Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous piece of aviation history, the tip of an airplane Propeller named to commemorate the deaths of Pilots Lt. Albert K. Schrull & John E. Byrnes, who were killed in an airplane crash at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland on January 6th, 1944.

The piece measures 14 x 7⅜”. We can assume this was part of the plane that killed both of the men, but without this being explicitly stated, we cannot know for sure.

The piece is painted:

Lt. A. K. Schrull Pilot
Lt. Burns
Killed in Line of Duty
January 6, 1944
Aberdeen, Maryland

This was likely painted for Schrull’s family, as Byrnes’ last name is misspelled Burns on the piece, which is a common mistake in spelling that name. There are several scratches and dents in the piece that may be from the accident.

Schrull was 24 when he died, and had recently applied for a transfer to the China front before being killed. Included with the piece are printouts of a newspaper article on the crash, along with a copy of a period photograph of Schrull in his uniform, a perfect piece to help display this.

This is a really phenomenal piece, ready for further research and display.