Original Item: Only One Lot Available. This is a wonderful grouping attributed to Sergeant Elton Bean (ASN: 36561046), a crewman aboard a B-24 Liberator during WWII. Sergeant Bean served with the 344th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bombardment Squadron from 1944 to 1945.
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron under Third Air Force.
Elton Claude Bean was born on June 18, 1922 and enlisted in the United States Army on January 26, 1943 and received his discharge on October 24, 1945. We have not been able to locate any service information on Sergeant Bean, making for a wonderful research opportunity. Fortunately, the items in this lot tell a wonderful story to help aid in research.
The Items In This Lot:
- Hand Painted and Patched A-2 Jacket: Features a lovely Italian made painted leather patch of “bugs bunny” laying on a cloud eating a carrot while dropping a bomb. The patch is unfortunately missing pieces but there are enough left to tell what it is. At the bottom of the patch 344th BOMB SQDN. is written. The back of the jacket has 38 orange bombs painted to signify how many bombing runs he was a part of. The left shoulder has a leather classic multi-piece Italian made “XV” 15th Air Force patch but it is faded and cracked. This was definitely a jacket that saw significant wear and use. The overall condition is really nice but there is cracking and small tears present throughout.
- Class A Service Jacket With Shirt and Tie (Laundry Number Marked B-1046): The uniform items are in wonderful condition with the jacket being heavily stamped with Sergeant Bean’s laundry number. The jacket features a lovely 15th Air Forces bullion shoulder insignia on the right shoulder and an Army Air Corps roundel on the left shoulder. The left breast has a lovely painted set of Aerial Gunner Wings above a beautiful ribbon bar which shows he received an Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaves Clusters.
- Painted Leather A-2 Jacket Patches: These are absolutely beautiful and beautiful is an understatement. The largest of the patches is a lovely scene of a B-24 on a bombing run with all locations he was at written around it. This patch we believe to have been originally on the back of the jacket itself and was removed when he painted the orange bombs. Other patches include a large roundel painted with a naked woman with the words “OFF LIMITS” on both sides of her, a patch showing an image of Mighty Mouse riding a donkey throwing a bomb and another large patch of a B-24 with a map above it and 35 bombs around the map. Other patches are unit patches as well as sleeve rating badges.
- Documents and Pictures: The documents include his “Soldier’s Individual Pay Record” partially filled out, his AAF Tech School identification card (with photo), US Army Air Force “Blood Chit” identification card (with photo), Report of Physical Examination from enlistment and a certificate from the Tyler Commercial College from June 1943. There are 3 photos of Sergeant Bean in uniform but locations and dates are unknown, but two of the photos appear to have been taken overseas.
- Piece of Shrapnel on Chain with Dog Tag: The dog tag belonged to Sergeant Bean and we believe the piece of shrapnel originated from a German shell that hit his aircraft. A lovely little keepsake to remember a brush with death!
This is a fantastic grouping, packed with lovely items! This is a must have for the aviation collector. Comes more than ready for further research and display!
Approximate Measurements:
Leather Jacket -
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 25.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16”
Chest width: 18”
Waist width: 18.5”
Hip width: 17.5”
Front length: 26"
Shirt -
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 25”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16.5”
Chest width: 22.5”
Waist width: 18”
Hip width: 20.5”
Front length: 34"
Jacket -
Collar to shoulder: 9”
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 15.5”
Chest width: 18”
Waist width: 16.5”
Hip width: 18”
Front length: 31.5"
The 344th Bombing Squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to Barksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron under Third Air Force.
The squadron's training was short and it deployed to Egypt in July 1942 over the South Atlantic Ferrying Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean Sea to Brazil. It made the Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. The air echelon of the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by the SS Pasteur around the Cape of Good Hope, joining with the air echelon of the squadron, the 343d Bombardment Squadron and group headquarters at St Jean d'Acre Airfield, in Palestine.
Combat in the Middle East
Upon arrival in the Near East, the squadron became part of the United States Army Middle East Air Force, which was replaced by Ninth Air Force in November. It entered combat in August, attacking shipping and harbor installations to cut Axis supply lines to North Africa. It also bombed airfields and rail transit lines in Sicily and mainland Italy. The squadron moved forward with the Ninth Air Force to airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign. Its support of this campaign earned the squadron the Distinguished Unit Citation.
98th Bomb Group Liberators attacking Ploesti
On 1 August 1943, the squadron participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the low level raid on oil refineries near Ploesti, Romania. Alerted to the vulnerability of the Ploesti refineries by a June 1942 raid by the Halverson Project, HALPRO, the area around Ploesti had become one of the most heavily defended targets in Europe. Upon takeoff to Ploesti, Lt. John Young's B-24, Kickapoo, lost an engine shortly after takeoff and crashed with it's two pilots, Lt. Robert Nespor, Lt. John Riley, and all but two of it's crew KIA, the first casualties of Operation Tidal Wave. The 344th Squadron pressed its attack on the Astra Romana Refinery through smoke and fire from bombing by the 93rd's Bombardment Group's earlier attack and heavy flak defenses. The squadron's actions in this engagement earned it a second Distinguished Unit Citation.
When the forces driving East from Egypt and Libya met up with those moving westward from Algeria and Morocco, the 344th, established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. Lastly the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by ship around the Cape of Good Hope, joining with the air echelon in British Palestine.
Assigned to the newly formed IX Bomber Command, the squadron operated from airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign. Also staged long-range strategic bombardment of enemy maritime shipping targets in the Mediterranean Sea and Italian ports, also military and industrial targets in Sicily, Italy, and the Southern Balkans, including attacking the NSDAP-controlled oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania.
Reassigned to Fifteenth Air Force in southern Italy; continuing strategic bombardment raids on Occupied France; Southern Germany; Austria and targets in the Balkans. In the summer of 1944, the squadron participated in the invasion of southern France, assisted in the Soviet advance into the Balkans, and supported the partisans and guerrillas in Yugoslavia and neighboring countries.
The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945 where it was redesignated as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron and began training for deployment to the Central Pacific Area. Training continued until November when the unit was transferred to Merced Army Air Field, California and reassigned to the 444th Bombardment Group, where it replaced the 678th Bombardment Squadron, which was converted into a reconnaissance unit. The squadron was inactivated at what was now Castle Field in March 1946.
