US WWII Named 10th AF B-25 Navigator Grouping, 490th BS. "Bridge Busters"
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $950.00

Original period manufacture. A very large and very complete grouping to a 10th Air Force Captain who served with the 490th Bombardment Squadron (M) in the CBI Theater during WWII. He participated in 75 missions, 25 of them active combat missions, against Japanese military targets in Burma. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and several Air Medals for his service. His squadron was so effective in the destruction of bridges that they were given the nickname "Bridge Busters" . The grouping includes the following; UNIFORMS, named and 1943 dated, officers four-pocket tunic with appropriate insignia including his bullion wire Navigator wings,"pink" trousers, dark OD shirt with khaki tie, his Air Cadet tunic, khaki wool shirt and tunic. MEDALS & INSIGNIA, unnamed slot brooch DFC in case with ribbon bar and lapel button, ruptured duck insignia, his dog-tags showing a 1951 tetanus inoculation, a cased wrap brooch Air Medal (unnamed) with the serial number 6340 on the brooch, lapel button and ribbon bar, three place ribbon bar, replacement Asiatic-Pacific medal, bullion AAF SSI, bullion CBI SSI, Air Cadet sleeve insignia, veterans reunion 490th BS cardboard SSI, Air Cadet & Army Officer hat insignia, large American Flag silk bloodchit, EQUIPMENT & MANUALS Pilots Navigation Portfolio, Flight Computer, numerous manuals and pamphlets, silk escape map ofUpper Burma & Assam, USAAF escape map NO.30/31 North & South Burma, several printed paper maps of the Burma area, EPHEMERAa very nice, large framedcolor photograph of him in his Air Cadet uniform, a three page, handwritten list of all of his missions flown with the 490th BS and 27th Troop Carrier Squadron, scrapbook displaying 115 original b/w photographs, including 54 mission strike photos, several of which show B-25's in the air and evidence of bridge destruction. Overall the components are in good repair, there is some mothing on theAir Cadet uniform and wool shirt and tunic, the lids of the medal cases are no longer attached but no damage to the medals themselves. There is a plethora of information available on the net regarding the exploits of the 490th Bomb Squadron including other photos of our Navigator. This will be a fun grouping for further research.