Before the United States entered WWII, eager American pilots flew Spitfires in the Royal Air Force Eagle Squadrons. The RAF’s Seventy-one Squadron became the USAAF 334^th Fighter Squadron in 1942, but kept their Spitfires. In 1943 they transitioned to P-47 Thunderbolts and later to the P-51.   The 334th flew in the 4th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force. 

The 334th accounted for 395 kills against the Luftwaffe, bringing the total for the 4th FG to 1016 victories, making them the highest scoring fighter group in the European Theater of Operations in WW II.  Later they flew F-86 Sabres in Korea, destroying 142 enemy aircraft. It flew F-105 Thunderchiefs in Vietnam and F-15 Eagles in Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the no-fly zone in Iraq.

We've screened the "Boxing Eagle" on natural tooling leather just as worn by some of the 334th pilots in England.  It is an exact duplicate of an original patch, down to the most minute detail.

 

Size	5 inches (12.7 cm) diameter
Material	Screened on natural tooling leather