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an old photo of a man in a military uniform in a blue boxframed photograph of a young boy in a military uniforman old document with a picture of an eagle on itthe united states air force book on display in a storea close up of a piece of paper with writing on itan old photo of a us air force posteran old photo of a man in a military uniform with four photos of himan old photo of a group of men in uniforman old photo of a group of people in front of an airplaneblack and white photo of a man standing in front of an airplanea black and white photo of a group of men in front of an airplanea picture of a book with a picture of a plane on ita black and white photo of a man standing in front of an airplanea black and white photo of a man standing in front of an airplanean old book with pictures of airplanes in itan old photo of a plane flying in the skytwo planes flying side by side in the skya picture of a picture of a document with a picture of an eagle on ita picture of the emblem of the 15th air forcea picture of a book with a picture of a town on ita black and white photo of a mountain in the skya picture of an airplane that is flying in the skyan old black and white photo of a bird flying in the skyan old photo of a group of people standing in front of a houseblack and white photograph of a plane that has crashed in the snowan old document with a picture of a plane on itan old document with a military seal on ita close up of a piece of paper with writing on ita piece of paper that has been placed on top of a tablean old document with a handwritten letter on it sitting on top of a tablea sign on the wall describing the history of a planethree military badges and a pin with the word us on themthree brass buttons and a metal latch on a white surface
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Photograph album of Technical Sergeant Robert W.
See original version (French)

Estimate €300 - €400
Sale commission
Description
Photograph album of Technical Sergeant Robert W. Schilling, 463rd Bomb Group – 15th Air Force – Italy (47 original photographs + metal insignia) T/Sgt Schilling was posted to the 772nd Bomb Squadron of the 463rd Bomb Group as a gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, serving as part of Lieutenant Walter Cave’s crew. His album, which is modern in design and of recent date (unlike those produced at the time), contains a portrait in standard 4x5in format. (10x12.5cm) in which Schilling is seen wearing his A-2 leather jacket with a white parachute-canvas scarf so dear to airmen, and a colourised version of the same portrait in 8x10in format. (20x25cm) and his gunner’s certificate issued by the school in Yuma, Arizona, on 10 June 1944. It is accompanied by his gunner’s certificate (in sterling silver), non-commissioned officer’s insignia for shirt collars or dress jackets, and his cap badge, as well as various documents including the award of the Air Medal dated 28 February 1945, and a further award in April 1945, an accident report dated 23 September 1944, two diplomas and a certificate from the Sioux City Combat Crew Training Base in Iowa, a poem or the lyrics to a song entitled ‘Safe for Another Day’. The photographs begin with a few shots taken in the USA during training, followed by portraits of all the crew members of Lt. Cave’s crew, of which Schilling was a member; some are captioned at the bottom (co-pilot, navigator, radio operator, tail gunner, side gunner, belly turret gunner, bombardier), with the names on the back. Next come photographs of a B-17 named ‘Miss Fury’ in Italy, the nose of which is decorated with mission markings and enemy fighters shot down. A photograph of the crew in front of this aircraft, in which Schilling is standing second from the right, suggests that this is their aircraft. A photograph in which Schilling poses in dress uniform shows the 463rd BG’s tactical markings on the vertical stabiliser and tail art featuring a pin-up girl straddling a bomb. Research into the serial number 42-29485 confirms that this is indeed the ‘Miss Fury’. This aircraft was used for weather reconnaissance and flew ahead of the combat formations. The photographs taken at the base show P-51D Mustang fighters, other crew members posing beneath the nose of the ‘Miss Fury’, and airmen posing in front of the side gun turret of a B-17. Four in-flight photographs show B-17s of the 463rd BG in action (one of them with a propeller flying at half-mast), as well as a B-24 and a B-17 hit head-on by anti-aircraft fire, with a wing torn off. Various mementoes: newspaper cuttings reporting Schilling’s award of the Air Medal, his vaccination card, a 10 Lire banknote (1943 Series occupation currency), a 15th Air Force badge of local Italian manufacture (engraved leather) typical of those American airmen acquired in the Italian theatre of operations, a set of postcards from Pompeii, a propaganda leaflet written in German (often dropped during bombing raids), as well as photographs of air strikes, round off this album, which concludes with around ten family photographs and a small, single-engine light aircraft that has crashed amongst the houses: likely a family anecdote. (Grégory Pons Collection)
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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