Update 12/20/24: SEASON'S GREETINGS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS from FLYING TIGER ANTIQUES!!
WE ARE STILL EXPERIENCING SOME TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH CREDIT CARD PURCHASES!! Using your PayPal accounts solves this issue fastest!
If you would like to PAY for a $100.00 or MORE Artifact with a CREDIT CARD, please email and I will get an invoice emailed to you as Soon as Possible!
We will be OUT OF THE OFFICE from FRIDAY 12/20 until SUNDAY 01/05/25, Returning to the Office on MONDAY 01/06/25!!
And, as always, we are HAPPY TO ACCEPT YOUR ORDERS during our time AWAY, and we will promptly mark any ordered Artifacts as SOLD.
We will be UNABLE TO SHIP as of 12/20, and REGULAR SHIPPING will resume on MONDAY, JANUARY 6th, 2025!
As always, if funding your order of $100.00 or more from a Bank that offers ZELLE, ASK ABOUT our ZELLE DISCOUNT!!
That DISCOUNT also applies to PayPal GIFT (Fee-Free), Check, and Money Order payments!!
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will find some vintage artifacts here on our site to add to your collection.
We look forward to serving your collecting needs! Happy Holidays, Ron & Kana.
ARTIFACT:
This is a rare WWII USAAF 52nd Bomb Squadron, 29th Bomb Group, 314th Bomb Wing, XXI Bomber Command, 20th Air Force decal on leather jacket patch. The group was formed in Florida, so it was only fitting that the design that was chosen for the insignia was of a ferocious alligator holding a bomb with its tail. This is from the unit that flew World War II's most destructive Incendiary Raid, which devastated a quarter of Tokyo, Japan in 1945.
The patch is biographical, identified on back, in his own hand, by then-Major Clifford L. Werly. Eventual Lt. Colonel Werly had a long career in aviation both civil and military, starting in 1924 as a barnstormer, ending in the 1970's, with a high point being the Captain of a B-29 Bomber.
A great article can be found on Lt. Col. Werly (which also shows his hand writing on the cover of his B-29 manual) in the Fall 2013 Air Power History magazine starting on page 14:
VINTAGE:
Circa WWII.
SIZE:
About 3-7/8" in diameter.
MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION:
Decal on Leather.
ATTACHMENT:
To be sewn onto Flight Clothing.
MARKINGS:
"MAJ. WERLY"
ITEM NOTES:
This is from a USAAF Patch collection which we will be listing more of over the next few months. TRVFEJX TRBEJX17 LHGEX4/17 STRVHGEX07/10/22
CONDITION:
7+ (Very Fine +): There is light some wear and crazing to the decal.
GUARANTEE: As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.
