Private Sales List
Historical Media, LLC
124. US WWII 339TH FIGHTER SQUADRON SQUADRON PATCH and Photo Album Grouping
Pacific War photo album kept by Bob Salewske shows many images of pilots, nose art, living quarters, etc. from his time in the Air Force during WWII. The 339th is famous for shooting down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the person who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor. The grouping comes with TWO original wartime 339th Squadron Patches - amazing condition! The album is well captioned and filled with great aircraft photos, nose art, squadron insignias on base, identified Ace pilot's planes including Col. Robert Burdette Westbrook - leading 13th AF Ace, other identified pilots in cockpits, Japanese planes, and more. Squadron patches are worth $1200 by themselves!
$1450
On April 18, 1943, fourteen P-38 pilots from the 70th and the 339th Fighter Squadrons, 347th Fighter Group, accomplished one of the most important Lightning missions of the war. American ULTRA cryptanalysts had decoded Japanese messages that revealed the timetable for a visit to the front by the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. This charismatic leader had crafted the plan to attack Pearl Harbor and Allied strategists believed his loss would severely cripple Japanese morale. The P-38 pilots flew 700 km (435 miles) at heights from 3-15 m (10-50 feet) above the ocean to avoid detection. Over the coast of Bougainville, they intercepted a formation of two Mitsubishi G4M BETTY bombers carrying the Admiral and his staff, and six Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters providing escort. The Lightning pilots downed both bombers but lost Lt. Ray Hine to a Zero.
