Item Description
Original Item. One-Of-A-Kind. This is the tremendous scrapbook belonging to Technical Sergeant Edward Varga, of the Pigeon Breeding Group stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Varga spent a great deal of time training stateside, before serving in Europe from July 1944 to November 1945. The scrapbook has a myriad of materials including over 200 photographs, postcards, documents, a collection of 26 U.S. patches, a German eagle patch, and a collection of foreign currency he collected overseas. The scrapbook measures 12½” x 15½” when closed.
The inside cover of the scrapbook lists Varga’s service information. He was inducted on June 3rd, 1941 at Fort Hayes, Columbus, Ohio, served in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, and Germany during the war, before returning and being discharged on November 25th, 1945 in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. While serving at Fort Monmouth, NJ, he married Violet O’Brien Reed on January 30th, 1943.
The scrapbook contains a ton of photographs of Varga’s unit at Fort Monmouth, many photographs of men holding pigeons, along with written stats of pigeons whose names are always mentioned as well, including many photographs of the Kaiser, a captured Imperial German pigeon who served again for the U.S. Army during World War II, and birthed several more. Varga provides illustrations for most photos in the scrapbook, naming his friends & pigeons and identifying locations.
There is an unpasted unit photograph of the Pigeon Breeding Group at Ft. Monmouth N.J. May 6 1942, with a full roster of the men written on the back. This is a particularly beautiful picture as they released pigeons at the perfect moment so that they are caught flying in the background of the photo. This photo measures 11 x 14”.
There are many photographs from Edward’s brother, Frank Varga, who served with the 760th Tank Battalion in Italy, seeing heavy combat.
There is a phenomenal collection of 27 U.S. Patches in the back of the scrapbook, including annotations which discuss the exploits of each unit. One of the pages of patches is disconnected from the book but it is still in great shape. There is also a great deal of foreign currency from the myriad of countries Varga visited during the war.
This is one of the most extensive scrapbooks we have ever offered. There is much more than we are able to discuss in a description, so don’t miss out on this exceptional piece of World War II Pigeon history. Comes ready for further research and display.
- This product is available for international shipping. Shipping not available to: Australia, France, or Germany
- Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon
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