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a shadow box with a lot of medals and medals in ita book with a picture of a man and a woman on a motorcyclemany medals and medals displayed in a display casea dog tag with an eagle on it and a dog tag with an eagle on ita dog tag on a chain with a chain attached to ita metal dog tag with a chain attached to ita silver and gold bat brooch on a white clothseveral medals and ribbons are displayed in a display casea book with a list on it sitting on a tablean old photo of a man in a military uniforman old letter from a man that is sitting on top of a tablea close up of a piece of paper with a pen on top of ita close up of a piece of paper on a tablea close up of a document on a table with a pena close up of a document with a picture of a person on itan old document is sitting on a table with a pen in ita close up of a piece of paper on a tablea close up of a piece of paper with a document on ita close up of a piece of paper on a tableblack and white photograph of a group of people posing in front of an airplaneseveral black and white photos of airplanes flying in the skythree black and white photos of airplanes flying in the skyseveral black and white photos of airplanes are hanging on a walla black board with pictures of airplanes hanging on itseveral black and white photos of airplanes flying in the skya black and white photo of a plane flying in the skyan old photo of a small plane flying in the skyblack and white photograph of an old airplane flying over a fieldtwo planes flying in the sky above the cloudsa black and white photo of a picture of a moona black and white photo of a book with pictures on ita black and white photo of a black and white picture of a firea black and white photo of a book with pictures on itblack and white photograph of a black and white photo of a skythree black and white photographs of a city with a lightning boltseveral black and white photos of a plane flying through the sky
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Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Personal collection of Lieutenant Robert L.
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Description
Personal collection of Lieutenant Robert L. Baker, 491st Bomb Group – 8th Air Force – England (40 original photographs, decorations, insignia, documents) Lieutenant Baker was posted to the 852nd Bomb Squadron of the 491st Bomb Group as co-pilot on a B-24 Liberator, with which he flew a tour of 35 missions from Metfield Airfield in England. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, Baker was awarded the Air Medal on seven occasions, as stated in a letter dated 22 December 2004: Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters for 6 additional awards, bearing in mind that an Air Medal was awarded for 5 combat missions (although in practice the number of OLCs often does not correspond to the actual number of missions). This collection includes a small display case containing his pilot’s licence, his dog tags, lieutenant’s rank insignia, a small bracelet engraved with his name, USAAF collar insignia for dress uniform, an 8th Air Force shoulder insignia of local English manufacture woven onto felt, a USAAF shoulder insignia, and Baker’s decorations: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal (the OLCs have not been pinned onto the ribbon) and the standard set of campaign medals: European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with two campaign stars on the ribbon), American Campaign Medal, Victory Medal, American Defence Service Medal, and commemorative ribbons. The file contains various documents relating to Lt Baker’s career, beginning with the award of the DFC dated 4 May 1945 for his exceptional performance as a B-24 heavy bomber pilot during his combat missions over occupied Europe. By contrast, the Air Medal award document dated 5 November 1944 is far less routine and differs from the standard award document for this decoration, as it details the specific circumstances in which Lt Baker distinguished himself. During a mission over Germany on 15 October 1944, Baker’s co-pilot was seriously wounded by anti-aircraft fire immediately after they had dropped their bombs. Baker was therefore forced to take sole control of the aircraft and decided to descend to a lower altitude so that his co-pilot could breathe without oxygen. Four enemy fighters then appeared, but thanks to his skill, Baker managed to evade their attack until Allied fighters arrived on the scene. Whilst searching for a suitable site to make an emergency landing, Baker came under heavy Flak fire, which he managed to evade without causing serious damage to the aircraft. Upon reaching Allied territory, Baker successfully landed his aircraft. This document, containing such a citation, is a rare record relating to the 8th Air Force concerning an Air Medal. This citation alone should have earned Baker a higher-ranking decoration, at the very least a DFC. A letter of recommendation on 491st Bomb Group letterhead, dated 6 April 1945 and signed by Colonel Reed (commander of the 491st BG) states that Baker flew 35 missions, that he is qualified as a flight commander, and specifies that he was awarded the Air Medal with 6 OLCs. Several aircraft handover documents indicate that Baker likely carried out ferry flights of B-24s to a storage site in Arizona, which certainly enabled him to be repatriated to the USA shortly after the armistice. The photographs, in 4x5in. - 10x12.5cm format, are of excellent quality and show Baker’s crew during training in the USA and England. Baker, wearing his A-2 leather jacket, poses proudly in front of a B-24 engine block (his name is painted on the chest of his jacket). Several in-flight photographs show B-24s bearing the distinctive markings of the 491st BG, as well as accompanying P-51 Mustang fighters (including a ‘Sweet Thing IV’ piloted by Lt-Col Roy Webb of the 361st Fighter Group: a confirmed ace with nine victories). The photograph showing a P-47 without distinctive markings likely depicts a brightly coloured aircraft intended to guide the B-24s into formation (the status of ‘Assembly ship’ was not reserved for four-engined aircraft with colourful liveries). A spectacular photograph shows a B-24 from the 491st BG making an emergency landing. This photograph was taken during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands whilst on a resupply mission on 18 September 1944. The aircraft (serial number 44-40210) came to rest in a farmhouse before bursting into flames. There was only one survivor amongst the crew. The photos conclude with various images (stuck onto black pages) taken during missions, for which the censors allowed only the name of the destination to be shown.
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About the sale Sale of the Grégory Pons collection (Aviation and WW2 Militaria)
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Auction time 11/14/2026 at 1:30 PM
Lot description modified on 09/01/2026 at 2:49 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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