In June 1941 the US Army's air organisations were consolidated under a
single command, the Army Air Forces or AAF. Its expansion was rapid and
massive, and its contribution to the war effort was substantial. Books
abound describing the AAF's impressive combat record, but little has
been published to record what the men inside the machines wore to stay
alive and effective in the air and on the ground, or, as often as not,
in the water. Gordon L. Rottman's detailed treatment discusses the
flying clothes, accessories and equipment worn and used by individual
airmen fighting their often desperate battles in the sky.