General Carl Spaatz
Details Of The Artifact
Custom made four pocket service coat tailored by Sullivan, Williams & Co. LTD in London dated August 18th 1944 and named to Lt. Gen Carl Spaatz. The coat was purchased at the Spaatz estate sale without any insignia or stars. Ribbons, rank stars restored and not original to Spaats only the coat is original to General Spaatz
A Bit Of History About General Carl Spaatz
Army Chief of Staff George Marshall named Carl Spaatz commander of Air Force Combat Command in January 1942 and promoted him to the temporary rank of major general. In May 1942 Spaatz became commander of the Eighth Air Force and transferred its headquarters to England in July. Spaatz was placed in overall command of the USAAF in the European Theater of Operations, while retaining his Eighth Air Force command. He was named commander of the Allied Northwest African Air Force in February 1943, the Twelfth Air Force in March 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force, and Royal Air Forces in Italy in November 1943, and the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe in January 1944. Spaatz received a temporary promotion to lieutenant general in March 1943, and full General in March of 1945
After the war, Eisenhower said that Spaatz was one of the two American general officers who had contributed the most to the victory in Europe. After the victory in Europe Spaatz was transferred to the Pacific from this command he directed the strategic bombing of Japan, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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"In our victory over Japan, airpower was unquestionably decisive. That the planned invasion of the Japanese Home islands was unnecessary is clear evidence that airpower has evolved into a force in war co-equal with land and sea power, decisive in its own right and worthy of the faith of its prophets." General Carl Spaatz