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an old brown leather book with a leaf design on the coveran old book with an american flag on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a certificate on it sitting on a tablean open book with a black and white drawing of a bird on itan old book with pictures of airplanes flying in the skya picture of a picture of some old items on a tablea black and white photo of a certificate with a picture of a womanan open book with a bunch of old photos on ita book with pictures of people and a shield on itan old photo of a book with pictures of people and animals in itseveral black and white photos of a man sitting on a motorcycleblack and white photograph of a man sitting on the wing of a planean old photo of a group of people sitting on a porchan open book with black and white photos of clouds in the skyan old photo of an airplane flying in the skyblack and white photograph of a book open to a page with pictures of wateran old photo of a group of men in uniform posing for a pictureseveral black and white photos of a group of people in front of an airplaneblack and white photo of a group of men posing in front of an airplanean old photo of a group of people posing for a picture in front of an airplaneblack and white photograph of a group of men in uniform posing in front of an airplaneblack and white photo of a group of pilots posing in front of an airplanean old black and white photo of a group of people in front of a planean old photo of a group of people posing for a pictureseveral black and white photos of a group of men in military uniformsblack and white photo of a group of men in front of an airplanea group of men in uniform posing for a picture in front of an airplanean old photo of a group of people posing for a pictureblack and white photo of a group of men in front of a planea group of men posing for a picture in front of an airplanean open book with a list of airmails on itan old document with a picture of a navy air training center on itan old book with a picture of a plane on itan open book with a lot of different stamps on ita book open to a page with a picture of a car on it
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Photograph album of Lt. Roy C. Neal, VPB-133 – US Navy – Pac…
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Description
Photograph album of Lt. Roy C. Neal, VPB-133 – US Navy – Pacific (63 original photographs) This album belonged to Lt. Roy C. Neal, pilot of a twin-engine PV-1 Ventura, a twin-engine bomber serving with the VPB-133 patrol and bomber squadron. This unit was deployed to the Pacific theatre between September 1944 and August 1945, initially to King Island in the Marshall Islands, where thethe squadron carried out raids on various Japanese-held islands, including Wake and Nauru, and then to the Mariana Islands, on the islands of Tinian and Iwo Jima, from where it launched strikes against Japanese positions: Woleai, Truk, Puluwat, Lamotrek and other islands. The album contains Neal’s leather tag name with his pilot’s licence (although he held the rank of Ensign at the time, he was subsequently promoted to a higher rank) as well as his identification handkerchief, the ‘Blood Chit ’ (MIS-X Type 4) bearing the individual serial number 38882, which contains a message written in seven different languages, intended to request assistance in exchange for a reward from the local population should the pilot make a forced landing or be shot down. The inclusion of a message in French (as well as in Japanese) may seem curious, but it reflects the French possessions and colonies throughout the Pacific, notably Indochina, which was occupied by Japanese forces against whom the US Navy carried out several raids. As for the Japanese language, this is explained by the presence of Japanese (or Japanese-speaking) populations on islands that had come under Japanese control following the armistice of the First World War. The album begins with various certificates in Neal’s name and two cards, ‘Domain of the Golden Dragon’ and ‘Ancient Order of the Deep’, dated 9 and 10 June 1945, which also indicate the number and type of his aircraft, PV-1 #34979. These two unofficial awards were presented to crew members who crossed the International Date Line and the Equator. Various cards in Neal’s name detailing his time at different American bases follow, before a series of photographs taken in the United States. A shoulder badge from the China, Burma, India Theatre of Operations, commonly known as ‘CBI’, is shown in the centre. This insignia was found in the waterproof survival pouch distributed to American aircrew, which contained various items (including the ‘Blood Chit’ identification handkerchief with the American flag mentioned above), as it was well known to civilian populations throughout the eastern Pacific region. Various photographs taken during training show the airmen of VPB-133 wearing their famous M-422a leather jacket. Photographs of patrol flights over various islands illustrate the missions carried out by Neal and his crew. A large photograph shows Neal and his crew (six men) posing in front of the fuselage of their aircraft, with their squadron’s decal insignia visible above them. Although it is damaged, it is to its credit that it has been preserved by being secured with strips of adhesive tape. This type of insignia was commonly applied to leather discs to create badges intended to be worn on jackets or flight suits, and sometimes co-existed with a woven version. Beyond the photographs taken in combat zones showing the nose art of PB4Y-2 Privateer four-engined patrol aircraft, the most remarkable part of this album consists of a series of around fifteen high-quality photographs showing the crews of VPB-133, including nearly a dozen posing next to their decorated aircraft – not on the noses but on the fuselages, featuring pin-up girls in particular. Some photographs show the Ventura’s offensive armament, consisting of three .50-calibre machine guns protruding from beneath the nose of the aircraft. The history of this squadron accompanies this album. US Navy squadrons, whether based on land or aboard aircraft carriers, had particularly small complement compared to Air Force units deployed en masse across all theatres of operations, making this album a rare document and a valuable record.
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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 2:56 PM
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