Original Items: Only One Grouping Available. China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China. However, US forces in practice were usually overseen by General Joseph Stilwell, the Deputy Allied Commander in China; the term "CBI" was significant in logistical, material and personnel matters; it was and is commonly used within the US for these theaters.

U.S. and Chinese fighting forces in the CBI included the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the Flying Tigers, transport and bomber units flying the Hump, including the Tenth Air Force, the 1st Air Commando Group, the engineers who built the Ledo Road, the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), popularly known as "Merrill's Marauders", and the 5332d Brigade, Provisional or 'Mars Task Force', which assumed the Marauders' mission.

This lovely assortment of both American and Chinese items were brought home by Staff Sergeant Stanley B. Hynek, a member of the 259th Station Hospital. We have not been able to locate service information for Staff Sergeant Hynek, making for a wonderful research opportunity. We do know that he enlisted on January 7, 1942 and served for the duration of the war.

The Items In This Lot:
- Chinese Army Field Cap: This is a rare example of an original field cap used by Chinese National Revolutionary Army (國民革命軍) at the time of the Sino-Japanese war of 1937-1945. Often abbreviated as the NRA, the group was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947.

The cap is made from Khaki fabric, and is very similar in design to the German WWI/WWII field cap design, with a "skirt" that goes around the cap, which is folded around the outside. It is also tack stitched in place, so it was most likely uncommon for it to ever be unfolded. It is not lined with fabric, and has a leather sweatband. The front of the cap has a round badge showing a white sun on a blue background, the emblem of the National army. Hynek wrote his name and service number on the sweatband.

- Patches and Chevrons: The patches include a Chinese Combat Training Command patch and two CBI patches. There are two Staff Sergeant chevrons and a single Sergeant First Class chevron, all 3 in wonderful condition. The last two patches are a 4 Bar overseas stripes and 2 service stripes.

- 6 Medals and 4 Ribbons: The medals are a WWII Victory Medal, American Campaign, American Defense, Asiatic Pacific Campaign, EAME and Good Conduct. The ribbon bar has an American Defense, American Campaign and Good Conduct. The loose ribbon is for the Asiatic Campaign.

- x2 Chinese Army Ranks: The ranks are for a Major in the National Revolutionary Army.

- x6 Uniform Devices: The devices are in wonderful condition with a very nice enameled CBI crest pin with the enamel retained in its entirety.

- Letter of Commendation Dated October 12, 1944: The letter lists Staff Sergeant Hynek as being with the Z-Force. This is strange because the Z Special Unit, “Z-Force”, consisted of Australians, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. We cannot find any records of Americans serving in this Commando unit, making this a killer of a research opportunity.

- Dog Tags: The dog tags are in great condition with 2 present on the chain. The tags did belong to Hynek.

This is a wonderful grouping of items, perfect for research! Comes more than ready for display.

Z Special Unit
Z Special Unit was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit that included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian members, predominantly operating on Borneo and the islands of the former Dutch East Indies.

The unit carried out a total of 81 covert operations in the South West Pacific theatre, with parties inserted by parachute or submarine to provide intelligence and conduct guerrilla warfare. The best known of these missions were Operation Jaywick and Operation Rimau, both of which involved raids on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour; the latter of which resulted in the deaths of 23 commandos either in action or by execution after capture.

Although the unit was disbanded after the war, many of the training techniques and operational procedures employed were later used during the formation of other Australian Army special forces units and they remain a model for guerrilla operations to this day.