THE BLUE PATCH

THE BLUE PATCH
By: Col. Royal Frey

A number of months ago, I got a long-distance phone call from some fellow who had been in the 8th. Air Force, asking if I rememberd the blue patch that some pilots wore under their wings. I certainly did recall it and told him what I could of the story. So, maybe it will be a good yarn for King's Cliffe Remembered."

After we got to England in late August 1943, we began seeing AAF pilots with blue patches under their wings. We were told there were alot of AAF pilots in England who had never been on a combat mission, and who would probably never chalk one up on their record. These guys were administrative pilots, ferry pilots, transport pilots, higher-echelon pilots in various headquarters, etc., but with their theater ribbons and the like, could pass themselves off as combat pilots. At the same time, there were fellows who had flown combat but who had not yet been awarded any medals, hence no ribbons on their chests. This made sense to me and, I believe, to many of the other pilots of the 20th.

I don't recall who got the blue patches for the 20th., but shortly before we went operational, someone came around and passed out pieces of blue felt. I got two, one for my blouse and one for my battle jacket.

The 20th. flew its first mission on 28 December, 1943 and I remember that after getting back and landing, some of us rushed for the barracks to sew on our blue patches. Since I had taken Home Economics (cooking and sewing) in the 8th.Grade (that's another story), i was one of the few who knew how to sew on patches, at least half-decently. So, after I had sewn on my own, I did the job for some of the others. Man alive, were we ever proud that evening in the mess --we were COMBAT pilots!

These patches were never officially authorized as far as I know, but they were "tolerated" and I never heard of anyone getting into trouble for wearing one under his wings while in England. After the war, when I had returned to the States, I was told to get the patch off my blouse, however.

My "combat period" with the 20th. only lasted about 1 1/2 months and during that time none of my Air Medals came through. As a result, I didn't have any ribbons to wear to indicate I had flown any combat missions. So, my blue patch came in handy or, at least, at the time I thought it did. In retrospect, however, I have some doubts because during that time, the only place I went off base was to Stamford in the evenings to the movies. I don't think any of the British civilains knew what the blue patch meant nor, after what they had been through for years before we even got into the war, would they have been particulularly impressed even if the blue patch had been explained to them. But I knew what it represented and I was really proud to be "qualified" to wear it under my wings.

Reprinted From King's Cliff Remembered

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