Original Items: Only One Grouping Available. Now this is an incredible collection of items. This is an ideal grouping for the US Army Air Forces collector! The grouping is attributed to Lieutenant Robert W. Wolfe (ASN: 15375489) who enlisted on December 15, 1942. He served with the 790th Bombardment Squadron, 467th Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force. We have not been able to locate any solid service information on Lt Wolfe, making this grouping a fantastic research candidate.

The 790th Bombardment Squadron is a former United States Army Air Forces unit, established as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator squadron in 1943. After training in the United States, it moved to the European Theater of Operations the following year. During World War II it was assigned to the 467th Bombardment Group, and engaged in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. After V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States and transitioned into the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was inactivated on 4 August 1946 at Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico in March 1946 and its resources were transferred to another unit.

The Items In This Collection:

We will start off with one of the most interesting keepsakes we have come across. We are not sure how many missions he went on, but he kept the fuze pins still attached to each tag from a bomb for 18 mission and even wrote information on each one!

The tags read as follows:

1. BINGEN - 25 NOV - LIGHT FLAK
2. MINDEN - 5 DEC - LIGHT FLAK
3. MAYEN - 24 DEC - FLAK EXTREMELY ACCURATE
4. NEUNKIRCHEN - 28 DEC - MODERATE FLAK
5. KOBLENZ - 2 JAN - NO FLAK
6. HOMBURG - 3 JAN - NO FLAK
7. RUDESHEIM - 13 JAN - NO FLAK
8. MAGDEBURG - 16 JAN - MODERATE FLAK, 8 HOLES
9. MAGDEBURG - 3 FEB - MODERATE FLAK
10. MAGDEBURG - 6 FEB - MODERATE FLAK
11. MAGDEBURG - 9 FEB - MODERATE FLAK
12. MAGDEBURG - 2 MARCH - MODERATE FLAK
13. MUSTER - 9 MARCH - MODERATE FLAK
14. MUNSTER - 17 MARCH - LIGHT FLAK
15. MUNSTER - 23 MARCH - INTENSE FLAK
16. BRUNSWICK - 31 MARCH - MODERATE FLAK “FEW” ME 262’S
17. DUNEBERG - 7 APRIL - NO FLAK, ME 262’S & FW 190’S
18. RECHLIN A/F - 10 APRIL - MODERATE (FLAK) & EXTREMELY ACCURATE

Magdeburg was heavily bombed by British and American air forces during the Second World War. The RAF bombing raid on the night of 16 January 1945 destroyed much of the city centre. The death toll is estimated at 2,000–2,500. Near the end of World War II, the city of about 340,000 became capital of the Province of Magdeburg. Brabag's Magdeburg/Rothensee plant that produced synthetic oil from lignite coal was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II. The impressive Gründerzeit suburbs north of the city, called the Nordfront, were destroyed as well as some of the city's main streets with its Baroque buildings.

It was occupied by 9th US Army troops on 18 April 1945 and was left to the Red Army on 1 July 1945. Post-war the area was part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and many of the remaining pre-World War II city buildings were destroyed, with only a few buildings near the cathedral and in the southern part of the old city being restored to their pre-war state. Before the reunification of Germany, many surviving Gründerzeit buildings were left uninhabited and, after years of degradation, waiting for demolition. From 1949 until German reunification on 3 October 1990, Magdeburg belonged to the German Democratic Republic.

Other items include:

- British Made 790th Bomb Squadron Patch: This is a lovely British made example of a 790th Bomb Squadron patch that features a man throwing bombs, embroidered on a felt background. It does not appear to have been stitched on anything and there is light staining present on the light colored felt.

- x3 Bombardier Badges “Wings”: All three are in wonderful condition but unfortunately one of the wings had the pins on the back removed for display purposes. The Bombardier Badge was a military badge of the United States military which was issued between the years of 1918 and 1949. The decoration was intended to recognize the military training and qualification required by those servicemen who were bombardiers on board military aircraft.

Originally known as the Bombing Aviator Badge, the Bombardier Badge was first issued by the United States Army Air Service during the First World War. The badge consisted of a standard observer badge, centered upon which was a downward facing bomb. The badge remained unchanged until the late 1930s, at which time it was redesignated the Bombardier Badge. This change was primarily made due to the rapid advances in aircraft (and aircraft bombing technology) that took place between 1920 and 1939.

During World War II, the Bombardier Badge was a common aeronautical badge of the United States Army Air Forces. The badge was issued to all military bombardiers upon completion of basic flight training and advanced bomber instruction.

With the creation of the United States Air Force in 1947, the Bombardier Badge was gradually phased out and none were issued after 1949. The modern-day Navigator Badge is considered the U.S. Air Force successor to the Bombardier Badge.

- Aerial Gunner Badge “Wings”: Lovely condition with some great patina. The Aerial Gunner Badge was a military aeronautical badge of the United States Army Air Forces and was issued during the Second World War. The badge was first created and authorized on April 29, 1943 to recognize both the training and hazardous duty of aerial gunners, who manned defensive machineguns on board such aircraft as the B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26 and B-29 bombers. The Aerial Gunner Badge appeared as a standard observer badge, upon which was centered a winged bullet. It was primarily awarded to USAAF enlisted aircrewmen, but a small number of commissioned officers also qualified and were awarded this insignia, to include film actor Clark Gable.

- Aircrew Badge “Wings”: Great condition with much of the original plating still retained. The Aircrew Badge, commonly known as Wings, is a qualification badge of the United States military that is awarded by all five branches of armed services to personnel who serve as aircrew members on board military aircraft. The badge is intended to recognize the training and qualifications required by aircrew of military aircraft. In order to qualify as an aircrew member and receive the Aircrew Badge, such personnel typically undergo advanced training in aircraft in-flight support roles.

- Pilot Cadet “Winged Prop” Cap Badge: Lovely condition with much of the original plating still retained.

- Army Officer Cap Badge: Lovely condition with all of the original plating and color still intact.

- x8 Collar Insignia & Rank Insignia: The insignia consists of (3) “Winged Prop” collar devices, (1) “US” Collar Device, (2) 1st Lieutenant Bars and (2) 2nd Lieutenant Bars wit one appearing to be British made.

- x3 Award Ribbons: The ribbons consist of the Presidential Award Citation, Air Medal with (2) Clusters and an EAME with (3) Bronze Stars.

- x3 Miscellaneous Items: The items consist of a large and small uniform button and a broken “Ruptured Duck” Honorable Discharge lapel device.

- Escape and Evasion “Button” Compass: Now this is a really nice bit of history. The compass is smaller than a U.S. Penny! This tiny brass and glass compass is only 5/8 inch in diameter. A part of escape and evasion equipment, a small compass could be more easily hidden if the owner was captured by the enemy. Some button compasses were designed to be part of a uniform button.

- Air Medal Replacement Medal (Non-Engraved): The set is in good condition but there is wear present on all items.

- USAAF Bombardier's Type-A Model 943 Chronometric Tachometer in Case (Missing 1 Piece): This is a very nice U.S. Army Air Forces Type-A Chronometric Tachometer model 943, complete in the original case with basic instructions. The tachometer is housed inside, and was a device for taking precision measurements for making bombing measurements.

- Color Silk Escape Map with Pouch - 43/C 43/D: In 1943 a series of cloth escape maps were produced that are immediately recognized by their vivid colors. These maps are of the European Theater and were issued to Allied pilots of the US, RAF, and RCAF. Printed by the company of John Waddington, Ltd, the maps consist of eight colors and are primarily at a scale of 1:1,000,000 with larger scale inserts. There are ten sheets in this series, which are composites of various paper sheets of the then existing International Map of the World, unlike the previous escape maps which were exact copies of existing paper sheets. The sheets are numbered with the prefix 43 followed by one of the upper case letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and K (east) and K (west). When all the maps are laid out they basically overlap to provide a complete map of Europe. The maps were usually printed on both sides, although single-side versions exist. Normally, the maps were printed sequentially--A on one side and B on the other side; C on one side and D on the other side--although that was not always the case. For example, maps with C on one side and E on the other side are also occasionally found.

The 43 Map Series
An interesting feature of the maps is the black points on the map with corresponding distances between the points expressed in kilometers. For example, the distance would be marked indicating the distance between two large towns. This assisted the user in readily identifying distances without having to measure the distance with the scale legend printed elsewhere on the map.

- Various Field Manuals and Pocket Treasury (Bible): In good condition with all text still legible

- x3 Overseas Caps: In good condition but there are scattered moth nips on the piping as well as staining.

This is truly a wonderful grouping, perfect for the Air Forces collector. Comes more than ready for further research and display.