This Seymour Johnson Field Air Forces T-shirt is based on a surviving original example dating from the Second World War. The original shirt provided the direct inspiration for the distinctive design featuring the arched words AIR FORCES, a four-engine American bomber and the name SEYMOUR JOHNSON FIELD.
The artwork retains the straightforward and powerful appearance associated with American military athletic and leisure clothing of the 1940s. The slightly irregular lettering beneath the aircraft gives the print the authentic character of a design originally applied using period printing methods.
The shirt is available in white and natural. The natural-coloured version has a subtle vintage appearance that complements the historic artwork particularly well. An unusual T-shirt for enthusiasts of the U.S. Army Air Forces, American military airfields, WWII reenactment and aviation history.
Historical context EN
Seymour Johnson Field was located near Goldsboro, North Carolina. The installation was activated on 12 June 1942 as a training facility under the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command. Later that year, it was officially named Seymour Johnson Field in honour of Lieutenant Seymour A. Johnson, a Goldsboro-born naval aviator and test pilot who was killed during a test flight on 5 March 1941.
From June 1943, the base also prepared officers and enlisted personnel for overseas service. A further mission involving the pre-training of aviation cadets was introduced in September 1943. The 326th Fighter Group arrived in October 1943 and began training replacement pilots for the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in early 1944. P-47 pilot training became one of the field’s principal missions in April 1944.
Following the end of the war in Europe, Seymour Johnson Field was used to process and retrain military personnel being reassigned. The field was inactivated in May 1946 and reopened in 1956 as Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The four-engine bomber shown in the original T-shirt design represents the wider identity and visual language of the U.S. Army Air Forces. It should not be interpreted as evidence that the original shirt belonged to one particular bomber unit. The combination of the local airfield name and the general Air Forces motif is what gives this design its distinctive historical character.
