For those of you who missed my first posting. please check out my posting from two weeks ago displaying photos from the same WWII Marine pilot. Walter A. Huff flew Dauntless SBD dive bombers during WWII with the VMSB-332. In this series of slides Walter is on leave in Milwaukee, WI. Note the PBR plant!
Photographs and letters from WWII are not considered “rare” by many collectors in today’s market. I have roughly 1,000 WWI real photo postcards in my current collection, with and additional four albums of 200 or so photos each. Small-run broadsides and posters are much more ephemeral and should be considered scarce. Broadsides were meant to be posted for a few days, taken down and discarded. In this instance, a doughboy in 42nd Rainbow Division took the time to save one of the broadside posters from a wall somewhere in France. The event apparently was some sort of sports exhibition; not an uncommon event in the post-armistice Europe.
Of special attention to WWI buffs out there – check out the presiding chaplain! None other than Father Duffy of the Fighting 69th! A famous WWI movie centers around Duffy and his heroics during WWI. Check it out here.
James Cagney in The Fighting 69th
42nd Division Broadside
I was able to pick up an additional 40+ color slides taken on Guam, Tinian, and Siapan during WWII. Pacific Theater color shots are hard to come by due to the high temperatures and scarcity of color film in the far reaching islands of the Pacific. By my estimation, PTO color slides are outnumbered 2:1 by ETO shots.
Here’s a stunning example of a heavy truck carrying wheels and tires. Enjoy!
From the vaults of PortraitsofWar comes an amazing archive of images taken by an enlisted paratrooper with the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. The collection is comprised of roughly 225 images taken between 1945 and 1948 with a small portion of wartime material compared to the postwar activities of the 82nd. Included in the collection are a grouping of shots of the 555th PIR “triple nickles” as well as airborne drops, life around camp, tank maneuvers, and paratrooper horseplay. Please enjoy and don’t hesitate to contact me with any requests.
Rare Color Transparency
Airborne Drop
Jeep and Glider
Our Photographer
WACO Glider Landing
Bazooka Girl
758th Tank Battalion
Division Cartoonist
Fort Bragg PX
555th Vs. 325th Boxing
Kissing Booth
Fayetteville Lions Club
Although the focus is a bit off, I’m still pleased with the color range of the four color slides from Guam that I recently acquired through a trade with a friend. Nothing spectacular, but I thought others may enjoy seeing the “colors of war”.
Some of the best images in my collection come from my grouping of 42nd Rainbow Division negatives. A stunning range of images depicting combat situations, German POW’s, disabled tanks, downed planes, the Dachau liberation, and many other amazing scenes. The quality is superb.
From the negative grouping of Edward Majchrowicz
From time to time I will cull through my backlogged collections and pull out interesting images for posting here to PortraitsofWar. My collection of 42nd Division negatives from a member of the 222nd Anti-Tank Company is comprised of nearly 600 B/W negatives and an additional 200 prints. The collection is one of the best I own, and is ripe with juicy frontline photos. I’m even friends with a veteran from the company, who can tell me the stories behind the images. Here’s a nice shot of a group of dejected German POW’s. Apparently, the line consisted of nearly 1,200 soldiers who surrendered somewhere outside Schweinfurt, Germany.
Following up on a series of posts on the World War One Historical Association blog (http://ww1ha.wordpress.com/) regarding dust jacket art from the WWI era, I’ve decided to begin posting some of my favorite examples of war-era cover art. This example is from a copy of the unit history for Company F of the 316th Infantry Regiment. The cover and internal art was designed by a regimental veteran named Thomas M. Rivel who received the Distinguished Service Cross for his action outside Montfaucon, France in 1918. His cover piece combines a few elements that are commonly seen in wartime cover art, including posies, trench details, aircraft and a stone-faced doughboy. A great piece!
Picked this little gem off eBay for a great price and couldn’t help but do some research on the plane. It appears to have been taken while it was with the New Mexico Air National Guard. Likely in 1945 or 1946. I missed out on another listing from the same seller showing the plane with it’s full insignia painted on the side, which was the New Mexico state symbol. I believe this photo may be considered rare, as I can’t find another shot of the 44-74976 on the web, and certainly not in color. I hope the current owner finds my site!
From what I can gather, as pictured, this aircraft was used by the New Mexico Air National Guard in WWII and in the 1940s and then was sold to Indonesia in 1958 or 1959. It was then recovered in 1978 from Indonesia and purchased by a Ralph W. Johnson of Oakland, CA and registered as N98582. It’s first flight after being recovered from Indonesia was in 1983. It was then purchased by it’s current owner, Jeff R. Michael and restored to airworthy and redesignated as “Obsession” with it’s original tail code of 44-74976. Phew!
Portraits of War 