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an old black book with a gold picture of a woman in a hatan old photo of a book with pictures of people on itan old map of the western and southern alaska air forcean open book with a map of the world on itan old map of the pacific showing the location of the islandan old black and white photo of a group of people posing for a picturea black and white photo of a woman standing on a dockan old black and white photo of a group of people in a parkblack and white photo of a group of men in uniform posing in front of an airplanean old document with writing on it sitting on top of a tablethree black and white photographs of a man and a woman in native clothingfour old black and white photos of a man in a pilot ' s outfitan old black and white photo of a group of women wearing hatsan old black and white photo of a group of men in aviator gearan old black and white photo of a man in a pilot ' s outfitan old black and white photo of a man in a pilot ' s uniforman old black and white photo of a turtle swimming in the oceana black and white photo of a group of men in uniforma black and white photo of a piece of paper with a heart on ittwo black and white photos of an island in the middle of the oceanan old black and white photo of a beach with wavesthree men that are sitting at a table togetherfour sailors sitting at a table with bottles of beera black and white photo of two men sitting at a tablean old photo of two men and a donkey in a roomseveral old black and white photos of people and animals in a fieldthree black and white photos of a dog sitting on a fencean old black and white photo of a group of people standing in front of a treeseveral old black and white photos of people standing in front of a buildingthree old black and white photos of people in a boat on a lakean old black and white photo of a group of people sitting on a benchseveral old black and white photos of people and horses in a parkan old photo of a man and a woman on a boata black and white photo of a pond in a parka book with pictures of a lake and mountains in the backgroundtwo black and white photos of a large ship in the wateran old photo of a man and a woman inside of a bookthe front cover of a magazine with a picture of a man and a woman walkingblack and white photograph of an airplane flying over a cityan old black and white photo of a navy ship in the water
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Photo album of Yeoman Earl C. Fanjoy (shorthand clerk), VBF-…
See original version (French)

Estimate €300 - €400
Sale commission
Description
Photo album of Yeoman Earl C. Fanjoy (shorthand clerk), VBF-85 – US NAVY – Pacific. USS SHANGRI-LA (CV-38) (152 original photographs) This album belonged to Seaman First Class Earl Fanjoy, who served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La as an administrative non-commissioned officer with the VBF-85 fighter-bomber squadron, equipped with F4U-1C Corsairs (a rare version armed with 20mm cannons). A letter from VBF-85 dated 16 September 1945 details the operations in which Fanjoy took part against Japan whilst on board the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La: 26 April – 11 May 1945: attacks on airfields on Kikai Jima and Tokuno Shima in the Nansei Islands 24 May – 13 June 1945: support and offensive missions over Okinawa, attacks on airfields south of mainland Kyushu and the Minami Daito archipelago 1 July – 15 August 1945: a series of attacks on the major Japanese islands: Hokkaido and Honshu, as well as the Tokyo area 15 August – 3 September 1945: landing operations in Japan The album begins with a few photographs taken in the United States and an aerial navigation and approach chart dated May 1945 showing the Inland Sea of Japan, surrounded by the three islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. The first photograph taken on board the aircraft carrier Shangri-La is a group photo of the pilots of Squadron VBF-85 posing in front of one of their Corsairs on the ship’s central deck. This photograph is dated 30 January 1945 on the back and lists the names of all the men posing in the picture. The album continues with 22 rare and magnificent portraits of VBF-85 pilots in flight uniform (4x5 in./10x12.5 cm) taken on board the aircraft carrier. Some of the photographs are labelled, whilst others have been identified using a photocopy of the unit’s history. Following these portraits are several larger-format photographs taken during combat missions over Japan. They bear the marking ‘CV38’, identifying the aircraft carrier Shangri-La, followed by the date and location of the action. The first photographs show Yokosuka in the Tokyo area, which was attacked by VBF-85 on 18 July 1945. Yokosuka was home to a major Imperial Navy naval air base; there is also a photograph of the small island of Minami Daito Jima, which was attacked on 7 June 1945. The plumes of smoke caused by the bomb explosions are clearly visible. A large-format photograph dated 27 November 1942 shows the class of stenographers, of which Fanjoy was a member, in San Diego, California. Another large-format photograph shows a small, unidentified island on which bomb explosions are visible around the Japanese installations it houses. Two further photographs, dated 6 June 1945, show air strikes on the island of Senaga near Okinawa. In one of them, the wreckage of a Japanese twin-engine aircraft that crashed on the beach can be seen. The following air raids are dated 10 July 1945 and show Tokyo Bay under aerial assault by aircraft from the Shangri-La. Three large-format photographs show Earl Fanjoy with his fellow sailors sitting around tables in bars. The album concludes with a series of photographs taken at a zoo and in Japan during the occupation period, including views of Mount Fuji and an American escort aircraft carrier, the USS Kalinin Bay, as well as a B-29 flying over Japan at low altitude. Several pages on the history of VBF-85, taken from the unit’s history, provide an overview of its contents. The successful bidder will receive a copy of the VBF-85 squadron history in PDF format, in which the pilots whose portraits appear in the album are identified. (Grégory Pons Collection)
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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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