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a picture of a collection of military memorabilia in a display caseseveral old airplane identification cards are displayed on a white surfacean old bank note with a picture of a man on itan old bank note with a picture of a man on itmany men in uniform posing for a picture in front of an airplanea close up of a metal badge with wings on ita metal pin with a bird on it on a white surfacea lot of tags that are on a tablea lot of tags that are on a tabletwo planes that are flying in the sky togethera close up of a piece of paper with writing on itbutton with a picture of a man in a uniform on ittwo medals are in a case on a white surfacea piece of paper that has a list of items on ita piece of paper with a list of food items on ita piece of paper that has a list of items on ita piece of paper with writing on it on a tablean old book with a calculator and a calculator on ita picture of a paper with a list of items on ita close up of a piece of paper on a tablea close up of a piece of paper with a certificate on ita close up of a document on a table next to a pile of papersan army air force certificate of appreciation for war servicean old black and white photo of a man in a shirt and tiea close up of a document with a picture of an eagle on itan army of the united states certificate on top of a bookan old document with a lot of information on ita black and white photo of a certificate on a piece of paperan old certificate from the army forces of the united statesa close up of a piece of paper with writing on itan old black and white photo of a group of people in front of an airplanean old paper with a calculator sitting on top of itmany old letters and envelopes laid out on the tableseveral pieces of paper with drawings of airplanes on them on a white surfacea picture of a painting of people in a rooma close up of a piece of paper with writing on ittwo old black and white photos of a group of men and womenan old photo of a young man in a military uniforman old black and white photo of a man in a military uniforma drawing of a plane with a cutaway of itfour black and white photos of airplanes flying in the skyfour black and white photos of airplanes flying over a mountaintwo old black and white photos of airplanes flying in the skyfour old black and white photos of a group of people in front of a planea black and white photo of a group of men posing in front of an airplanea black and white photo of a plane with a man standing on the wingfour black and white photographs of a plane flying over the oceantwo black and white photos of airplanes flying in the sky
Premium Maître Lydie BRIOULT

Personal collection of Staff Sergeant Franck C.
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Estimate €500 - €800
Sale commission
Description
Personal collection of Staff Sergeant Franck C. Wien, 39th Bomb Group – 20th Air Force – Mariana Islands – Pacific (27 original photographs, decorations, letters, handwritten notes and combat mission records) Staff Sergeant Franck Wien was posted to the 61st Bomb Squadron of the 39th Bomb Group as a tail gunner on a B-29 Superfortress, with which he flew 27 combat missions from the base at Guam in the Mariana Islands. Photographs in 4x5in. (10x12.5cm) format, the standard US military size. This collection comprises handwritten notes taken by Wien during each of his missions, detailing the composition of his crew. His first mission over Koriyama reports the appearance of Japanese fighters and light anti-aircraft defences, with a flight duration of 18 hours 25 minutes! His notes for the mission of 30 April 1945 over Kokobu indicate a strong presence of enemy fighters, moderate anti-aircraft fire, and explosions from phosphorus bombs dropped by the Japanese into the midst of the B-29 formations, with the bombardier and one of the crew’s gunners each credited with a kill against enemy fighters. Several original photographs, including one of his crew (Captain Lt. Walsh) dated 6 July 1945, posing in front of their B-29 bearing the number 27, nicknamed ‘Little George’ (Wien is kneeling, wearing a white T-shirt); his gunner’s certificate, various training base passes accompanied by his rare identification badge from Smoky Hill Air Force Base in Kansas, a ‘Short Snorter’ (a banknote signed by the crew members: a famous memento within aviation units), his Distinguished Flying Cross and his Air Medal (with their cases), letters and letterheads featuring designs from various bases in the USA, his complete personnel file, including his monthly flight logs detailing his combat missions, various certificates (including a Certificate of Commendation – equivalent to a citation – for the role played by Lt. Walsh’s crew, of which Wien was a member, during the raid on the Japanese airbase at Saeki. The most remarkable and unique item in this collection is the set of 26 bomb detonator safety tags on which Wien noted his missions (number, date, target, and sometimes the flight duration, which exceeded 15 hours). These labels were attached to the safety pins of the detonators fitted to the bombs and were removed once the bombs had been loaded into the bomb bay of each aircraft. There is also a colour propaganda leaflet written in Japanese, presumably describing the devastation caused by the bombing raids on Japan. The photographs taken in flight are remarkable for their quality, and show B-29s of the 39th BG (or the 314th Bomb Wing along with other Bomb Groups) in flight, crossing the Japanese coast, snow-capped Mount Fuji, the missions over Osaka and Yokohama. One of the earliest photographs shows the B-29 ‘Little George’ No. 27 in flight, bearing the distinctive markings of the 39th BG on its vertical stabiliser: a ‘P’ within a square. Four photographs feature captions at the top enabling the mission date to be identified, along with references to the 21st Bomber Command or the 20th Air Force, which comprised the B-29 units. There are two photographs showing aerial views of Allied prisoner-of-war camps with the letters ‘PW’ on the roofs of the barracks to signal their presence to the US Air Force in anticipation of airdrops of food and medicine, which took place after Japan’s surrender. Wien took part in three of these missions following 6 and 9 August 1945 (the two atomic bombing missions on Hiroshima and Nagasaki), which were credited as combat missions, as the armistice was not signed until 2 September 1945, aboard the American battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A first-rate collection of photographs. (Grégory Pons Collection) (complete photo file available on request)
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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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