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a picture of a collection of military items on displaytwo dog tags and a medal on a tablean old black and white photo of a man holding a cameraan old book with a picture of a man and a piece of papera black and white photo of a certificate on a blue backgrounda black and white photo of a birth certificate for a childa close up of a document with a picture of an air force sealan image of a certificate from the u s army air forcea close up of a piece of paper on a tablean open book sitting on top of a table next to a cup of coffeean old book with a list of flight records on itan old book with a piece of paper on top of itembroidered badge of a knight holding a sword and a shieldan image of a patch with a picture of a man and a woman on a horseseveral old black and white photos of trees in a fieldan old black and white photo of a city from the airan old black and white photo of an aerial view of a citya black and white photo of a plane flying in the skya black and white photo of a plane flying in the skyan old photo of a plane flying in the skya lot of airplanes flying in the sky togetherblack and white photograph of a man standing on top of an airplanea black and white photo of a group of men standing in front of a trucka black and white photo of a man standing in front of a row of pipesmany airplanes flying in the sky over a body of watermany airplanes that are flying in the sky togethera piece of paper with a list of items on ita close up of a medal on a white surface with a blue and orange ribbona close up of a medal in a box on a tablea black book with gold writing on it sitting on top of a table
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Personal collection of Staff Sergeant Kevin F.
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Description
Personal collection of Staff Sergeant Kevin F. McSweeney, 305th Bomb Group – 8th Air Force – England (13 original photographs, documents, medal, original Bomb Group insignia) Sergeant McSweeney was posted to the 366th Bomb Squadron of the 305th Bomb Group as a gunner on a B-17F Flying Fortress, with which he flew a tour of 26 missions from Chelveston airbase in England. Whilst the document summarising his missions lists 29, in fact the raid on Berlin on 6 March 1944 was credited twice due to the particular difficulty of that raid, during which the 8th Air Force lost more than 69 heavy bombers in a single day (that is, 690 crew members), whilst other missions initially credited were subsequently cancelled (this figure of 26 missions is taken from a document dated 25 April 1944 included in the batch). McSweeney began his missions on 4 January 1944 and took part, notably, in ‘Big Week’ in February 1944, as well as the two preparatory raids on Berlin on 3 and 4 March 1944, before also taking part in the very first raid on Berlin on 6 March 1944 (the largest air battle in history), before concluding his tour of duty a few days before D-Day with a raid on Berlin and a raid on Paris. This set comprises a 305th Bomb Group insignia of local English manufacture, his Air Medal with 3 OLCs on the ribbon (additional awards) in its presentation box and a replacement ribbon, a Distinctive Unit Citation bar, his dog tags, his crew member’s medical card, and an 8th Air Force shoulder badge, locally manufactured in England, on felt. This is the variant with short wings, known as ‘stubby wings’, which has a few moth holes. McSweeney’s personal file, containing several individual monthly flight logs for 1945 (he presumably joined a training school as an instructor upon his return to the USA), a document summarising his combat missions, his demobilisation certificate summarising his military career and his awards, several photographs taken during combat missions with details of the target (censorship having required the information strip at the bottom of the photographs to be cut out), his training certificate as a fighter aircraft armourer, and two photographs of a B-17 from the 305th Bomb Group during the raid on Berlin on 6 March 1944.
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About the sale Sale of the Grégory Pons collection (Aviation and WW2 Militaria)
Auction location
Auction time 11/14/2026 at 1:30 PM
Lot description modified on 09/01/2026 at 2:51 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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