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an old brown book with a gold winged emblem on itseveral old photos of people are arranged in a circle on a tablean old black and white photo of a man and a woman standing next to each othera black and white photo of a man sitting on a horsean old brown leather book with a gold airplane emblem on ita picture of a picture of a window in a boxa piece of paper that has a picture of a man on itan old newspaper with a bunch of photos of military men on itnewspapers are stacked on top of each other on a tablean old black and white photo of a group of people in front of a housean old black and white photo of a man standing in front of a housean old photo of a book with pictures on itan old photo of a man standing in front of a buildingan old black and white photo of a man and a woman and a dogan old black and white photo of a group of people standing in front of a truckan open book with pictures of airplanes flying in the skyan old black and white photo of a group of men standing in front of a houseseveral black and white photos of a small plane on a runwayan old black and white photo of a group of people standing in front of a planeseveral black and white photos of airplanes on display in a booka black and white photo of an old photo of a planeblack and white photo of a man sitting on the nose of an airplanean open book with pictures of airplanes on ita black and white photo of a man in uniforman old photo of a man in a military uniforman old black and white photo of a man and a woman and a childan old black and white photo of a man in uniforman open book with a bunch of pictures on ita black and white photo of a man sitting in the cockpit of a planea black and white photo of an airplane flying in the skya black and white photo of a jeep and other vehiclesan old photo of an airplane on the tarmacseveral black and white photos of a plane on a runwayan old photo of a bunch of old photos of airplanesan old photo of a woman sitting on the nose of an airplaneblack and white photograph of an old photo of a man standing on the nose of an airplanea black and white photo of a woman standing in front of an airplanean old black and white photo of a group of people in front of an airplanea group of men standing in front of an airplanea black and white photo of an old photo of a man and a planeblack and white photo of a man wearing headphones in a planea black and white photo of a man sitting on the ground next to an airplanea black and white photo of a group of peoplea black and white photo of a man standing next to an airplanea black and white photo of a man standing in front of an airplanea black and white photo of a bunch of old photosan old photo of a man sitting on the groundan old black and white photo of a group of people sitting around a tablea black and white photo of a man in a military uniformtwo tags that are attached to a pair of wrenches
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Photograph album of Lieutenant Elmer H.
See original version (French)

Estimate €250 - €350
Sale commission
Description
Photograph album of Lieutenant Elmer H. Witte, 40th Bomb Group – 20th Air Force – Mariana Islands (252 original photographs) According to the documents accompanying this album, this pilot officer was evidently posted to the 40th Bomb Group (45th Bomb Squadron), equipped with B-29 Superfortresses within the 20th Air Force, serving as co-pilot in Lt. Wayne Davis’s crew. This collection includes several handwritten letters addressed to his family, newspapers – including a copy of the magazine *Brief*, published by the USAAF to mark the victory over Japan (‘VJ Day’) – and family photographs in addition to the album, the cover of which has come away. The photographs cover the end of his training in the USA, his family circle and his home town, his training period on the two-seater BT-14, T-6, and then the twin-engine Cessna AT-17 Bobcat – including two rare original colour photographs by Witte – before moving on to his period of combat missions in the Pacific, operating from the island of Tinian. Several photographs show the nose art on B-29s and other types of aircraft, including US Navy PB4Y-2 Privateers, crews standing beside their aircraft, Lt Witte at the controls of a B-29, B-29s with their undersides painted black for night missions over Japan, Witte and his men gathered around their aircraft, loading ammunition into the turrets using ammunition belts, and the wreckage of a B-29 that crashed on its return from a mission. One photograph, presumably taken in the Philippines, shows French sailors and various ships. Finally, two safety pins from bomb detonators bear the markings of two combat missions dated 1 and 5 August 1945, which were the very last missions on the eve of the first atomic bomb. A PDF list detailing the crew compositions of the 45th Bomb Squadron will be provided to the successful bidder. Elmer Witte’s name appears in the crew list for Lt. Davis’s aircraft. (Grégory Pons Collection) (full photo file available on request)
See original version (French)
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About the sale Sale of the Grégory Pons collection and miscellaneous items (Aviation and WW2 Militaria)
Auction location
Auction time 11/14/2026 at 1:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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