Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind-set. Here we have a wonderful personal photo album with some professional shots as well as personal snapshots, many of which show members of the Imperial Japanese Army often in company or platoon photographs. There are also several personal photographs, and they were originally in place by adhesive, many of which have unfortunately come unglued. Some are missing completely, while others are still attached to the photos. There are currently a total of 47 photos in the album, and there may have been more in the past. The book measures about 11" x 7".
The album itself is marked on the inside cover with the name and shipping address for the US Marine who captured and sent it home. The Marine was PFC Johnnie Noel Norman, a Marine who served with India Company, 3rd Battalion 6th Marine Regiment. 3/6 was reactivated on November 1, 1940, in San Diego, California, as the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines and assigned to the 2nd Marine Brigade. In the spring of 1941 they deployed to Reykjavík, Iceland and were reassigned to the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. They returned January–February 1942 to San Diego, California and reassigned to the 2nd Marine Division.
Deployed during October–November 1942 to Wellington, New Zealand they participated in the following World War II campaigns: Guadalcanal, Southern Solomons, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. Following the war they were relocated during September 1945 to Nagasaki, Japan. They participated in the Occupation of Japan, September 1945 to February 1946 and arrived back in Camp Pendleton, California during February–March 1946. They were again deactivated March 27, 1946.
In the end, almost the entire garrison of troops on the Saipan—at least 29,000—died. For the Americans, the victory was the most costly to date in the Pacific War: out of 71,000 who landed, 2,949 were killed and 10,464 wounded, PFC Norman being one of those statistics. He appears to have survived the initial battle of Saipan but unfortunately met his untimely end on August 3, 1944 during the follow on Island missions.
This is a fantastic album with great research potential. Comes more than ready for further research and display.
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