German submarine pens at IJmuiden. Using experimental rocket-propelled bombs, the Squadron destroyed these pens in a single raid after hundreds of conventional bombs dropped in earlier raids had failed.

The Squadron flew its last mission of the Second World War on 25 April 1945. By the end of the war against Germany, the group had flown over 300 combat missions, 154 aircraft missing in action and more than 150 returned with battle damage that it would not fly again.

  • This product is available for international shipping.
  • Eligible for all payments - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Paypal & Sezzle

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Cash For Collectibles