Item Description
Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. Thumbing through the piles of wartime correspondence and learning the story of this young man and his family during WW2 will give you chills. Perhaps its the telegrams that announce to his young wife that he is MIA then one a week later that his is a POW in a NSDAP camp, or maybe its looking as his photo on his Stalag Luft 3 identification card. There is no shortage of heart pounding material in this grouping!
Technical Sergeant Benjamin P. Dutcher (ASN: 19088212), United States Army Air Forces, who was captured by German forces after his B-24 aircraft was shot down by flak and crashed NNW of Sarrebourg, France on a mission to Furth, Germany on February 25, 1944. He was held as a Prisoner of War until his return to U.S. Military Control at the end of hostilities in May 1945.
Technical Sergeant Dutcher served with the 446th Bombardment Group, 705th Bomb Squadron of the legendary 8th Air Force. Sgt. Dutcher was the radio operator about the B-24 Liberator 42-7589 known as "Rigor Mortis". According to the the pilot William A. Hockensmith in his Missing Crewman Report Dutcher along with the rest of the crew bailed out. Dutcher was captured and became a POW in Stalag Luft 3 where he remained until being forced to march to Stalag VIIA Mossburg.
Stalag Luft III (German: Stammlager Luft III; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner of war (POW) camp during World War II, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel.The Stalag was established in March 1942 in the German provi nce of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań, Poland), 160 kilometres (100 miles) south-east of Berlin. The site was selected because its sandy soil made it difficult for POWs to escape by tunnelling.
It is best known for two escape plots by Allied POWs.
- One in 1943 that became the basis of a fictionalised film, The Wooden Horse (1950), based on a book by escapee Eric Williams.
- The so-called Great Escape of March 1944, which was conceived by Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, and was authorised by the senior British officer at Stalag Luft III, Herbert Massey. A heavily fictionalized version of the escape was depicted in a film, The Great Escape (1963), which was based on a book by former prisoner Paul Brickhill.
At some point in the Spring of 1945 Dutcher was marched to Stallag Luft VII A where he was liberated on 29 April 1945 by Combat Command A of the 14th Armored Division.
Benjamin Dutcher was awarded the Air Medal for "exceptionally meritorious achievement" as well as the Prisoner of War Medal both of which are included in this offering.
Included in this incredible grouping are the following items:
- German Stalag Luft 3 Identification card for Dutcher with his photo, signature, finger print and unique identification number 3547.
- German Stalag Luft 3 dog tag for Duthcer with his unique identification number 3547.
- Multiple Original Western Union Telegrams announcing that Dutcher is Missing in Action, his status as a POW, his liberation and many more. Incredible!
- Original U.S. WW2 size 34R named Ike Jacket featuring bullion embroidered aerial wings. Medal ribbons as follows: Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters, Good conduct medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one bronze battle star. Technical Sergeant Chevrons on both sleeves, early war 8th Air Force Patch on left sleeve with 3 overseas service bars for a total of 18+ months of overseas service. Wool shirt named to Dutcher and khaki neck tie.
- Original A-2 leather flight jacket.
- Original U.S. WW2 NCO Peaked Crush Cap in Green.
- Original U.S. WW2 NCO Peaked Crush Cap in Tan.
- 6 x Original photos of Dutcher in uniform, one of him in this very same Ike jacket in same configuration.
- 2 x Original photo of Dutcher and his crew.
- Air medal in case engraved on reverse side that reads: Benjamin P. Dutcher 19088212.
- Original POW medal in box.
- Stalag VIIA MOOSBURG medallion.
- 3 x of Dutcher's original dog tags.
- Dozens and dozens of wartime letters, vmail, and other forms of correspondence to/from Dutcher and his family while Dutcher is in Europe. Many are while he is a prisoner at Stalag Luft 3 and are on Red Cross stationary when beign sent by Dutcher or on special POW stationary with German printing when his family writes to him at Stalg Luft 3.
- Pages and page of official Army documents such as his Honorable Discharge, Air Medal General order, Separation Record and many many more.
- Loads of wartime and post war newspaper articles about POWs at Stalag Luft 3 and about Dutcher himself.
- Various patches, wings, medals, ribbon bars, insignia and much more.
- Multiple Wartime Red Cross Prisoners of War Bulletin magazines.
- Original duffel bag with "send home" label still attached!
- So much more like books, war time notes from buddies, a list of all his friends with outline of their dog tags, and lots of other stuff.
A truly massive grouping with an amazing story that unfolds and gives you chills as you read each letter, telegram and turn the pages of the wartime documents that tell the tale of a young man who fell from the sky only to be captured by the NSDAPs. A noble airmen who was forced to survive more than a year in the hands of the German POW camps.
- This product is available for international shipping.
- Eligible for all payments - Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX, Paypal & Sezzle
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