“Shirt” or 2-Inch Wings — A Brief Look

A Typical Officer’s outfit which comprised shirt with trousers minus the Wool Officer’s Coat or Tunic. A “Shirt” (2 inch+) Pilot Wing is worn here to prevent “droop” from the weight of the 3+ inch Wing

Above is a picture frrom the EXCELLENT reference site http://www.alliedflightgear.com/ of the standard “shirt” olive drab dress shirt with “pinks” trousers which was common in the USAAF during WWII. The standard 3-inch wings the Airmen wore were too heavy for the shirt’s lighter thread count and thus there was a sag or droop the Airmen had to deal with which was unsightly. The 2 inch wing gave a great deatailed rendition of the wing with the lighter composition which fit the shirt’s capacity to hold the wing in a presentably standard position very well. The two inch wings can be found in the majority of the standard wing formats made throughout the war and mostly made in the United States by FAR. There WERE 2 inch wings manufactured individually in theater designed format but they are very rare and were not standard by any means from overseas makers.

Shirt wings became popular gifts for girlfriends and wives back home during the war.  The sure wing being smaller and having a less pronounced aspect to it, gave these wings a feminine essence if given as a token of devotion from a man who loved a woman.  In presenting the woman whom he loved these wings, which matched his own larger more formidable and masculine set, there was a sense of shared experience over the distances involved in wars such as the first world war and the 2nd world war which encompassed the entire globe.  I have seen keepsakes like these in the hands of the woman, loved by a Man whose heart is of God, from Who all love proceeds.  The wife of an Airman stands out from my time with Hospice. There is no power in and of itself she finds derived from the item he left with her in that special moment of parting, but the cherished item acts as a stimulus to give impetus in her heart and mind each time she revisits and caresses the object. Those times she digressed alone with her husband’s “wings” unto the great gift of her brilliant mind and heart,  to the poignant and powerful details therein of the Faith which impregnated that moment of his departure which she revisits, with absolute hope that the Love bestowed upon them both by the God who is the author of that same Love…….  would persevere, come what may, even over the boundary of physical death…… unto the eternity they will share together glorifying the Lord who birthed their Love.

Here are some examples of these 2 inch wings ….

A Typical Officer’s outfit which comprised shirt with trousers minus the Wool Officer’s Coat or Tunic. A “Shirt” (2 inch+) Pilot Wing is worn here to prevent “droop” from the weight of the 3+ inch Wing..

This is one of the Rarest Makers out there, called J’ Obrien out of New Jersey. They made a unique version of the Pilot Pelican Beak Wing and this 2″ Command Pilot Wing. I have also seen an equally rare Navy Pilot Wing.

This is a VERY unique wing on the bottom which is a 2 1/4 Inch wing. This special Strike was done prior to WWII and shows up intermittently. A Beautiful Wing with high Hawk Beak shoulders and a tall/thin shield which was indicative of the earlier prewar Pilot Wings…..