Item Description
Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. Opening this footlocker is like taking a step back in time into the Pacific Theatre during World War Two! 2nd Lieutenant Frederick S. Johnson Serial No. 0832613 was a pilot of a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt as a member of the 73rd Fighter Squadron, AAF, 318th Fighter Group from 1944-1945. He hailed from Norwood Pennsylvania. In WW2 he was deployed to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands then later to Iwo Jima and Honshu.
Contained in this amazing grouping are the following:
Summer Flying Suit Size 38 with TWO SILK BLOOD CHITS one located on the left front leg and the other in SEVEN languages on the back. The suit has a leather name tag over right breast the reads F. S. JOHNSON. Features sterling silver flight wings, WWII Far East Air Force (FEAF) Patch on left shoulder a China Burma India Theater Patch on right shoulder and an interior label that reads:
AN 6550-M-38
SIZE 38 MEDIUM
CONTRACT W 04-235-AC-118
E.B. MYERS COMPANY
Genuine WWII wood footlocker with tray insert, nicely maker marked and dated 1943.
Officers tunic with AAF patch, Dated 4/44 and named to FREDERICK S JOHNSON with a tailors label reading KAHN TAILORING CO. of Indianapolis. Approximate size US 38.
Officer grey pants with web belt.
Khaki shirt with WWII Far East Air Force (FEAF) Patch.
Type B-4 Life Preserver Dated 1943 named to JOHNSON.
WWII USAAF Leather flight helmet type A-11 complete with ANB-H-1 receivers with loom wiring and PL-354 red plug.
Rubber flight oxygen mask marked U.S. M1
Pair leather flight gloves Type B-3A marked USAAF Logo Army Air Forces Type B-3A, Size 8- Good condition, still supple.
Cardboard case of 20+ replacement goggle lenses.
2 x overseas khaki garrison caps.
Identification Dog Tag reading: F S JOHNSON 0-832613 T43-44 A T46
WW2 Air Medal complete in case with ribbons and small bar.
U.S. Army Bakelite Whistle.
Emergency Signaling Mirros (ESM/1)
2 x Xylonite Semicircular Protractor (one clear, one yellow).
Portion of white silk parachute ink stamped AN in multiple places.
Type A-11 Bulova Military Wrist Watch USA Type A-11- Not Working with leather and tin bands.
WWII USAAF Fighter Aircraft Compass with Data plate,Type B 16, functional- still with liquid!
Military Sewing Kit.
Small personal photograph album.
Original WW2 Aviator sunglasses with green tint and rap around ear pieces.
15+ original 1943-1945 military documents.
History of the 73rd Fighter Squadron in WW2:
Established in late 1941 as a pursuit squadron in the Hawaii Territory, initially equipped with obsolete P-26 Peashooters, later with some early model Curtiss P-40C Warhawks. Most aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Wheeler Field during the Pearl Harbor Attack; squadron was reassigned to Bellows Field for re-equipping, being re-formed by May 1942 and redesignated as a Fighter Squadron assigned to the new Seventh Air Force. Deployed to Midway Island after the Battle of Midway as a defensive squadron, providing air defense of the island. Reassigned back to Hawaii at the beginning of 1943, remained part of the Territory's air defense forces.
Received P-47D Thunderbolts in late 1943; deployed to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. During the Marianas Campaign, worked closely with Marine ground forces, pioneered close infantry support and employed the first use of napalm. On Saipan the squadron was attacked by Japanese ground forces in June 1944 on Aslito Airfield soon renamed Isley Field, Saipan, sustaining modest casualties. Pilots and ground personnel took a crash course in infantry tactics afterward. Received the new long range P-47Ns in early 1945, before moving next door to Okinawa on Ie Shima.
With the P-47N the squadron pioneered Very Long Range (VLR) fighter operations across the Pacific with missions of historic length and duration: Kauai to Midway Atoll, Midway to Kaneohe and Makin to Jaluit and Maloelap. By 1945, with the long range P-47Ns, VLR sorties were the rule rather than the exception. In April 1945 the squadron began flying 1300 mile escorts and sweeps from Iwo Jima to Honshu. In May 1945 the 73d advanced to le Shima where they reached out to Japanese targets in Kyu-shu and China.
During the summer of 1945 was reassigned to the Twentieth Air Force and continued its fighter sweeps against Japanese airfields and other targets, in addition to flying long-range B-29 escort missions to Japanese cities, until the end of the war. Assigned to Eighth Air Force on Okinawa in August 1945, shortly after V-J Day. Returned to the United States and inactivated in Jan 1946.
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