Original U.S. WWII CBI C-46 C-47 B-25 Pilot Distinguished Flying Cross Recipient Captain Arthur Leigh Stevens’ A2 Flight Jacket with Blood-Chit & Theater-Made Leather Patches - Named “Dead Reckoning” Flight Calculator & Ephemera

Original Items. One-of-a-Kind Set. This is the outstanding A2 Flight Jacket group of Pilot Captain Arthur Leigh Stevens, who flew C-46s, C-47s, and B-25s in the China, Burma, India theater and conducted well over 300 hours of operational flight during the war, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on August 10th, 1944. His Jacket has a tremendous leather American flag patch and Chinese Blood Chit stitched to the back along with great patches on the shoulders and chest. The grouping also comes with an outstanding large-scale map used by Stevens as well as his named “Dead Reckoning” flight computer and a great deal of ephemera. 

A newspaper article from November 8th, 1944 reads:

The Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded Capt. ARTHUR L. STEVENS, JR., 335 King’s highway for “extraordinary achievement”, according to an announcement by Brigadier General William H. Turner, commanding general of the India-China division. Captain Stevens has been serving with the division since Nov. 14, 1943, as a pilot on the transport planes which haul military cargo to Allied forces fighting the Japanese in China, crossing the north Burma “hump” of the Himalayas. The citation credits Captain Stevens with more than 300 hours of operation flight in transport aircraft over the dangerous and difficult Assam-China air routes where enemy interception and attack was probable and expected.

Stevens’ A2 Flight jacket has great theater-made leather patches for the CBI theater on the left shoulder and the AAF with a felt backing on the right shoulder. Both have aged very well. His epaulettes originally had silver-colored hand-cute leather Captain’s bars, but the set on the right epaulette has come off, although the silhouette is still there. The broken piece is in a small bag in the pocket and could likely be glued back on. On the left breast is a period-stitched Air Transport Command patch measuring 4” in diameter under a nametag reading ARTHUR L. STEVENS, JR. under a set of Pilot’s wings with a correct wartime pinback. The back is not stamped STERLING, but the set looks to be silver. The back of the jacket has a tremendous American Flag Multi-Piece Leather Patch measuring 7 ⅝ x 10” stitched over a China-Burma-India Leather Blood Chit with the Chinese flag, measuring 8 x 11”. These chits are in amazing condition for their age and retain their colors very well. The flag has some scuffing at the top as shown. 

The jacket’s zipper is marked TALON, and the collar latch is still intact on both sides. The pockets are in good shape but the leather is a bit stretched. Both the right and left knit cuffs have heavy fraying and loss. The knit waistband is in much better condition. The interior shows good wear and retains the original tag under the collar:

TYPE A-2
DRAWING NO. 30-1415
CONTRACT NO. W535 AC-27752
ROUGH WEAR CLOTHING CO.
MIDDLETOWN, PA.
PROPERTY
AIR FORCE U.S. ARMY
40

The interior has very minor tearing and holes, and the wings look to have originally been pinned fully to the interior, but now they are only on the top layer. The jacket has held up very well.

The rest of this grouping consists of:

- Stevens’ Type E-6B Computer; Aerial, Dead Reckoning with the card fully inserted. The computer comes in its original leather case which has the name M. Arthur L. Stevens Jr. stamped inside. A great artifact to have displayed with his jacket. 
- AAF patch, CBI patch, and Air Transport Command ATC patch.
- Stevens’ original discharge and separation certificate, listing his battles and campaigns as India Burma GO 24 WD 47 and China Defense GO 24 WD 47. He served 1 year, 6 months, and 22 days overseas.
- 21 ¼ x 26 ¾” global map of the “Pacific Arena”.
- 43 x 59 ½” very large 1944-dated Planning Map of China, Burma, and India “For use by War and Navy Department Agencies Only”. 
- Stevens’ ATC Cabin Identification Tag fully filled out with his serial number, O-663952.
- Small U.S. national flag measuring 8 ½ x 14”, likely carried through his time overseas. 
- Stevens’ Social Security Card, Camp Polk, LA ID card with a small photo of him stapled to the back, Mutual Hospital Service membership card, Draft registration card, War Department Job Methods training certificate card, Personnel action letter with portion torn out, empty Lubbock Army flying school booklet, dance orchestra program, and used war ration book.

Arthur Leigh Stevens Jr. was born on March 10th, 1919 in New Bern, North Carolina. At a young age, his family moved to Louisiana, and they settled in Shreveport. He enlisted in the AAF on September 6th, 1942, training as a pilot and being commissioned as a Lieutenant. He joined the Air Transport Command, or ATC, traveling overseas and joining the India-China division on November 14th, 1943, and flew C-46s, C-47s, and B-25s for the division. He served in the China Burma, India (CBI) theater, and also visited Tibet, Egypt, South Africa, and Australia. During the war, he would send countless souvenirs of silver, jade, brass, ivory, ebony, sandalwood, and silk from the exotic places he flew in and around. A photo of this collection from a 1946 newspaper is included. By November 1944, he had flown over 300 operational hours, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross along with the Air Medal and Presidential Unit Citation. He returned to the United States on November 7th, 1944, where he remained for the rest of the war. Stevens remained in the military for 24 years, being discharged on October 31st, 1969. He passed away on November 23rd, 1998. 

A couple of printed research documents will also be included. This is an amazing grouping that could fill out an entire section of your collection once the map is framed behind his jacket. Comes ready for further research and display!