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an air force handbook on a white surface with a black and yellow stripean old book with a drawing of a plane flying over a group of peoplean old book with a list of military personnel ' s records on itan open book with a picture of medals and rewards on itan open book with a picture of a star on itan open book with a handwritten letter on it sitting on top of a tablean open book with a handwritten letter on it sitting on a tablean open book with a handwritten poem on it sitting on a tablean open book with a handwritten poem on it sitting on top of a tablean old book with writing on it sitting on a tablean old book with writing on it is open and showing a handwritten pagesomeone is holding a book open to a page with writing on itsomeone is holding a book open to a page with writing on ita handwritten letter on a piece of paper with a picture of a lion on itan old book with writing on it that has a picture of a woman ' s face on itan old book with writing on it sitting on a tablea close up of a label on a piece of paper
Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Handwritten diary of S/Sgt Gale G.
See original version (French)

Estimate €200 - €300
Sale commission
Description
Handwritten diary of S/Sgt Gale G. Borrowman, 376th Bomb Group – 15th Air Force – Italy S/Sgt Borrowman was posted to the 513th Bomb Squadron of the famous 376th Bomb Group (nicknamed ‘Liberandos’) flying the B-24 Liberator as a gunner between March and June 1944. He was barely 19 years old and flew his 23rd mission on his 20th birthday. The 376th BG was based in southern Italy at San Pancrazio, from where it carried out bombing missions across Eastern Europe, including several on the famous Ploesti oil production site. Research carried out via the website dedicated to the 376th BG: https://www.armyaircorps-376bg.com has made it possible to identify the crew of which Borrowman was a member. It was the crew led by Lt. Walter F. Indorf. Unfortunately, no photograph of their crew has yet been found. Borrowman recounts the end of his training in the US and his transfer to Europe, as well as all his combat missions, which he accompanies with a few notes. Some missions are counted twice, as was customary within the 15th Air Force due to the difficulty of certain targets. During a mission over Budapest in Hungary, a pair of enemy fighters attacked their formation without success; Borrowman opened fire on them and fired around 150 rounds of 12.7 calibre ammunition. During his 11th–12th mission, Borrowman reports that the mission took place over Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and that their formation was attacked by around thirty enemy aircraft; however, before they could engage them, the P-38 escort fighters arrived and drove them off. On 3 May, during a mission over the Ploiești refineries, Borrowman states that they were attacked by around fifty German fighters, and that the hydraulic system of his turret was damaged, forcing him to operate it manually, and that he was thus able to continue firing at the fleeing fighters, even though in reality he was unable to line them up in his sights; one of the two machine guns was even torn loose and ended up striking the vertical stabiliser of another aircraft in the formation! On 24 June 1944, having completed his tour of duty, Borrowman noted that his unit had lost two B-24s during a raid on Ploiești, whilst the aircraft on which he had flown many of his missions, the ‘Old 47’, had suffered a punctured tyre and had to make an emergency landing on its return to base, rendering it completely unusable for further operations. Borrowman also describes daily life in the tents, medical check-ups, life around the base, leave… This logbook is a valuable personal account of one of the USAAF’s most famous B-24 units. (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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