WWII POW GROUPING
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: $1795.00

Original period manufacture. A massive, 20 pound box of medals, insignia, identity tags, documents, photographs and more, all pertaining to the service of Lt. J.B. Muise, who served as a Navigator on a B-17 bomber (43-38359), 493rd Bomb Group during WWII.On November 5, 1944, after completing a bomb run over a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen Germany, his plane received a flak hit which damaged 1 & 2 engines, the pilot immediately gave the bail-out order to the crew of 11 men on the now stricken bomber; thirty seconds later a second flak shell hit the B-17 destroying the forward portion of the aircraft, instantly killing 6 of the men onboard, and blowing off the tail of the plane, Lt. Muise and four other crewmen, located in the rear portion of the fuselage were blown clear of the bomber and parachuted to safety. He spent the remainder of WWII as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft 3-7 A, as a reluctant guest of the Luftwaffe. This very complete grouping includes the following; his DFC, Air Medal, Purple Heart, (they are not named) Victory Medal, sterling marked Navigator wings with his name engraved on the reverse, sterling Air Crew wings, sterling Air Cadet cap insignia, British mfg 8th Air Force SSI, his Dogtag, sterling marked pinback Caterpillar pin with documents & letters, Australian RAAF cloth Pilots Wings, British RAF Navigator half-wing (these two likely being souvenirs from other internees at the POW camp), Presidential Unit Citation and assorted small metal insignia and post WWII veteran reunion badges.The photographic content is excellent, including several 8x10 bw photograph's of his crew in front of a B-24 (his squadron trained on Liberators but switched to Fortresses in September 1944), one of the photos identifies each airman, with their individual handwritten signatures on the reverse; Lt. Muise is shown rear row, extreme left. All of these men, plus a USAAF photographer, and a Bombardier Instructor, were aboard that ill fated B-17 on 5 November 1944. In addition, photographs of his father receiving his medals during an official US Army ceremony are included. Several copies of each are present with the grouping.His parents kept a wonderful scrapbook for their son, detailing his time in the service and as a prisoner of the Germans. These photographs, letters and documents reside in a very sound, period album. The content includes letters to and from him as a prisoner, official US telegrams informing his parents of his status as MIA and ultimate release . All of these have been arranged in a very neat, chronological order, and the overall presentation is excellent. The documents and books included here are amazing in detail, they include the original document from the Switlik Parachute Company, making him an official member of the Caterpillar Club( in addition to letters and wallet size membership cards). Graduation books from Navigation School Selman Field Louisiana, official copies of the orders awarding him the DFC, Air Medal and Purple Heart, a copy of Clipped Wings, published in 1948 detailing the life of a POW in camp, Helton's Hellcats, Pictorial History of the 493rd Bomb Group (the group photo of Lt. Muise's crew is shown on page 29), postwar letters to fellow POW's and much more.One of the more interesting items in the group is a British published wartime log, which was acquired by Lt. Muise and used by him as a memoir of sorts while a POW. It is illustrated by him with pencil drawings and musings; the interior of their hut, POW food recipes, contents of Red Cross boxes, the poem High Flight, and one of the more interesting features are several pages of the names and addresses of fellow POW's written inside the outline of a Dogtag. A formal portrait of Lt. & Mrs John McComb is in the box. Lt. McComb served as the bombardier on the plane that day, and lost his life in the explosion. Details of his postwar life and veteran association participation is also well represented. A large scrapbook is included with photographs of his life from the time of his youth to his senior years, and a large file of paperwork from the 493rd Bomb Group (H) memorial association is in the box. In 1990 he applied to the Military Archives Division, National Archives for the MACR reports regarding his B-17 and crewmates, November 5 1944. Eleven pages of this report are included. This grouping is outstanding in its completeness and detail, with several very unique features to it, there is just not enough room to photograph and describe every feature, it is simply the best POW grouping we have ever handled.