Original U.S. WWII B-26 “Kansas Comet II” Engineer Sgt. John Engleman’s A2 Flight Jacket with Blood Chit & Theater-Made CBI & 14th Air Force Leather Patches - 19th Bombardment Squadron

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is the outstanding A2 Flight Jacket of Engineer Staff Sergeant John William Engleman who was a member of the Walter Krell crew aboard the Martin B-26 Marauder “Kansas Comet II” (Serial #40-1433), 19th Bombardment Squadron, 22nd Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force. Engleman joined the AAF very early, first enlisting in the Air Corps in 1939, and was in combat over China & Australia in 1942. Some of his exploits are well-documented, including having rope tied around his waist as he dangled outside of his bomber to close the jammed bomb bay doors.

On September 13th, 1942, while landing, Engleman’s B-26, “Kansas Comet II”, hit a termite mound and crashed into a compressor truck then caught fire. Other sources mention suffered brake failure and running off the end the runway, causing the nose gear to collapse. During the crash, RAAF co-pilot Robertson was trapped in the cockpit and died. Also killed in the crash was the driver of the compressor truck. Engleman was wounded during the crash.

Engleman’s jacket has great theater-made leather patches for the 14th Air Force and the China, Burma, India (CBI) Theater, as well as a fantastic Pacific Theater Blood Chit with the Chinese National Flag stitched to the back. The blood chit has a temple stamp and is numbered 13594. The blood chit was actually diagonally-stitched as well as horizontally and vertically, to ensure it would remain in place and not be torn.

The leather CBI patch is tearing away a bit from one corner, but is still solid. There is actually a large roughly 6” long stitching shadow to the front of the jacket, which is where his squadron patch originally was. But as the jacket was reissued at one point, this may be the shadow from the previous owner’s patch. If it were Engleman’s, it likely would’ve been the 19th Bombardment Squadron patch, but we cannot be certain of this as Engleman likely switched squadrons after returning overseas, but we haven’t been able to find any information. It is also possible that after being wounded during the crash on September 13th, 1942, he may have been placed into a more administrative role. From newspapers, we found that he was awarded the Air Medal, but little else has been uncovered, making for an exciting research project.

The jacket retains its original tag:

TYPE A-2
DRAWING NO. 30-1415
AC CONTRACT NO. W535ac28560
POUGHKEEPSIE LEATHER
COAT CO., INC.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.
PROPERTY
AIR FORCE, U.S. ARMY
40

Under this is the written name J. ENGLEMAN. Above and below the tag are the stamped name WARREN S. JEWETT, who would have had the jacket before Engleman. Perhaps it was his squadron patch that was removed from the left breast. We did find evidence of Jewett receiving the Air Medal, so this is another good research project! Another marking on the liner is ‘HANK’ CARNEY ‘5215, either an inscription to Engleman or yet another owner of this jacket. If only this piece could talk!

The jacket is in very good overall condition, and the lining appears to be original. The knit cuffs and waistband show fraying in the material, but they appear original as well.

This is an outstanding jacket with a great identification, ready for further research and display!