{"product_id":"original-u-s-wwii-extremely-rare-usaaf-eastern-command-russia-patch-associated-with-operation-frantic-shuttle-bombing-missions-to-the-soviet-union","title":"Original U.S. WWII Extremely Rare USAAF Eastern Command Russia Patch Associated with Operation Frantic Shuttle Bombing Missions to the Soviet Union","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is an extraordinarily scarce and historically fascinating U.S. Army Air Forces \u003cstrong\u003eEastern Command Russia shoulder patch\u003c\/strong\u003e, associated with the small American force sent into the Soviet Union to support the secretive \u003cstrong\u003eOperation Frantic shuttle bombing campaign of 1944\u003c\/strong\u003e. Sometimes referred to by collectors as the “AAF Ferry Command to the Soviet Union” patch, this insignia belongs to one of the most unusual American air operations of WWII, when U.S. personnel were actually stationed at Soviet airfields in Ukraine to service Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force bombers and fighters flying shuttle missions between bases in Britain, Italy, and the USSR. The patch is unofficial and was never a common piece of standardized U.S. issue insignia, which helps explain why genuine wartime examples are so seldom encountered today. This is perhaps one of the rarest U.S. WWII patches we have offered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOperation Frantic grew from an ambitious American plan to use Soviet airfields as the eastern end of a triangular strategic bombing system. Normally, a bomber attacking a distant target had to retain enough fuel to return to its original base. By allowing American aircraft to continue eastward and land in Soviet territory, planners hoped to strike targets from unexpected directions and extend the operational reach of both the Eighth Air Force in Britain and Fifteenth Air Force in Italy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter lengthy and often difficult negotiations, Joseph Stalin agreed in early 1944 to permit American aircraft to operate from Soviet territory. Three airfields in the Ukrainian SSR were ultimately made available:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePoltava\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMyrhorod\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePyriatyn\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoltava and Myrhorod were used principally by heavy bombers such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator, while Pyriatyn served the long range fighter escorts, including P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightnings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo operate the American side of these Soviet bases, the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe established \u003cstrong\u003eEastern Command\u003c\/strong\u003e at Poltava. This was not simply an organization ferrying aircraft to the Soviet Union. Its mission was to build, supply, maintain, and operate the American facilities necessary to receive visiting combat aircraft, refuel and rearm them, make repairs, provide communications and weather support, and prepare them for the next stage of their mission.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Soviets limited Eastern Command to approximately \u003cstrong\u003e1,200 permanent personnel\u003c\/strong\u003e, making it a comparatively small organization when measured against the vast size of the USAAF. That limited manpower, combined with the temporary nature and political sensitivity of the operation, helps explain the extreme scarcity of surviving Eastern Command insignia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first major Operation Frantic shuttle mission took place on \u003cstrong\u003eJune 2, 1944\u003c\/strong\u003e, when 130 Fifteenth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses left bases in Italy, attacked the railroad yards at Debrecen, Hungary, and continued onward to Soviet airfields. They were escorted by approximately 70 P-51 Mustangs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFour days later the force attacked an airfield at Galați, Romania, from its Soviet bases and returned to Ukraine. On June 11, the aircraft completed the shuttle by flying back toward Italy while attacking another Romanian target.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Eighth Air Force entered the operation on \u003cstrong\u003eJune 21, 1944\u003c\/strong\u003e, when B-17s and P-51s flew from Britain, attacked targets in Germany, and continued eastward to the Soviet bases.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat mission produced the event for which Operation Frantic is perhaps best remembered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGerman reconnaissance aircraft followed the American force and identified its destination. During the night of June 21-22, the Luftwaffe launched a devastating attack against \u003cstrong\u003ePoltava Airfield\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGerman bombers caught the American aircraft parked closely together on the ground. The resulting attack destroyed \u003cstrong\u003emore than 40 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 15 P-51 Mustangs\u003c\/strong\u003e, while many additional aircraft were damaged. Fuel, ammunition, vehicles, and other supplies were also destroyed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe destruction at Poltava was one of the most costly Luftwaffe attacks ever inflicted upon the U.S. Army Air Forces on the ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe episode also exposed the serious political limitations surrounding the American presence in the Soviet Union. The defense of the bases remained largely under Soviet control, and American fighter aircraft were not permitted to conduct their own independent airfield defense. The relationship between the two allies, already characterized by suspicion and disagreement, became increasingly difficult after the raid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOperation Frantic nevertheless continued.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween \u003cstrong\u003eJune and September 1944\u003c\/strong\u003e, the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces conducted \u003cstrong\u003eseven major shuttle operations\u003c\/strong\u003e involving the Soviet bases. Bombers and fighters flew from Britain or Italy, attacked targets in German controlled Europe, landed in Ukraine, and later continued on additional combat missions before returning west.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the final Frantic operations became politically significant when American aircraft used Soviet bases during the effort to deliver supplies to the Polish resistance during the \u003cstrong\u003eWarsaw Uprising\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe entire project existed within one of the most unusual alliances of WWII. The United States and Soviet Union were fighting the same enemy, but cooperation between their military organizations was often constrained by deep political distrust. American personnel stationed at Poltava and the other bases therefore found themselves operating inside a country that was officially an ally while remaining subject to extensive restrictions on movement, communications, security, and contact with Soviet citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the American perspective, Operation Frantic also had goals beyond bombing Germany. U.S. planners hoped that cooperation in Ukraine might establish a precedent for later American use of Soviet bases in Siberia against Japan. They also hoped the operation could improve working relations between the two nations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNeither objective developed as envisioned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the autumn of 1944, the rapid westward advance of the Soviet armies had reduced the strategic value of the Ukrainian shuttle bases. At the same time, Soviet restrictions and political disagreements made continued operations increasingly difficult.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOperation Frantic was consequently scaled back, and the major shuttle bombing missions ended in September 1944. Eastern Command personnel remained in the Soviet Union for some time afterward, with the final American presence eventually withdrawn as the usefulness of the project disappeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the operation, more than \u003cstrong\u003e1,000 American bombers and fighters\u003c\/strong\u003e deployed through the Soviet bases and thousands of sorties were flown to or from Ukraine. Despite its limited duration, Frantic remains one of the most extraordinary examples of direct U.S.-Soviet military cooperation during WWII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe patch itself measures approximately:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4 ½” in diameter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition is heavily service worn. There is substantial moth damage throughout, including several holes in the blue backing material and noticeable loss along portions of the outer edge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reverse displays construction consistent with a period manufactured insignia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe damage is significant and fully disclosed, but on an insignia of this rarity it also reflects the reality that very few examples survived at all. Eastern Command existed for only a brief period, its American personnel numbered roughly a thousand, and the patch itself appears to have been an \u003cstrong\u003eunofficial, locally or privately produced insignia rather than a standard mass issued shoulder patch\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis distinction is important to collectors. The insignia is sometimes referred to as the \u003cstrong\u003e“AAF Ferry Command to the Soviet Union”\u003c\/strong\u003e patch, but Eastern Command was not primarily a ferry organization. Its wartime purpose was to operate and support the Soviet based installations used by American combat aircraft during Operation Frantic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat makes the patch an artifact of an exceptionally narrow moment in WWII history. It represents American airmen serving from Soviet territory, B-17s and P-51s moving between Britain, Italy, and Ukraine, the catastrophic Luftwaffe raid at Poltava, and one of the most complicated military partnerships of the war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven with its heavy moth damage, this is an extraordinarily difficult USAAF insignia to acquire. Its association with \u003cstrong\u003eEastern Command, Operation Frantic, the Poltava shuttle bases, and direct American-Soviet wartime cooperation\u003c\/strong\u003e makes it a centerpiece level patch for an advanced U.S. Army Air Forces, Eighth Air Force, Fifteenth Air Force, B-17, Soviet-American cooperation, or rare WWII insignia collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eEditorial Notes\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe commonly used collector description \u003cstrong\u003e“AAF Ferry Command to the Soviet Union”\u003c\/strong\u003e is somewhat misleading. Eastern Command was established principally to operate and support the American bases in the Soviet Union used for Operation Frantic rather than to ferry aircraft permanently to Soviet forces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe original description stated that “less than 10” shuttle operations occurred. U.S. Air Force historical sources record \u003cstrong\u003eseven Operation Frantic shuttle raids between June and September 1944\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Poltava raid was substantially more destructive than “a few dozen” B-17s. U.S. Air Force historical sources state that the Luftwaffe destroyed \u003cstrong\u003emore than 40 B-17s and 15 P-51s\u003c\/strong\u003e during the June 21-22, 1944 attack.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44815031795781,"sku":"ONSV26PCS278","price":1195.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/ONSV26PCS119_010e0441-f322-44bb-a531-01dda0a4218c.jpg?v=1774467312","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-u-s-wwii-extremely-rare-usaaf-eastern-command-russia-patch-associated-with-operation-frantic-shuttle-bombing-missions-to-the-soviet-union","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}