Superb WWII photo album from a RAF ground crewman serving with  123 Squadron in the Middle East.

 

9" x 6" x  1.75" thick​ and crammed with high quality wartime photographs - 205 pictures altogether! From training in Edinburgh to the Middle East including Egypt, Palestine, Turkey. Lots of photos depicting life in the RAF including aircraft, personnel, uniforms and some flying kit, working on aircraft, tents, billets, and of course sightseeing throughout Egypt and the Holy Land. Pictures vary from 3.25" x 2.75" to 7" x 4.5" (not the tiny ones often seen). Many of the local photos are beautifully hand tinted during the processing/printing. A lovely album from a great frontline fighter squadron (Hurricanes).

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$185 / £145 / €165  email to secure this item

Rare and historic Battle of Britain log book and other items to a Luftwaffe Ju 88 pilot.

 

Unique Luftwaffe log book and diary grouping, with extensive history and research, from the Battle of Britain. Great history, from Lt. Joachim Wreschnick, a bomber pilot with III/KG77. He flew the Do17, Ju86, Ju88 and He111. Flew multiple operations during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, including over London, Birmingham, Coventry and Liverpool. Log book entries are from March 1940 to May 1941. He is well documented in several books (B of B Then and Now etc). On May 3rd, 1941 while returning home from a huge raid on Liverpool his aircraft suffered catastrophic double engine failure. His crew bailed out and he belly-landed on Welnet Wash in Norfolk. He was captured, interrogated and sent to POW camp for the duration. The grouping includes:

Log book in excellent condition (upon his return home in 1946, he completed and corrected some entries!).

His diary which he kept as a POW (which is actually more of a reflection of his thoughts based on his education on German history - very interesting!).

Two data plates from his aircraft given to him as a souvenir many years later when he visited his crash site.

LW breast eagle, probably from his flying jacket.

A September 1940 German LW newspaper.

Extensive research and documentation including eye-witness accounts, reports of the crash and the raid, details from the archaeology team that found it. 

Battle of Britain log books, both RAF and Luftwaffe, are highly desirable, and this is a particularly unique example, having a great deal of history and research.

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$2,815 / £2,150 / €2,520  email to secure this item

Important and highly significant Royal Flying Corps log book and photo grouping to Reginald Collis, who went on to become head of flying training in the RCAF in WW2. 

 

A very significant log book, being the only one of these early "ledger” types I have ever seen and I have no idea how long they were issued. There is also a very extensive grouping of documentation and photos. The first entry in the log book is dated January 1913 (it may well be the oldest surviving RFC pilot log book). It contains lots of WWI combat in the most comprehensive detail and neat handwriting. There are far too many completed pages to photograph all - but these sample pages give you a feel for his attention to detail.  The last entry is September 1916 when Collis was injured in a crash on top of a gasometer! There are 3 photos, tucked inside the log book, of the wreckage - including one of him still sitting/lying  in it. Collis stayed in the RAF, moved to Canada and became head of flying training in Canada in WW2, rising to the rank of Air Vice Marshal. He was also an inventor of some renown and some of his patents are included with the grouping. Several of his patents were registered in Canada and in the US. Also included is a leatherbound 1st edition of “Aviation in Canada” which is a rare book in its own right. Collis has annotated it rather sarcastically. email for complete details.

 

$3,930 / £3,000 / €3,520   email for more details

Interesting RAF Observer flight training photo album. 

 

Named and with many places / units identified, this album has all high quality, large format photos (postcard size) including a menu from Christmas dinner, 1942. 16 images total show life at training school but not your "run-of-the-mill" type photos. All are military and include many group / unit photos. Last photos show owner in sergeant uniform with Observer wing and a newspaper clipping indicating he had "passed out." A nice album, well annotated with names and places.

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£43 / $55 / €48  email to secure this item

14 original WWII AAF crew / aircraft photographs. 

 

14 original wartime photos portraying aircraft, airfields, crashes and crew members. None are captioned so some research is required. Largest is 5.5" x 4" (140mm x 100mm)  and smallest is 2.75" x 1.75" (70mm x 45mm) all are excellent quality.

 

$65 / £49 / €59  email to secure this item

Superb original WWI WRAF photograph

 

Excellent and large fornat original photograph showing three women of the WRAF in WWI. an outstanding example of the uniforms they wore c.1918-19.  Approx. 4" x 6" with slight creasing / cracking at bottom corners.

 

£28 / $35  / €30  email for more details

Set of two RAF log books and photo album  from a Flight Observer / Air Gunner / Photographer who served from 1931 through to the end of WWII on Sunderlands, Wellingtons and Stirlings. Great historical content.

 

Two log books and a photo album containing a wealth of British Colonial history and the early days of the RAF as well as excellent photographs. LAC R.F. Jones started his RAF career as an Air Gunner, Navigator and Photographer with 10 squadron, flying in such aircraft as the Hyderabad, Fairey IIIF, Shorts Singapore, Vickers Vincent and Westland Wallace, entered WWII flying on Catalinas and Sunderlands on convoy support and Air Sea Rescue. He ended the war on Wellingtons and Stirlings. A fantastic career included flying with Sir Charles Portal (who was then a mere Air Commodore) and being lead navigator for many formation flying displays (which he diagrammed in his log books). On September 7th, 1936, while with 8 squadron, his aircraft was directed to rescue Mr. Roy Chapman Andrews, famous American paleantologist and explorer for the Museum of Natural History in New York, from one of his many scrapes. (Chapman Andrews was the basis for George Lucas' Indiana Jones character). A fascinating set of log books. The books were at one time glued together (back cover to front cover) but have been separated with minor loss to the surface (nothing serious). Photo album is in very good condition. As an accomplished aerial photographer, Jones' photo album is full of professional quality images, 81 total, most are 6" x 3.5" or 8" x 6.5" with some smaller. Many aerials of the area, including Aden, Alexandria, Aboukir, Canopus and Cairo and lots of rare aircraft, as well as service life in the Middle East (including sailing).

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 $900 / £690 / €805  email for more details

Souvenir postcards from immediate postwar Japan.

3 sets of 6, still in their wrapping.

 

3 complete sets of 6 "souvenir of Japan" postcards, brought home by a USN veteran who was there at the end of the war. Subjects include popular tourist attractions (Kyoto, Mount Fuji etc,) and the ubiquitous Geisha girls. Still in their original "plain brown wrapping" (though nothing saucy or pornographic inside!). Make a great late war / post war display or decorative backdrop for a collection.

 

£19 / $25 / €22  

email for more details