This grouping of 9th Air Force flight gear belonged to Jess E. Dibert of the famous 322nd Bombardment Group, 449th Bomb Squadron. The 449th flew Martin B-26 Marauders and operated with the 8th AF until assigned to 9th AF in Oct 1943. From May 1943 to April 1945, the 449th served in combat and operated from England, France, and Belgium. As part of the 322nd BG, the 449th supported the Allied offensive at Caen and the breakthrough at St. Lo and aided the drive of Third Army across France and the assault on the Siegfried Line. The squadron flew a number of missions against railroad bridges during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945) and then concentrated on communications, marshalling yards, bridges, and fuel dumps until its last mission on April 24, 1945. This Jess E. Dibert collection features the following: 1) 9th Air Force Officer's B-13 flight jacket. The jacket has an embroidered 9th Air Force patch on the left shoulder. 2) USAAF officer olive drab shirt made by Lang Krafted Uniforms size 14 1/2, 32. U.S. and officer AAF insignia are present on the lapel. With tie. 3) Two pairs of trousers: pinks with hand marked "DIBERT 3920" on the inside and olive drab with hand marked "DIEBERT" (incorrect spelling of name) on the inside. 4) Feather Weight USAAF officer's olive drab "crusher" visor cap hand marked "J.E. Diebert" (incorrect spelling of name) on the inside. 5) USAAF B-6 leather flight helmet size medium. 6) Painted USAAF B-15 flight jacket made by Aero Leather Clothing Co. The left shoulder has a 9th Air Force patch above "ARMY AIR FORCES" and the left chest has a post-war cloth U.S. Army patch. The back of the jacket is painted with a large 9th Air Force insignia along with a Martin B-26 Marauder. 7) Leather and fur gloves. Approximately 35 photographs are included with this grouping and show B-26s in combat and USAAF air crews. Other items accompanying this lot include Dibert's mileage rationing identification card, two 12th AF patches, three French aircraft identification cards (P-61, P-63, and Lavochkin) and two victory mail envelopes. This 449th became the most famous bomber squadron in the 9th Air Force. It also was made infamous by Nazi propaganda when the crew of "Murder Inc" (the famous mafia movie about Al Capone) were captured and then photographed with their A-2 jackets with "Murder Inc" on them. The Air & Space Museum own the most mission achieved bomber of WWII, the 449th's "Flak Bait".

1-2) Very fine, showing some mild wear. 3) Both trousers are fine, with some scattered minor wear and a few minor stains with a couple small holes on the olive drab trousers. 4) Very good. The leather band has some deep age cracking and the wool has some staining caused by the brass. 5) Very good, with some minor flaking on the leather and the chin strap is partially missing. 6) Fine, showing some minor stains and some very scattered minor wear on the cuffs and waist band. 90% of the painted motif remains. 7) Very good, with some fur loss (most on the fingers) and a couple large holes on the left thumb.