1277

WW2 326TH FIGHTER GROUP FLAG.

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
WW2 326TH FIGHTER GROUP FLAG.
3' x 4' double applique embroidered on blue field, distinctive insignia crest of cockatrice volant & motto; "FORTITER ET SINCERE", bronze/gold fringe. The 326th Fighter Group was a training unit of the U.S. Army Air Force that served with the First Air Force from 1942 until 1944. The group was constituted as the 326th Fighter Group on June 24th 1942 and activated on August 19th. Philadelphia QM label. They were assigned to the First Air Force in the US Northeast, where it served as an operational training unit as well as providing part of the air defenses of the area. The unit then changed to a replacement training unit, training individual pilots to fill gaps in combat units. The group was disbanded on 10 April 1944 as part of a reorganization of the training system that saw standard groups and squadrons replaced with units organized around individual training bases. For its career service the group flew the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. The unit served from these bases - Mitchel Field, NY: 19 Aug 1942; Bradley Field, Conn: 1 Sep 1942; Westover Field, Mass: 1 Nov 1942 and Seymour Johnson Field, NC: 13 Oct 1943-10 Apr 1944. Fighter squadrons that made up the group included the 320th: 1942-1943; the 321st: 1942-1944; the 322nd: 1942-1944; the 538th: 1943-1944 and the 539th: 1943-1944. The 326th Fighter Group disbanded in August 1944. However, in the unit was reconstituted and redesignated 326th Fighter Group (Air Defense), in June 1955 and they became active in August. They were assigned to Air Defense Command and equipped with F-86 Sabre jet fighters. The command flew out of Paine Air Force Base in Washington. As this flag is Army blue and contains the units Coat of Arms in the center of the Eagle, this flag has to date from its World War Two incarnation. CONDITION: very good to fine, there is bullet sized hole forward of eagle's beak. (02-19473-35/JS). $300-400.