Description
Nothing can be said about the U.S Army M42 paratrooper jump jacket other than rare. This M42 started it’s life as a standard M42 jump jacket, when issued early on in the war to a member of the 82nd Airborne, it was rigger modified to have reinforced material added in the elbows and on the bottom skirt. This was done by men who fought in Italy and the early war invasions, later on giving the idea to the riggers to also reinforce later used jump jackets for the D-Day invasions. Any rigger modified jump jacket is incredibly rare, the examples from this early are virtually never found. When found the original 82nd sleeve patch, invasion flag, rank insignia, and a champagne cork were all found in the pockets. The jacket shows clear signs of being combat worn with staining from sweat and the elements, shadowing from all the insignia including the right sleeve which shows clear sings of having an invasion flag attached at some point during the war, and even blood stains on the lower sleeve. The material used and method of sewing would have me lean towards someone who was more than likely in the 504th Paratrooper Infantry Regiment. The 504th participated in “Operation Husky” in 1943 (The Invasion of Sicily) which would be the first American airborne invasion in history. The jacket has all the original zippers still intact and function perfectly fine. The inside shows the Army serial number U-2137, there was only a handful of men who used this number, only one was a paratrooper – Pfc. Heinz Ulrich Serial #12072137 was German born and enlisted in 1942, though the information I obtained shoed he was a member of the 501st Paratrooper Infantry Regiment, he would jump on D-Day and be wounded in France, he would also participate in the Holland invasion and would also be wounded again during the Battle of the Bulge. I have not found weather or not he was a member early on in the 82nd or not, this in my opinion is a strong possibility but more research is defiantly needed! Regardless this is still an extremely rare, sought after jump jacket that has sings of clear combat usage during an invasion.
Note – During early airborne operations in North Africa and Italy, the M1942 uniform was found to be lacking in several areas, most notably strength. The fabric is relatively thin (originals were not made from denim as some characters assume) and some seams should have had extra material added. The knees and elbows wore out easily, the pockets sometimes blew out due to the opening shock of parachutes. Prior to Overlord “D-Day”, divisional riggers were directed to fix these problems. The riggers of the 82nd and 101st each came up with a similar though not quite identical fix though the 82nd was the first to do this in the Italian invasions. Heavy olive drab canvas was used to make elbow and knee patches, and reinforce the edges of the cargo pockets. Leg ties were added to the trousers to help compress the bulging hip pockets. Small variations exist in the way they are stitched between the 82nd and 101st, but they are essentially the same. Each paratrooper was to turn in one of his two issue sets for reinforcing prior to the Overlord jumps. Many paras did not receive them back in time for the jump, so some had them, others did not. Thus the term “Rigger Modified” was born.
